Tuesday, April 23, 2024 | St. Lawrence County, NY
By ANDY GARDNER MASSENA -- During the public comment portion of Tuesday’s village board meeting, former Mayor James Hidy spoke against the Massena Central School District being excluded from a land …
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By ANDY GARDNER
MASSENA -- During the public comment portion of Tuesday’s village board meeting, former Mayor James Hidy spoke against the Massena Central School District being excluded from a land claim settlement between St. Lawrence County, New York state and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe.
“It disturbs me as it should everyone else,” Hidy said. “Once again, Massena takes it on the chin.”
The deal as originally penned would have given $500,000 of Mohawk land claim settlement money to both Massena and the St. Lawrence Central school districts, but Massena was taken out at the last minute.
Hidy pointed to controversy surrounding Democrat legislators and Massena Central employees Gregory Paquin and Jonathan Putney voting on the deal, but said no one seemed to mind a vote coming from former St. Lawrence Central Superintendent Stephen Putman, who is also on the county board.
“It lends a lot of speculation to back door deals,” Hidy said.
Hidy wants the town, village and school boards to ask the Putney and Paquin to come to a public meeting and explain their votes.
See story for more details about the land claim deal.
