Ogdensburg councilors want to restore public’s trust

OGDENSBURG — The City Council is eager to restore the public’s trust after months of infighting tarnished its reputation and may have hampered its ability to govern.

“I think we need to resolve the situation at hand so we can begin the healing process,” incoming Councilwoman Jennifer Stevenson said. “After that, we need to be open.”

The issue to be resolved centered on the little red house at 819 Knox St., a city-owned property where a family was allowed to live for three years without paying rent or taxes.

“People are going to remember 819 Knox St. and this whole issue that started as a molehill and now has become a mountain,” Councilman Nicholas J. Vaugh said. “It has affected not only the city, it has affected careers, and obviously it is going to play out in 2012.”

The issue has culminated in what is likely the end of City Manager Arthur J. Sciorra’s tenure and a sharply divided council. The council voted last month to fire Mr. Sciorra for willful neglect of duty as a result of the Knox Street situation.

“It has needlessly driven a wedge between some good men on that council who are there for all the right reasons,” Councilman Michael B. Powers said. “We have councilors attacking other councilors over what was really not a big problem.”

The division reached its peak when Mr. Vaugh drafted resolutions in October to censure Mayor William D. Nelson and Deputy Mayor Michael D. Morley. Throughout the rest of the year, Mr. Vaugh was a frequent critic of the mayor’s push to fire the city manager.

“The fact of the matter is that the City Council is a team. This is craziness,” Councilman Wayne L. Ashley said. “There’s a lot of unfinished business that I don’t think is getting done because of this.”

Council members have expressed hope that internal rifts can be healed with new membership.

“I think that we had a person who didn’t really want to work with us on council, and I think that has changed,” Mr. Morley said. “The people coming in want to work with the citizens and the rest of us, and that will help a lot.”

Most on the council say public trust will be restored by eliminating the cone of silence that sometimes shrouds city government.

“We need to be accountable to the citizens and make sure they understand what is being done to the city, whether we use our website or some other way to get our message across,” incoming Councilman William D. Hosmer said. “Our discussions about policy can’t take place behind closed doors and in executive sessions.”

Mr. Nelson and Mr. Morley have said town hall meetings could improve communication between citizens and elected officials.

“We had successful town hall meetings in the past. Getting those back going will be good,” Mr. Nelson said. “We have positive things we’ll be working on.”

Mr. Ashley said the council’s first priority must be to get the issues of the Knox Street house and Mr. Sciorra’s employment behind them.

“I am very optimistic about what we can do with the council and all the progress we can make to get these negative issues behind us,” he said. “It seems like 80 percent of the people we talk to are negative. We’re never going to accomplish anything with negative attitudes.”