Fredonia Mayor Michael Ferguson confirmed this week he will ask the Board of Trustees to suspend the public’s ability to comment at its meetings, starting at its next meeting. One trustee came out against it.
The plan is to suspend public comment “until cooler heads prevail.” Trustee Christine Cruz-Keefe said she would not vote to eliminate it, and that residents should keep the option of addressing the board in person. New York’s Open Meetings Law does not require a board to take public comment at all, which is precisely why a board that has been taking it can decide to stop.
Read the full story: Village frets over behavior at meetings — OBSERVER, May 21, 2026.
What the law does and does not require: our open government Q&A.
