Hamlin's Old Guard Destroyed Public Records

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Earlier thus week, the recall petitioning process for two members of the Hamlin Board of Trustees by getting enough signatures of registered voters in Hamlin Township was finalized; there will be a recall election in November on election day, and we will likely see Trustee Johnaine Gurzynski and Treasurer Susan Ptaszenski on the ballot with any challengers.  The deadline for filing for Hamlin residents is August 21 for the trustee spot, August 24 for the treasurer spot.

In all fairness, the reasons for the recall on the petitions were fairly lame:  the trustee was alleged to have loose lips about what happened in a closed meeting, the treasurer was alleged to have not had her books justify themselves on one month.  Frankly, no confidential information was ever spoken and there was no real accounting error other than putting entries into the wrong month.  We've argued this all along.

Nevertheless, now that the recall election is an inevitability, and what we affectionately call the "ski team" is at risk of having their terms cut short by two years, we do fully support replacing these two trustees with people that take their jobs and their oaths more seriously.  The reason why is that during this term of office, these two officials did something unthinkable.  They voted to destroy years of records that, by law, should have been retained. 

They did this without a vote from the other three currently-seated trustees in December 2024.  Incoming Supervisor Marta Greenslait, who introduced the topic of recovering files from the prior regime, which fully qualify as "public records" and have definite retention policies set by the state, voted against it.  Incoming Trustee Chris Cook abstained from the vote, the reason for abstention not being put in the official meeting minutes by the clerk as required. 

Current Secretary Sheila Genter was not on the board at the time; longstanding Hamlin Secretary Catherine Lewis was in the midst of retiring and was ironically the strongest voice towards destroying her legacy of public records.  Ironic because one of a township clerk's major duties is to maintain custody of township documents.

We were not present at the meeting, and Clerk Lewis was not as meticulous in her minutes-writing as Clerk Genter is.  The meeting was held on the eve of Christmas Eve, so there were not a lot of folks in attendance and those that were held their tongue, even after this item was added to the meeting when the board approved the agenda with that amendment.  The relevant parts of the special meeting's agenda with four, then five, items follow:

 

                  From left to right, Trustee Gurzynski, Treasurer Ptaszenski, Supervisor Greenslait, Clerk Genter

The Hamlin Township Board met Monday, December 23, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. at the Hamlin Townhall.
Present: Greenslait, Lewis, Ptaszenski, Gurzynski, Cook. Absent: None. Approximately 30 people were in attendance.  M. Greenslait called the meeting to order and led the Pledge to the Flag.

On the MOTION of Greenslait, supported by Lewis, the Board approved the December 23, 2024 with the following addition(s): Add, include “Draft” on the agenda and add, file recovery... 

5) Clerk Lewis voiced concern over data file recovery. After the last meeting, she did further research noting that most elected officials, House of Reps, State Senate, etc., run on a platform of what they would like to bring to the job and do not have a transition period. There was not a transition period with the prior Supervisor, Clerk, or the P.M. Township Supervisor. Clerk Lewis stated she would like this issue to be over stating there are confidential files between the prior Board and their legal counsel, even containing files regarding Supervisor Greenslait and her case against the Township. Clerk Lewis also feels that, now that she is serving in the Supervisor role, there are rules
and ethics that need to be followed. Supervisor Greenslait interjected that our emails, cell phones, anything pertaining to the Township can also be recovered.

On the MOTION of Lewis, supported by Gurzynski, the Board voted [moved] to deny data recovery from computers, emails and cell phones indefinitely. Supervisor Greenslait, just to be clear, asked if the motion was to deny data recovery on the Supervisors computer. C. Lewis once again stated the
motion is to deny indefinitely data recovery from all computers, emails and cell phones. Supervisor Greenslait, again just to be clear, asked if the motion is to deny the recovery of the Supervisors power data. Clerk Lewis added, and all elected officials emails, cell phones, computers, etc.

Supervisor Greenslait started to question again. Clerk Lewis asked her what she doesn’t understand. Supervisor Greenslait stated she didn’t know how to vote and Clerk Lewis suggested doing a roll call vote as previously stated. Final clarification, of the MOTION presented by Lewis, supported by Gurzynski, is as follows: On the MOTION of Lewis, supported by Gurzynski, the Board voted to
deny data recovery, indefinitely, from all computers, emails and cell phones of elected officials occurring prior to the year 2025.

RC [Roll Call] 3-ayes/Greenslait-nay/1-abstained, MC [Motion Carried].

ANALYSIS:  This is rather straightforward act of corruption, and it's very alarming that Greenslait was the only one to balk at effectively destroying records and preventing public disclosure, by denying "data recovery, indefinitely, from all computers, emails and cell phones of elected officials occurring prior to the year 2025".  

This is an action of tainted government officials, where the three 'old guard' members of the prior Hamlin Board, moved, seconded, and voted to indefinitely keep public records made during their term unviewable to the incoming trustees, every Hamlin taxpayer, and everyone else.  This is a serious violation of the law, it's actually a criminal offense:

Greenslait has since pioneered a record retention policy for Hamlin passed in 2025 which references the state's basic retention rules.  This dedicated vote to suppress public records was not an accidental act.  When the three trustees conspired to keep public records secret, in abhorrence of established rules, Lewis intentionally made a motion to do so, Gurzynski knowingly seconded that motion, Ptaszenski voted to do so after hearing the clarified motion to effectively hide/destroy records.  Lewis as the keeper of the township's records, deliberately argued to keep the records away from the supervisor and the public.  

By seconding this motion, Johnaine Gurzynski displays that she is a bit hypocritical when she calls out potential ethical conundrums she assigns to Marta Greenslait.  By remaining silent and voting for denying retrieval of public records, Susan Ptaszenski shows that she believes what she has said at other public meetings, that 'her records' belong to her-- while they belong to the public.  Catherine Lewis actions and words, immortalized in her minutes of that 2024 meeting, illustrate why many believe the prior administration was acting for themselves and not in the interest of the township.

The two holdovers should follow Catherine Lewis' example and bow gracefully out of Hamlin's Town Hall, their time has passed.  If you live in Hamlin Township and want to restore better governance to the board, consider running.