Lancaster Bee Article: The VOL Board on the Rudz Letter

[mark blazejewski]

Lancaster Bee Article on the November 8, 2021 Village of Lancaster Board session, is presented without comment:

Sojka says Rudz campaign letter ‘saturated with wanton falsehoods and malicious distortions’

November 11, 2021

by DAVE PARISH Reporter

Village of Lancaster Mayor Lynne Ruda called on Trustee Paul Rudz to apologize for a letter he had distributed to residents of the village, accusing the village board of covering up an alleged sexual harassment incident at the village’s Department of Public Works involving employee Adam Dickman, who defeated Rudz in an election for the Town of Lancaster Councilmember position earlier this month.

A video was made by Dickman to document the incident for a young female employee’s stepfather and then circulated by an unknown party on various news sites and social media postings. The video shows a DPW employee singing a John Valby song, placing a woman’s monthly ovulation cycle into offensive terms. He did this while in the break room with an audience of coworkers, including one young female, a seasonal worker who will not be named. Dickman was cleared of spreading the video after a Village of Lancaster investigation was conducted.

In the prepared statement she read before the board, Ruda herself apologized to village residents who received the letter, stating, that in her opinion, those who read it could logically conceive that the opinions in the letter represented those of the Village of Lancaster’s Board of Trustees, as well as department heads and employees.

Rudz’ letter featured his name at the top with the phrase “Lancaster Village Board” below it and a picture of Lancaster’s Village Hall to the right.

It also began with the sentence “As your Village Trustee, I took an oath to represent your best interests, and that includes always being truthful with you. That is why I am writing you today.”

Rudz said that he did not write the letter, it was instead penned by persons helping manage his campaign, but when asked, he said he did give the go-ahead to send it out and also paid for the mailing himself.

Ruda further criticized the letter, stating that Rudz not only incorrectly accused the village board of orchestrating a cover-up, but also accused Dickman of orchestrating the break room incident and circulating the video, as well as lying about the incident and changing his story multiple times.

Trustee Tyler J. Sojka also read from a prepared statement, where he called on Rudz to apologize for his letter.

Sojka agreed with the mayor that Rudz’ letter was presented to constituents emphasizing his position as a village trustee. He also said that the letter not only “lacked tangible supporting evidence,” but was “saturated with wanton falsehoods and malicious distortions.”

Sojka took particular issue with the line “to date, the Village of Lancaster has already spent tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and in perpetuating the cover up.”

In a longer statement, Sojka proclaimed: “That one sentence is false regarding his assertions of a cover-up. That one sentence appears to wrongly accuse village officials of possibly appropriating funds to advance a nonexistent cover-up. That one sentence erroneously suggests that perhaps our council was perhaps complicit in the perpetuation of a nonexistent cover-up. That one sentence was circulated throughout the Village of Lancaster landscape and to other governing bodies and may have cast the Village of Lancaster Board in an undeserved negative light. Most regrettably, that one sentence was potentially destructive to the confidence that the Village of Lancaster residents must necessarily hold for its government.”

Rudz also accused Mayor Ruda of interjecting herself into a campaign to help Dickman, as well as the village board conducting a vote behind closed doors in executive session.

“On Tuesday, Sept. 14, we met as a board in emergency executive session,” Rudz said reading from an email that he had sent to fellow board members. “That evening, a vote was taken regarding additional disciplinary actions for members of the DPW who were present during a sexual harassment incident. The vote – taken by a 4-1 margin – and it was decided that no additional discipline would be taken for anyone.”

When Ruda said she took issue with Rudz talking about what happened in executive session, as well as trying to clarify that no votes are even taken in executive session, Rudz asked Lancaster Village Attorney Arthur Herdzik six separate times if a vote was taken. In each instance, Herdzik declined to discuss anything that occurred in executive session, before finally asking Rudz to consult the minutes of the meeting.

“It was put in the minutes that the board came out of executive session and no vote was taken,” Herdzik said. “One can look at the minutes for an answer to your question.”

Ruda said that the board always keeps counsel on hand to make sure that they are following all proper procedures for meetings, including executive session, to make sure there are no missteps. “So, I want to clarify again for public record, that we’re not hiding votes in executive session,” she said. “When we come out of executive session, if we ever do have a vote, we would be having that vote publicly, so it’s in front of everybody.”

“Rudz also added that he never would have had the letter issued, which he did not write, but was instead penned by those managing his campaign, had the mayor and village board not issued an Oct. 19 press release.

