Hurley Town Board Nixes Ex-Supervisor Perry's Bid for Ethics Committee Alternate -News By Maya Schubert/Kingston Wire

Former Supervisor John Perry

At this week’s Hurley town board meeting, a motion from councilman Mike Boms to elect former town supervisor John Perry as an alternate on the town ethics committee was met with opposition from several town board members. Towards the end of Wednesday evening’s meeting, the councilman, who’s running for town supervisor on a third-party line this fall, said there was a vacancy for an alternate on the ethics committee and that Perry was the only applicant for the position but had received no response. Perry previously applied for a seat on the ethics committee, but the two vacancies this year were filled by Karl Bruckner and Mitchell Cohen. 

Supervisor Melinda McKnight confirmed that Perry was the only applicant for an alternate and asked if Boms was making a motion to elect him to the committee. 

“I’m just saying … he requested it, he sent us an application, just as Karl Bruckner did, just as Mitch Cohen did,” Boms said. “When there’s a vacancy and someone applies for it, and they’re the only person, they get it.” 

Boms then made a motion to elect Perry as the alternate; Gregory Simpson seconded his motion. After a tense silence, the floodgates opened to a slew of comments. First, Councilwoman Jana Martin said that Perry and Boms previously made “patently false” allegations to a newspaper about her connections to a town attorney. The only reason the accusations had not been widely circulated, she said, was because the reporter “did his job” and recognized the allegations’ illegitimacy. 

“From my perspective, that’s kind ofshady when it comes to an ability to know what is ethical and what isn’t,” she said. “An ethics committee isn’t just how we’re gonna put the swing set up. It’s a very important body, and I can’t, for the life of me, approve somebody who did that, whether it’s to me or anybody else.” 

Asked by Kingston Wire after the meeting for a response, Perry, who said he wasn’t at the meeting but watched a video of it, shot back at Martin in an email Friday, writing that he “was not surprised [by] the personal attacks.” He alleged that Martin herself was guilty of ethics violations that he said he could prove via documentation. 

McKnight stated that she believed that Perry rescinded insurance provisions for the supervisor’s position right before she took office and added that she felt bullied and humiliated by Perry during her time as a board member and later as supervisor. 

“I have personally experienced bullying tactics and pretty consistent shaming even when I acquiesced and did what I believed he wanted me to,” she said. 

Perry’s response to the health care allegations was to state that he canceled his own health insurance when he was supervisor, and that McKnight, who succeeded him, could reinstate them for the position by asking the town board to pass a resolution authorizing so. “So did I cancel my health insurance plan? Yes. Was it a slap in the face or malice? No.” He made no specific response to McKnight’s bullying allegations, but he did write this: “[McKnight and Martin] never liked me for whatever reason; I assume [it’s] political, but in small towns, politics should never get in between good governing or any level for that matter.” 

Simpson stated that he felt there should be more standards for and information about ethics committee candidates. Councilman Pete Humphries said there were things he “can’t even talk about” and alluded to legal issues with Perry. 

“I hate being reminded of that crap,” Martin added, regarding accusations made by Perry and Boms. “It was really traumatic.” 

Boms voted in favor of naming Perry as an ethics board alternate. Martin, Gregory, Humphries and McKnight voted against it.

READ MORE ON KINGSTON WIRE - Support local, independent journalism >>