TUSTEN, NY — Following discussions in a December 7 executive session, the Tusten Town Board invited Nico Juarez and Robert and Yunhui “Vicki” Olman to give presentations at its December 14 regular meeting.

The Olmans had filed a complaint against Juarez on October 25, alleging that he violated the town’s code of ethics by mass-mailing Tusten residents with a letter concerning Yunhui Olman’s candidacy for the town board that identified him as the chair of the zoning board of appeals.

Juarez’s attorney Peter Schuyler responded to the Olmans’ complaint with a letter sent to the board on December 6 which stated that “Nico Juarez’s complaints about candidate Vicki Olman constitute protected speech under the First Amendment and thus any adverse employment actions taken against him would be illegal and could subject the town, as well as town board members to liability under both state and federal civil rights law.”

The town invited Juarez and the Olmans to give their December 14 presentations following the conclusion of regular town business.

The Olmans did not appear at the meeting; according to Schuyler, their attorney claimed they were not aware a disciplinary hearing was on the agenda for that night. When asked at the board meeting whether Robert Olman had been notified that he could come and present, supervisor Ben Johnson stated that he had been.

Juarez gave a presentation on his own behalf at the meeting, rejecting the validity of the Olmans’ complaint—“I refuse the Olmans’ complaint in its entirety. It has no merit.” He said that the town had not taken sufficient action to protect the wetlands at Cackletown Road, the area where he and the Olmans both live.

“The town has not taken accountability for these issues involving their property and the safety of their community, and I am here today because what the town has taken seriously is a frivolous complaint by the town bullies to silence me,” stated Juarez.

He called upon the town to take responsibility for the culverts at the end of Cackletown Road. The Olmans had chained off a section of Cackletown Road some months back, and while the town had reclaimed and paved a section of that road, it had left the culverts at its end, which control water flow into the Cackletown Pond wetlands and Little Lake Erie.

The town board met in executive session following Juarez’s presentation, and no action was taken at that time.

‘The Dukes of Hazzard’

Earlier in the meeting, the town board heard comments on another area of public concern.

One of the tenets of government was to provide for the safety and health of its community, said resident Charlie Hoffman, and under that tenet, the town should do something about the issue of cars speeding and revving their engines.

Hoffman said that a specific group of cars habitually sped up and down his street, “all playing ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ on Lackawaxen Road.” He said he had called the state police and the undersheriff, but that the undersheriff had not called back and that the state police’s visits had so far not resulted in improved behavior.

He suggested that the town consider putting a constable back on the payroll; “We need you guys to step up and do something.”

In a follow-up comment, resident Star Hesse said that she had been fighting that issue since last October. She had found the state police more responsive via email, and that the police had stopped announcing their visits over their radios as some of the involved parties had begun to listen in.