Tempers flared at the end of the special Saturday Village of Williston Park Board meeting when a resident commented to Mayor Joseph Connelly that he hoped the board wasn't intending to raise either its salaries or the salaries of the Board of Zoning and Appeals (BZA) in the village.

Mayor Connelly said that he took exception to the comment since the BZA has not received a raise in 12 years. He said that the village board and he the mayor were not planning on a salary increase but he said that definitely the board was leaning toward giving the five man BZA board a slight raise since all each one made was $60 per meeting.

The resident then asked how much the board expected to raise the BZAs salary and the mayor commented that it probably would be $75 per meeting. However, he invited the resident to come to the budget workshop which was open to the public and to be held right after the Saturday meeting.

The resident kept it up until the mayor and some members of the board became visibly irritated. Mayor Connelly said, "Do you go to the school board, because that's where the bulk of your taxes comes from and tell them not to raise salaries, or do you go to the town board or to the county to complain and tell them not to give increases in salaries. This village has not raised taxes in many years and if they do it is very slight."

Deputy Mayor Doreen Ehrbar said, "We did not become trustees because of our salaries. We all work hard and take our jobs seriously. We all have full-time positions, yet we spend many hours working for the village and I take your remarks about our salaries as an insult since we make such a little bit of money."

The resident replied, "Well, you're allowed to be insulted. And, I happen to think we should have professional people running the village, not people who have political positions."

Tempers were at an all-time high and another member of the audience then went down the line of trustees outlining their backgrounds and the responsible positions they all held in the business world from running their own business to being a key administrator at a large hospital.

Herricks School Board President, Paul Ehrbar, who was in the audience, said that he took exception to the remark made by the mayor regarding the school board and its budget. He pointed out that most of the school budget is contractual and much is mandated by the state, so he said, "You're comparing apples and oranges and that's not right!"

Another resident pointed out most village elections are uncontested confirming the fact that most people do not want to have to be bothered running the village, which is a thankless task.

Mayor Connolly said that he did not mean to offend the Herricks School Board and said he felt that its members do a magnificent job, but that he was pointing out to the resident that he should go to the other taxable agencies and make the same complaints.

The resident and several of the board members bantered back and forth until Mayor Connolly said that the time had run out and the board had to start on its budget workshop.

And, at the very end of the meeting Mayor Connolly said, "And, for the record, there will be no raises in the Village of Williston Park for either the trustees or for the mayor!"

The mayor invited the resident to sit in on the budget workshop with the members of the board, but the resident refused and went home.