Municipal Fact-Check: After weeks of cancelled meetings, a Village shut-down, and a vote to remove and arrest a Council member, the Mayor released a statement. With the Mayor's integrity under scrutiny, a fact-check of the statement seemed important.
Honesty and Transparency in Government Matters
After several cancelled Village meetings, a Village shut-down, a vote to have Mary Shkut removed, and then arrested, the Mayor released a statement. The statement did not include an apology but it did include many statements. With the Mayor's integrity under scrutiny, a fact-check of statement released seemed important.
Two weeks ago the Mayor emailed a statement to residents through Village Hall.
The statement's release was surprising as the publication conflicts with State and Village rules and resolutions. Per such rules, the Village is run by the Council and the Council is required to authorize the release of such a statement. According to our records, no such authorization occurred.
The email statement was a shorter version of a lengthy speech he made on July 10th.
Though some statements were accurate, both also contained several misleading half-truths and falsehoods. Focusing most particularly on the statement, the message included points of information around the Village shut-down and how that occurred. An annotated version of the Mayor's email statement is available for download, and walks through the misstatements , along with public records which provide a more accurate account of events that have occurred since May 31, 2018. ***
Download Annotated Mayor's Message