OGDENSBURG, New York (WWNY) – Ogdensburg Mayor Mike Skelly has been butting heads with some St. Lawrence County legislators on issues including sales tax. Now their disagreements extend to county social services.
On Thursday, Skelly called for the resignations of county legislators Kevin Acres and Joe Lightfoot, along with county administrator Ruth Doyle.
He accused them of “combined gross failure” in their oversight of the Department of Social Services.
On Wednesday, 7 News reported on a state report that says that department has been removing children from homes and placing them in foster care at almost three times the rate as the rest of the state.
Meanwhile, a child advocacy group has been leveling other charges against the department.
“There needs to be some accountability and they are the top people that were leading the county and the biggest department in the county and they failed,” said Skelly.
Acres, who’s also former board chair, called Skelly’s statement “an article not worthy of comment.”
Lightfoot, also a former board chair, said, “I don’t feel that there is a need for me to comment on the mayor’s ramblings. I believe that they were uninformed, inaccurate and ill-conceived. If you engage with a fool, you become a fool. And I’m not a fool.”
Lightfoot also said he is “disgusted” with Skelly’s comments about county administrator Ruth Doyle.
Doyle did not return our call for comment.
Copyright 2021 WWNY. All rights reserved.
