CANTON — Any doubt about how fractured the St. Lawrence County Legislature is will be answered Monday.
Legislator Thomas A. Nichols, who stormed out of the last session angry at Chairman J. Patrick Turbett, is proposing a measure that encourages the county administrator to bring information to the board without it being filtered by the leadership. It does not mention Mr. Turbett or allegations that he's suppressed information, but it may stand as a referendum on his tumultuous tenure, during which Democrats and Republicans have accused him of micromanaging operations.
"I decided to take the unpopular step of drawing a line in the sand and saying 'enough is enough,'" said Mr. Nichols, R-Oswegatchie. "We can't sit back and let the chair operate a secret government beyond the public meetings."
Six legislators are listed as co-sponsors, and Mr. Nichols says he has more support. They are all part of the fizzled coup that sought to remove Mr. Turbett, D-Potsdam, from the chairmanship in March.
"I'm not concerned about it. I'm just getting tired," Mr. Turbett said. "Instead of doing real government work, they want to throw mud at people. I'm OK being the target."
The chairman was out of town Thursday and heard the proposal second-hand. Its generic approach — that the county can benefit from better communication between the administrator and legislators — appears aimed at gathering support from less disgruntled lawmakers, Mr. Turbett said.
A few legislators said Thursday that they took the softer approach when signing on.
"It's just the way county government should be run," said Donald A. Peck, R-Gouverneur.
The latest accusation against Mr. Turbett came at the end of the May 19 Finance Committee meeting, when County Administrator Karen M. St. Hilaire confirmed that she withheld a civil service recommendation to increase salaries for the Board of Elections commissioners at the chairman's request. Mr. Turbett said he wanted information from other counties before it was introduced.
"He explained his position, and that's fine, but it should have been a board decision," said Legislator David W. Forsythe, R-Lisbon. "That's the third or fourth time they've caught him."
Two weeks earlier, Mr. Nichols condemned Mr. Turbett for sending Student Transition and Recovery a letter saying the county was ending its contract early with the military-style discipline program. The board had reached a consensus to that effect, but held no vote before it was sent.
Mr. Turbett took flak from several lawmakers in February for asking Economic Development Director Raymond H. Fountain to step down as the county's representative to the Development Authority of the North Country board. Such appointments are made by the Legislature, and the chairman said he mistakenly thought it was his sole decision.
He butted heads with Ms. St. Hilaire in March when she backed staff who removed a poster advertising a gay film festival from a county bulletin board. The chairman felt the poster should have been left alone.
Ms. St. Hilaire has avoided the Legislature's infighting, but she talked Thursday about how she strives to balance the board's right to debate with the chairman's privilege to set agendas when providing information from day-to-day operations.
She is staying neutral on Mr. Nichols's proposal.
"I believe the dynamic of the board needs to be worked out to create a better form of communication," she said. "I'll always try to make the best decisions I can."
