SARANAC LAKE — The Saranac Lake village board on Monday voted on a slate of resolutions related to an altercation between Mayor Jimmy Williams and former village Manager Erik Stender last month.

One resolution approved by the board officially authorized the release of the police report on the altercation. Another authorized the village to get a law firm to review the allegations of workplace violence outlined in the report.

A third resolution condemned the unauthorized release of an unredacted version of that report. The fourth resolution, and the only one that did not pass, sought to discover who leaked the report — assuming it was a village trustee.

The four resolutions were all written by Deputy Mayor Matt Scollin. Scollin said there are lots of opinions on how this situation should be handled, and these resolutions were his thoughts.

Stender resigned last month as a result of his altercation with the mayor.

According to the police report compiled by Saranac Lake Police Chief Darin Perrotte on the verbal and allegedly physical altercation, Williams is accused of grabbing Stender by the throat and “slamming” him against a wall. This allegation by Stender is conflicted by other eyewitness reports, who say Williams was acting defensively. But the eyewitness accounts also conflict with each other. One eyewitness said Williams pushed Stender away after Stender punched the wall. The other said Stender shoved the mayor. Perrotte chalked this up to the unreliability of memory in accounts like this and concluded that it was unclear to him exactly who initiated the physical escalation.

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Third-party review

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The village board unanimously approved a third-party review of the allegations against the mayor of workplace violence.

Scollin and the new village manager, Bachana Tsiklauri, are in charge of overseeing this investigation.

The resolution states that the unauthorized released of the unredacted file “has impaired the village’s ability to internally pursue and credibly assign any accountability” for the workplace violence allegations it held, but they still want to investigate since the board is “responsible for ensuring a safe and respectful workplace.”

The village has Roemer Wallens Gold and Mineaux, an Albany-based law firm, on retainer for union negotiations. Trustee Rich Shapiro said they should choose this firm, since the village already works with them. Williams said Scollin and Tsiklauri should be able to contract with whoever they wish.

“If we amend this then their hands are tied and we have to go with Roemer Wallens,” Williams said.

“Yeah, that’s my intent,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro motioned to amend the resolution to say the village would contract with Roemer Wallens Gold and Mineaux. This amendment was approved 3-2 with Williams and Scollin voting against the change. But the amended version passed unanimously.

Scollin said he had not wanted to limit themselves, but he is moving forward with initiating the review.

Scollin said the completed report should likely be FOILable. It will ultimately be up to the recommendation of the lawyers and what is in the report, but he would like it to be made public.

“The public should see it,” Scollin said.

This resolution also directs the village manager to find an outside entity to update the village’s workplace violence policy, saying the current policy “does not sufficiently describe how allegations of workplace violence should be processed in the event the village manager is a party to the allegations.”

Scollin said this could be done by Roemer Wallens Gold and Mineaux or another firm.

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FOIL request honored

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The board unanimously approved the release of a redacted version of the police report to everyone who requested it through the Freedom of Information Law.

Scollin wrote in his resolution that the unauthorized release of an unredacted copy of the report on July 25 “invalidated the village’s option to withhold disclosure of the report” under the excuse that it would constitute an “unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”

The village clerk and attorney will redact names, dates of birth, addresses, telephone numbers, and any other information which disclosure would constitute an “unwarranted invasion of personal privacy” and release the report.

The Enterprise filed a FOIL request for this report last month. The village initially denied the request. The Enterprise requested a redacted version, which was not provided. As the Enterprise prepared an appeal, the village told the Enterprise “there is no need for you to file an appeal,” and that the village clerk and village attorney would discuss the request.

Village Clerk Amanda Hopf said on Tuesday she was checking with the village attorney on a timeline for this release. She’s already made a redacted draft. She hopes it will be released by the end of the week.

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Unauthorized release condemned

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The board condemned the unauthorized release of the report in a 3-2 vote, with Shapiro and Trustee Tom Catillaz voting against the condemnation.

“It was an event worthy of condemnation,” Scollin said. “It was embarrassing. … We needed to, as a board, say that that was wrong.”

The resolution says the board “offers its sincere apologies” to the witnesses identified in the report, who had “every reason to believe their voluntary participation in a law enforcement investigation would be treated with discretion, respect, and all appropriate confidentiality.”

This resolution says the village’s workplace violence policy states that “the village shall maintain the confidentiality of investigations of workplace violence to the fullest extent possible.”

It accuses one or more of the board members as the source of the leaked document, without specifying who.

“The Saranac Lake Board of Trustees has no logical reason to believe, or information to suggest, the source of this unauthorized release of information was anyone other than a member of the village board,” Scollin wrote in the resolution.

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Investigation into leaker rejected

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The board did not pass a resolution calling on its members to sign statements on whether or not they leaked the police report. This resolution failed in a 2-3 vote with Shapiro, Catillaz and Trustee Kelly Brunette voting against requiring this.

This resolution would have called for the four trustees and the mayor to each sign a statement to police Chief Perrotte to include in the final version of the leaked report.

Making a false statement in a police report is a misdemeanor.

This statement would have read: “Between the dates of July 11, 2023, and July 26, 2023, I did not share the unredacted full or partial electronic PDF file of Saranac Lake Police Department Incident Report No. 59010, or a full or partial hard copy print out thereof with any other individual, for any reason.”

Trustees would not have been required to sign these statements, but would be socially compelled to.

“Members of the village board cannot be compelled by board resolution to take any individual actions, but may be encouraged to take such individual actions by their own consciences and the expectations of the village residents they serve on the board,” Scollin wrote in the resolution.

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Public comment

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Former village Attorney Paul Van Cott spoke during public comment at the meeting. He believes this issue can only be resolved by the mayor taking responsibility for his actions and stepping down, which he called “true leadership.”

“I would say the same thing no matter who was in these positions,” Van Cott said.

He said there should be “zero tolerance” for “textbook workplace violence.”

“No employee or member of the public can be certain that they are safe from potential violence from the mayor of our village,” Van Cott said, adding that taxpayers would be liable for the cost of this incident or potential future violent incidents.

He also said workplace violence is not tolerated by New York state and having an outstanding allegation diminishes the village’s credibility as a partner with the state.

Van Cott said he doesn’t see reason for further investigation. Too much time has passed in his opinion and it would only continue to “drag the village down.” Van Cott feels Stender’s statement is the best evidence, as it has not been refuted by the mayor in a sworn statement.

Van Cott also called on whoever released the unauthorized report to take responsibility and explain their actions.