Board members should have acted as such
With or without Supervisor Satish Mohan at the gavel, the Amherst Town Board can't maintain order in its work sessions or meetings.

Mohan was unable to attend Monday's work session because of "personal business," leaving Deputy Supervisor Roy Wixson to handle the usual chaos and bickering. But it got worse than usual. Council Members Dan Ward and Deborah Bruch Bucki refused to sit at the council members' table, because they don't believe he is the deputy supervisor. But Wixson carried on. The other board members carried on. The four presenters carried on. And one executive session was carried out.

Monday's work session was one of the busiest the Town Board has scheduled in months - four speakers that each addressed extremely important issues facing the town and its residents. By not being in attendance, a board member missed a lot.

At least Bucki made half an attempt, taking a seat in the last row of seats in the chamber room. But she wasn't elected to sit back there. And Ward wasn't elected to sit in his office during work sessions.

We don't see why it matters who sat in Mohan's usual seat during Monday's work session. It was not a big deal. So what if Wixson called the meeting to order, introduced the speakers, called for questions from board members and adjourned the meeting? It's something a student leaving South High School, walking past the Town Hall could have stopped in to do on his way home to watch MTV.

Wixson did not vote and made no comments. He did not voice his opinion in any way during the public work session.

Ward and Bucki are not required to agree with Mohan's decision to appoint Wixson. But they are required to serve the people who voted them into office. So often Ward sounds off on other's duties, such as the town clerk position, but did he forget for whom he was working?

The two Democrats on the board had every right to question Wixson's right to hold the gavel, but as soon as the majority agreed to move forward, they should have been in attendance in their official seats. Not because one side is right and one is wrong, but information was being presented, and they needed to hear it, and question it.

We hope that should Mohan be absent again in his tenure that all board members can find a way to be in a room together, doing business. If everyone fought a rule they didn't agree with by ignoring it, most drivers would be speeding excessively, while talking on their cell phones, without insurance and not wearing a seat belt.