Brockport’s new mayor, Josephine Matela, presided over her first official board meeting, the annual meeting on July 16. Although most annual appointments were approved unanimously by the board, one in particular wasn’t. The position of Village Attorney, vacated by the resignation of Roy Heise as of July 1, was not filled.

Matela put forward the name of Tom Calandra, an attorney who has been her close friend for more than 30 years and in whom she has the utmost confidence, she said. The nomination was not approved by the board in a 3-2 vote in which only Vice Mayor Mort Wexler supported the nomination.

Trustees Pete DeToy, Norm Knapp, and Jim Whipple want the position to be advertised and the board to review submitted resumes before hiring the first new village attorney in 27 years. Whipple said the best candidate may well be Calandra, but that other potential candidates should have the opportunity to apply.

Matela maintained that it was solely her perogative to appoint a village attorney and that the three trustees were denying her the right to name whomever she wishes to the spot.

Matela has been consulting Calandra about village legal issues since she assumed office on July 2 on a per diem basis. That will continue until a permanent appointment is made. The next village board meeting is August 20.

In other business from the July 17 meeting: The board voted unanimously to withdraw from a hearing that pitted the village board against the police union. Earlier this year, the village board adopted a new employee handbook for all of its employees. The Stetson Club, the union that represents Brockport’s police officers, filed a grievance claiming the handbook violated its contract.

The negotiated contract is just entering the second of three years. Trustees agreed that there would be nothing advantageous to winning or losing the hearing at this point in time. In effect, police officers will not be subject to the rules and regulations set forth in the handbook.

•Trustee DeToy reported that the Center for Government Research has submitted a proposal to do an analysis of Brockport’s police department. The organization recently completed a similar study of the East Rochester police department, DeToy said. The purpose of the analysis would be to assist the village board and the new police chief in determining what police services are in demand and what the cost of those services are. The board agreed to discuss the proposal at its next workshop.

•After much discussion, the Suburban News was renamed the village’s official newspaper. Several residents in attendance at the meeting said they appreciate receiving the local news in a free newspaper.