BY JIMMY LAWTONNorth Country This Week

OGDENSBURG -- Residents looking for answers about city issues now have a new opportunity for direct access to City Hall, as City Manager Fonda Chronis begins holding twice-monthly office hours ahead of City Council meetings.

The effort builds on the city’s efforts to provide easy access to city documents, which help provide context to items discussed at City Council meetings.

“I just wanted to remind Council and members of the public that I'm holding office hours the nights of Council meetings between 5 and 5:45 p.m.,” he said at the April 27 City Council meeting.

Chronis said the goal is to provide “one-on-one clarification” and allow people to get their questions answered.

“I can't always promise we'll have the answers for you right then and there. Um, but we certainly can get you the answers when appropriate. So, I continue to offer that as an option for residents,” he said.

Chronis noted that he did have one visitor prior to the April 27 meeting.

“I am happy to say that I had one visitor as opposed to zero visitors, but I know there's lots of questions out there. People sometimes feel like they don't necessarily have all the information. I think that's an opportune time to come in and try and get some.”

The City of Ogdensburg provides strong public access to its meeting contents when compared to many other municipalities in the county. Typically, the City Council agenda is available on the city's website, Ogdensburg.ny.gov, the Friday prior to City Council meetings that are held on Mondays.

While many municipalities provide agendas prior to meetings, most St. Lawrence County municipalities do not provide additional materials required by New York’s open meetings laws, which state that “if records that are scheduled to be discussed during an open meeting are available under FOIL or consist of a proposed resolution, law, rule, regulation, policy or any amendment thereto, the record is required to be made available ‘to the extent practicable’ online, at least 24-hours before the meeting, and in response to a request to inspect or copy prior to or during the meeting.”

Ogdensburg typically includes those materials in the agenda, which often provides additional context for presentations or discussions and allows viewers to better follow along with discussions by councilors.

Ogdensburg is also among the small number of municipalities that provides a live stream of its meetings and keeps a video record that’s usually posted the morning after meetings.

Other entities that go the extra mile for transparency in St. Lawrence County include the St. Lawrence County Legislature and Massena Central School, which is one of the only districts in the county that broadcasts its school board meetings.

In December of 2025, the New York Coalition for Open Government named the Canton Town Board to its “Nice” list, which highlights transparency in governmental settings throughout the state.

The group celebrated the town board’s refusal to allow County Legislator Joseph Lightfoot to join its executive session as a non-member of the board.

Colton Town Councilman Kevin Beary also made the nice list after speaking up about what he viewed as an improper executive session.

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