Olean - No more live questioning of city officials during meetings

[gonerail]

OLEAN - Common Council President Richard Smith announced Friday he will no longer allow members of the public to verbally question city officials during Common Council meetings.

Mr. Smith, R-Ward 6, and Mayor David Carucci announced the change Friday after meeting with all city department heads to discuss what they consider attacks on city officials by members of the public during council meetings. The council meets in legislative session every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Council committees meet on the first and third Tuesday of the month. All meetings are televised live.

Mr. Smith said, instead, written questions that are received by 5 p.m., seven days prior to the next council meeting, will be answered in writing by department heads. City Clerk Alexander Utecht will read the questions during the council meeting and then he will read the responses from department heads.

"There will be no rebuttal," Mayor Carucci said. "Someone may not like the answer they get, but there will be no back and forth with the department heads."

Residents will still have an opportunity to make comments during council meetings, but city officials won't respond to questions asked at the public microphone during council meetings, he said.

Mr. Smith said any questions submitted in writing after 5 p.m. the Tuesday before the next council meeting will be answered at the meeting the subsequent week.

Public Works Director Tom Windus told the Times Herald last week he was considering looking for a new job after former Council President Gary "Casey" Jones questioned Mr. Windus' use of a city car to drive to and from his home in Scio.

Having a city vehicle to get to and from work is part of Mr. Windus' contract. He wasn't at the July 22 meeting when Mr. Jones asked the question, but neither the mayor nor council members told Mr. Jones the car is in Mr. Windus' contract. Mr. Windus said the implication was he was getting away with something.

Mayor Carucci said he's tired of members of the public surprising city officials with questions during council meetings. The mayor said he believes some members of the public try to embarrass or anger city officials during the meetings because the meetings are televised live on cable Channel 6.

"We don't have to do question and answer during the council meetings. The charter says 'public comment,' that's it," Mayor Carucci said. "We put a question and answer session into the agenda to be civil, but it hasn't been civil."

Mayor Carucci admitted he's sometimes been part of the problem, trading verbal jabs with a member of the audience and sometimes arguing with members of the council.

"It's turned into shouting matches between department heads, aldermen, the mayor and the public," he said. "This has to stop. These meetings need to be civil."

Mr. Smith pointed out that city department heads aren't required to attend council meetings.

"They do it because they care about the city," he said. "I respect the department heads and I appreciate that they want to come to the meetings."

He said often when someone asks a question during a council meeting, the department head involved doesn't know the answer immediately. Some members of the public have criticized city officials for not having an answer about the budget or other city matters during the meetings.

"We have to give them time to look up the answer and make sure it's correct," Mr. Smith said.

The council will not meet Tuesday. No one submitted items for the agenda, Mr. Smith said.


This place is getting creepy. I think they really overstepped on this one as anyone I have talked to can't believe their high and mighty attitude. Story on this Smith idiot is that he is a son of a former mayor and he is on a real power trip. The obese nobody was a meter reader for electric company but was a real failure and was caught sleeping most of the time and caused many a person to get an adjusted high bill as their meters didn't get read. Now he thinks he can solve all the problems of a city going down the tubes and Smith will only make things worse as far as I can see !!!

What a Peyton Place Olean has become. Makes me sad and ashamed.

[therising]

That's incredibly lame. The taxpayers should vote out whoever supported this at the first possible moment.

[Cgoodsp466]

I think you should punch this clown right in the face.NAZI bastards.

[Sylvan]

Its happening. And The American Tyranny actually seems to be developing from the villages and towns as much as the counties and the states. The people are definately incompetent!