The petition has been submitted, the signatures will be verified by the weekend, and a vote on village dissolution will take place before the leaves fall from the trees.

Over the summer, a series of public conversations on this issue will take place. Government reform activist Kevin Gaughan has requested the opportunity to debate the mayor and the village trustees on the topic of village dissolution. He is also interested in holding a debate with Wade Beltrama of the New York Council of Mayors, whom he feels is responsible for much of the acrimony surrounding the debates on village dissolution in Williamsville and elsewhere in Erie County.

At press time, he had not yet heard from any of those individuals. But Chris Duquin of the Williamsville Citizens Study Group has a request of his own.

Duquin is envisioning a public meeting where Gaughan presents his recommendations on a plan to dissolve the Village of Williamsville’s government and residents have the opportunity to ask questions.

“His conversation is not with the elected officials, it’s with the residents of Williamsville,” Duquin said.

“If Gaughan continues to fabricate an adversarial relationship between himself and village government, it does nothing to help inform the residents. We need to have a civil dialogue on the facts specifically as it applies to the Village of Williamsville,” Duquin said.

Gaughan states that he welcomes the opportunity to speak with Williamsville residents this summer regarding their thoughts on dissolving the village government.