To the Editor:

I normally expect a bit of drama at our town board meetings since Mr. [Vasilios] Lefkaditis has taken over but last week’s fiasco truly was a new low point.

At an earlier town board meeting, Mr. Lefkaditis claimed some monies were deposited by the town clerk who denied having received those funds. He then claimed that the bookkeeper made the deposits, but Mr. Lefkaditis was unable or unwilling to produce any record of deposit.

As our elected officials, by law, have a responsibility to the taxpayers of their town, Councilman Earl Barcomb had to file a FOIL [Freedom Of Information Law] request in an attempt to get the records in question to ensure that the town money was properly accounted for.

Lefkaditis then had the audacity to propose charging Councilman Barcomb for foiling records that he should have been readily accessible to him in the first place.

I’m not sure why this is occurring but with Mr. Lefkaditis’s history of financial mismanagement that he’s chalked up to simple “youthful indiscretions” in conversation, I applaud Councilman Barcomb for seeking out the truth. Indiscretions have no place when acting as an elected official dealing with our town tax dollars.

Further public information can be found at brokercheck.finra.org and searching “Vasilios Lefkaditis.” You can then click on “disclosures” to see the lawsuits that customers brought against him for misrepresentation and misuse of their investments. Do the research and make up your own mind.

Board members and town residents alike were also quite taken aback when Mr. Lefkaditis’s wife forcibly took a mobile phone away from a woman who was filming the fiasco and yet another got up and challenged a local businessman to a fight. These incidents required the local deputy to intervene and ask his wife to leave the building.

I’m quite embarrassed at the behavior of our supervisor’s supporters and his inability to control what should be a civil exchange of ideas between friends and neighbors. I’d like to see a sense of civility and decorum return to our town board proceedings.

This pattern of intimidation and rudeness has pervaded at the town board level since Mr. Lefkaditis took office and was also evident when he was seated on our local school board. It has to stop.

Yes, we have an election coming up in a few short weeks but afterwards, we will still be friends and neighbors. One of the things that has always stuck in my mind was when I was pulled off to the side of the road on my motorcycle years back, taking in one of our beautiful vistas.Three different drivers pulled over to check that I was OK.

Good people live here, we help one another out — we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be divided. We're part of a community; let’s get back to those values. I thank you for your time.

Eric Kuck

Knox

Editor’s note: Eric Kuck is a former member of the Knox Town Board.

Vasilios Lefkaditis says he never said he has never discussed his financial management history wirth Eric Kuck nor has he ever said he had any “youthful indiscretions."

See related story.