The release stated that the village’s investigation found no basis to take personnel action against Dickman for widely distributing the video, as Rudz claims in the distributed campaign literature. As mentioned earlier, according to the investigation, the only person Dickman shared the video with was the young woman’s stepfather as a heads-up. The young woman then filed a sexual harassment complaint.

Rudz pushed on, stating, “In response (to the investigation results), the people managing my campaign decided to issue a rebuttal,” he said. “I did not draft this statement, however, when asked, I said send it. If the mayor doesn’t send out a press release, there is no rebuttal, plain and simple.”

Ruda, who objected to an earlier assertion by Rudz that Dickman was a personal friend, said the release was issued because Dickman is an employee of the village and it is her responsibility as the mayor to protect village employees.

“I felt we needed to make a statement,” said Ruda. “Because the entire story was about Adam Dickman and not about the sexual harassment claim that happened, and I think that by having a village statement saying what we found to be true would help calm the chaos.”

Ruda said that she consulted with each trustee about the release to get their input and also asked if they should include Rudz. “It was deemed by this entire board that it was a conflict of interest,” Ruda said of not including Rudz in the discussions on the press release. “We have said in the entire process that this was a political opponent and we needed to be careful.”

Rudz still was curious as to why the press release specifically focused on Dickman and his alleged involvement in the incident.

“I just don’t understand how the village can absolve one person specifically,” he said. “You could have very easily put out a generic statement, but you chose not to, and again, in a hyper-charged political climate, it smelled bad – it didn’t sit right.”

Ruda replied that it was because his letter did not attack the entire DPW, it accused one person, his political opponent, Adam Dickman.

Reference: https://www.lancasterbee.com/article...s-distortions/

[Breezy]

Lancaster Bee Article on the November 8, 2021 Village of Lancaster Board session, is presented without comment:

As Mark Blazejewski always writes, LOL, just my opinion...

The more I read about the situation, the more it looks like a cover-up!

[mark blazejewski]

As Mark Blazejewski always writes, LOL, just my opinion...

The more I read about the situation, the more it looks like a cover-up!

As is your perfect right Breezy, Ole Antagonist, but as another once said "If one person tells you you're drunk, and you feel fine, ignore him. If ten people tell you you're drunk, you better lie down."

[WNYresident]

As Mark Blazejewski always writes, LOL, just my opinion...

The more I read about the situation, the more it looks like a cover-up!

Just like democrats love the work "allegedly". Gorja? Isn't that correct?

[Lee Chowaniec]

In another Bee article titled:
‘Republicans sweep Town of Lancaster elections for board and highway departments’, it should be pointed out that it was not the endorsed Republican Party candidates that were victorious, rather endorsed Conservative candidates that primaried and defeated endorsed Republican candidates who colluded with the Democrat Party to usurp all party endorsements in order to suppress voter choice.

The report included the following voting stats:

Republican Adam Dickman, a current board member, reclaimed his position with 6,318 votes from the electorate. Fellow Republican Mark Burkard, vying for a first-time position on the council, handily claimed his seat, gaining 6,315 votes from the electorate. Sitting Democrat councilmember Mike Wozniak and challenging cross endorsed candidate Paul Rudz each gained 4,330 and 3,791 votes respectively.

A resounding victory. Voters saw through the dirty politics played by the colluding Democrat-Republican Parties and the attempts by the losing candidates to sow mistrust in their opponents. Village Trustee Rudz was crushed – deservedly so.

[Breezy]

Breezy, Ole Antagonist,

I'll drink to that !!!!

[mark blazejewski]

I'll drink to that !!!!

Agree!!!

[Frank Lee Blunt]

brainless, you are not bright enough to be an antagonist, you are more of a punching bag for us.

The Mayor has seen a way out of the box she got in dealing with the GIZA GANG. She was handed an olive branch, and she took it from those who will protect her now from them and guarantee Cindy cannot beat her in an election. Trustee Sojka will not run against her and will join her re-election efforts. She no longer needs any particular party to be voted back in. The GIZA GANG can not push her one way or the other now. The weight of an overbearing Cansdale has been lifted now that Trustee Sojka has been placed as Co-Chair overseeing the DPW. He is available all day long and will serve to control what goes on at the DPW on a daily basis.

You can report of my attacks on Mayor Ruda. I will take credit for everything I posted. There are still many questions to be answered about Mr. Sweeney and the CCD bank of the VOL. She did the right thing, and that means I will support her and advise continued harmony. Giza was not good for her future. She now can govern with a truly free hand. Politics is about winning brainless.