Guest Column
By Michael Kicinski
(Earlville, NY – Aug. 2013) Reference: “Local Law #1 of 2007” and action taken against the agreement between me and the village of Earlville.
I am tired of your trickery and lies. After more than five years of harassment, a targeted law, a lawsuit initiated and continued by two disgraced mayors, false promises by the present mayor, plus lies, falsehoods and omission of facts in the village board minutes, you show your intentions, and it is time to set the record straight.
The village of Earlville continues a violation of an agreement and granted variance for me to raise small animals. And you have chosen to misrepresent me in public meetings, public meeting minutes and privately.
I continue to call on you to repeal the Village of Earlville “Local Law #1 of 2007,” drop all charges related to my ownership, follow the agreements in place for my raising chickens and rabbits and repair the damages done.
You have told me that the charges would be dropped if I agreed to additional conditions. (This sounds like blackmail to me.) I was told to “give a little” or “compromise.” I never violated the agreement. I expect the village to do the same. I will not negotiate any new agreement or conditions when it was the village of Earlville, through elected, appointed or hired persons who created the law, which, in turn, created the charges.
This case initiated by the village of Earlville has cost me several thousand dollars and several hundred hours, and has stressed my personal finances, life and family, defending my property ownership and rights, while it has cost nothing for you, in the name and immunity of the village of Earlville.
You had a special board meeting June 25, which I could not attend, and you refused to read my statement in public session or place it in public record. Your minutes seem like an orchestrated attempt to create false evidence in public record, with a secretive executive session followed by public session filled with false, possibly slanderous and libelous, statements.
I call on you to purge lies from the June 25 meeting minutes – there are at least seven – and issue a public apology:
1) This case has nothing to do with “non-domestic” animals. Even New York state doesn’t redefine animals under human husbandry.
2) It is not true that I have not been willing to end the litigation. I never initiated the litigation, and only you have the power to end it.
3) I have never violated the agreement, though your minutes record village attorney William Getman saying this.
5) As recorded in a statement from Getman, it is false for him to say I “was not in compliance with the original permit.” Permission was granted, recorded in village minutes, and has always been followed by me. There is no record or cause for suspicion of any violation. The village of Earlville violated this contract by passing what you have acknowledged as a spite law, targeting me, the only animal owner in the village.
6) The village omits the facts that permission was granted to me on TWO occasions for keeping my animals.
7) The minutes imply I am the cause others in the village cannot have animals and hurting property sales. Blame lies with the mayor and village board. I did not violate any agreement, did not write or pass the law and did not initiate the lawsuit.
You have stated to me in the meetings that you do not want to discuss this matter publicly, as you “don’t want to be held liable,” yet your minutes show you discuss it in public session without me present and without my permission.
William Excell, Henry Moore, Gerald Hayes, Margaret Cory and Sara Chapman: Your stated plan to close out this case so you can make changes to the law publicly acknowledges your scheme to continue this spiteful, discriminatory attack to cause additional damage upon me before giving favor to others in the future.
You give Earlville a bad name through your unprofessionalism, your abuse of position and power against a resident. You had the chance to distance yourself from two past mayoral administrations; now you have chosen to extend the blame to yourselves. There is only one way you can come out looking good. Maybe another meeting with the village attorney is in order.
Michael Kicinski is an Earlville village resident.
You should probably just move else where. It’s more than just those few people who feel the same way.
Jordan, people have the right to feel any way they want. Their “feelings” don’t give them the right to infringe on other people’s rights. So, Jordan, you can move any time some abusive elected person writes a law when they “feel” they don’t want you to have something.