Have Highland's warring parties gone too far?

Highland Town Board moves to institute rules of conduct, order a forensic audit and stop anonymous code complaints

By RUBY RAYNER-HASELKORN
Posted 1/22/25

HIGHLAND, NY — The Highland Town Board, minus absent board member Kaitlin Haas, responded to people “scared to get involved in the town because their personal business may come up for the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Have Highland's warring parties gone too far?

Highland Town Board moves to institute rules of conduct, order a forensic audit and stop anonymous code complaints

Posted

HIGHLAND, NY — The Highland Town Board, minus absent board member Kaitlin Haas, responded to people “scared to get involved in the town because their personal business may come up for the public referendum” by instituting rules of decorum, contracting a forensic audit of the town and prohibiting anonymous complaints to the code office. 

Rules of conduct

The board voted to pass “rules of conduct for public meetings” following Sullivan County Sheriff‘s Deputy Justin Dawson intervening in a verbal dispute between family members of Highland board members at a public hearing for a town purchase the week prior. Read updates about the town’s purchase in the story above and previous coverage at www.bit.ly/RR-Highland-sheriff-intervenes. 

The rules of conduct for public meetings outline behavior that won’t be tolerated, prohibited activities, rules for public comments, and enforcement and appeal of said rules. See “Highland rules of conduct,” at far right for more details. 

Back in August 2024, the supervisor introduced a gavel and said he would be enforcing rules of decorum at board meetings. That was also the first meeting with a deputy present from the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, who has since been posted at meetings consistently.

Violations of the new conduct rules are a regular occurrence by both town board members and attendees. Claims of negligence, malice and ill-managed business have been asserted by residents and some board members about the previous town board and current town board alike. 

The town supervisor, John Pizzolato, said, “Part of what’s been going on in our meetings is a lot of accusations of physical impropriety, of not following the rules within the town. There’s been many slanderous and litigious inferences made, both at public meetings and on social media, unfortunately, and it’s getting to a point of a litigious nature, and that will be dealt with independently and directly. But I do want to exonerate all previous town boards and all current public servants.”

Forensic audit of the town

To address the accusations, the supervisor suggested a “forensic audit of the town records and all contracted departments within the town,” on which the board moved forward by approving a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a contractor to perform the forensic audit of the town.

Cambridge Business English Dictionary defines a forensic audit as “an examination of financial records to find any illegal financial activity.” See “forensic audit” at far right for more information. 

Anonymous code complaints now prohibited

Town code violations related to the supervisor’s business, the Barryville Oasis, have also been the subject of disagreement. Read more at www.bit.ly/RR-2025-Highland-loud-code and at www.bit.ly/RR-2025-Highland-violation

At the January meeting, board member Laura Burrell announced there would be a new forum to submit code complaints, but there would be no more anonymous code complaints permitted because of “a weird history of anonymous complaints,” as well as in order to have a reference to make the follow-up process easier. 

As a building and code committee member, Burrell has been updating the code office by working to “close out and update” outstanding violations, make applications accessible online and adjust the fee structures. 

“They’re targeting people and people are caught in the crossfire. I think it’s just wrong, you know,” said town resident and owner of local business NextGen Property Services, Matt Sallusto, while discussing anonymous code complaints waged against demolition work he was doing on Eight River Road in a public comment at the meeting. He added, “It’s a dangerous precedent. It’s dangerous behavior. It’s not right.”

Sallusto said he did his “due diligence to meet the requirements to obtain a demolition permit in the Town of Highland,” and that “individuals with a vendetta against the code enforcement office or some sort of agenda against this town board” videotaped part of the demolition process and reported complaints to the town “making false claims and accusations that we’re mishandling hazardous waste.”

Sallusto said this is an example of the “danger” that comes along with divisiveness. 

“It’s like, this is someone’s livelihood, this is someone’s business, and to falsely accuse somebody of mishandling waste like that is potentially, you know, a career-ending accusation,” he said.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here