Village of Montgomery residents call for civility at tense board meeting

At Village Hall on Clinton Street, Montgomery residents said board infighting was wasting meeting time and undermining the village’s ability to do ordinary business. The June 2 Board of Trustees meeting, streamed publicly on YouTube and logged in the village archive at 1 hour, 59 minutes, became the latest stage for complaints that have followed the board for roughly two years.

Several speakers urged trustees to calm down, listen and work together. Mark Palczewski said the meetings had become messy and pathetic, arguing that members were showboating, talking over one another and treating each other with hostility. Mary Lippincott said she had never seen such antagonistic behavior on the board and said business was repeatedly left unfinished because agenda items were tabled from one meeting to the next. James Kiernan focused on bullying, describing name-calling, threats, misinformation and intimidation, and urging the village to confront that conduct wherever it appeared.

The strain on the board has also affected how residents can participate. Last year, the village changed public comment so speakers had to sign up a week in advance and were limited to three minutes. Residents objected again in July 2024, when one meeting turned noisy after a speaker continued past the time limit while trying to discuss board protocol. By March 17, 2026, public comment and decorum were again central issues, this time alongside a sewer study and the removal of volunteers Tracey Kazie and Lori Dahl from the agenda without prior notice. Kazie and Dahl said they had planned to speak about upcoming events and caboose fundraisers.

Not all of the frustration was directed in one direction. Karina Tipton said residents and volunteers had also harassed board members and said that behavior had gone unpunished, showing how deeply the conflict has spread through the room. After the meeting, Trustee Randi Picarello and Mayor Mike Hembury continued discussing the issue, and Picarello said she felt disheartened and frustrated. She suggested a mediator and board training, and said all five members would need to take part for any training to matter.

The dispute sits on top of a larger political rift. In February 2026, Picarello wrote that the village had a problem and needed a plan to fix it. She had filed a complaint in June 2024 with the village ethics board about Hembury, and after a yearlong review the board concluded that he violated the village code of ethics on several occasions. Those findings were made public in March 2026. Hembury defeated Picarello in the 2024 mayoral election by a 635-511 margin, after a tense campaign that spilled into social media and village-hall meetings. For Montgomery, the fight is no longer just about tone. It is now about whether the board can stay functional enough to govern.