By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- Under protest from a trustee, the village enacted a federally required regulation that they hire poor people for jobs generated with a federal grant.

The federal law says for any jobs created as a result of Community Development Block Grant funding, they must give preference to low- or very low-income applicants if they are equally qualified as a higher-income applicant, Mayor Tim Currier said.

“If you’ve got someone who’s a medium-income person and someone who’s a low income person, we’re going to hire the low-income person, and that’s not prejudicial? How many bureaucrats sat and wrote this damn thing?” Trustee Tim Ahlfeld said.

The motion passed unanimously, with Ahlfeld voting for it.

“Yes, but I’m not happy,” he said when the mayor asked for his vote.

Deputy Mayor Matt Lebire said he thinks they won’t even need to enforce the regulation.

“There’s always one that communicated better, presented their skill set better. To have them be equal is almost always unheard of,” Lebire said.