Neighbors to the north allege illegal actions of new town board

By Brandi Makuski

Residents in the Town of Dewey say they’re having a hard time with local leadership.

The town’s three-member board welcomed Town Supervisor Jerry Kizewski and Dennis Hintz, the town’s new chairman, in the April election. Supervisor Tim Pazdra alone has experience from a previous term.

Residents say the new town leaders have yet to undergo any emergency management training, and the new town chairman is breaking the law by holding a quorum- a minimum number of town board members needed to vote and enforce action- without publicly noticing the meetings.

Town Chairman Dennis Hintz is also accused of attempting to hire a part-time employee without board approval.

A quorum in Dewey means two or more members cannot meet to discuss public business without first posting meeting notices in multiple publicly-accessibly places, to include the town hall and at least one area newspaper.

Hintz also came under fire from residents for gathering bid information on a town roadway project without approval from the board- or the public.

Hintz defended himself, saying he was only acting in the town’s best interest in the most efficient way possible.

“I’m still new to all this, it can be confusing because this is a lot of stuff,” Hintz said. “I knew it wasn’t exactly okay to do, but I did it anyway because it’s not really that big of a deal.”

Dewey resident Dennis Meis, who is also a former town supervisor, said he’s concerned Hintz has opened the town to possible lawsuits by not following the law.

“He’s got to follow the law,” Meis said. “It could really hurt the town if he doesn’t.”

This story is developing.