A measure to remove Onondaga County Legislator Maurice Brown from the Greater Syracuse Land Bank board and replace him with a fellow Democrat on the Legislature was removed early Wednesday prior to a committee vote.
The measure to replace Brown on the Land Bank Board with Democrat Dan Romeo was introduced in a committee agenda last week by Legislature Chair Tim Burtis, a Republican. The vote on that resolution was expected Wednesday morning, but was removed before the Planning and Economic Development Committee meeting.
Burtis’ move to replace Brown is still unexplained. In interviews with Central Current on Monday and Tuesday, Brown and Romeo said they had not been given a reason why the switch was occurring.
Burtis has not responded to two requests for comment dating back to Monday regarding the measure to replace Brown with Romeo, and the subsequent removal of that measure.
The removal of the measure came after Central Current reported Tuesday Burtis’ attempt to switch out Brown for Romeo.
Brown believed his attempted replacement was due in part to his staunch opposition to the almost $100-million Onondaga County Aquarium.
Brown has been on the Land Bank board for about five months and was just elected vice chair last month. His seat can only be appointed or revoked by the Legislature’s chair, according to the organization’s bylaws.
Land Bank Executive Director Katelyn Wright said she doesn’t know why there was a proposal to replace Brown.
“I don’t want to speculate as to what [Burtis’] reasons might be. I really don’t know,” she said.
The bylaws of the organization state that board members may be removed by their appointing party for neglect of duty or misconduct in office, or may be removed pursuant to any other provisions of New York law.
“I’ve had our attorney do some research, and all the other provisions of New York law he has found basically use the same language about neglect of duty or misconduct in office,” Wright said. “So it seems to me that there would have to be a reason and that they can’t just do it at their discretion.”
Wright said she doesn’t know of any actions Brown has taken that would be categorized as a neglect of duty or misconduct in office.
“This fight was a waste of time. We got real shit going on,” Brown said. “I don’t think there was any foul play. I wish I could say there is a conspiracy afoot, but from the beginning, I didn’t think Republicans were able to do this.”
Romeo said he also hasn’t heard from Burtis regarding replacing Brown on the Land Bank board and the seeming roll back of that appointment.
“Just like when [Burtis] asked me if I wanted the appointment, I said I would welcome it,” Romeo said. “If for some reason it’s not going forward, sure, you know? I still have work to do. I was open to it, and I’m okay with not being appointed as well.”
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