An East Aurora village trustee is criticizing Mayor Clark Crook for how he handled his recent announcement to push for the village government to dissolve and merge into a town-wide government.

Trustee Allan A. Kasprzak on Monday criticized Crook for what he said was Crook’s failure to openly discuss the dissolution idea among Village Board members before going public with it and first mentioning it to the Greater East Aurora Chamber of Commerce and the village Planning Commission.

“I’m a little bit upset with your proclamation of the dissolution plan,” Kasprzak said, accusing the mayor of leaving the Village Board “out of the loop.”

“I hate to find out from hearsay or the papers as to what’s going on,” Kasprzak said, adding that he felt it seemed like a “threat” by Crook that he will push for eliminating village government even if he loses his re-election bid.

The dissolution idea is the core of Crook’s campaign platform in his bid for a second term as mayor in the March election. Crook has said his initiative was sparked by a recent change in state law this summer that would make it easier for citizens to bring a petition to a municipality for such an issue.

Meanwhile, the mayor said board discussion about the issue and whether the Village Board steers the process for an actual dissolution plan should start with the board’s Dec. 7 work session.

“There’s a clear difference between actual, official village business and campaign rhetoric,” Crook said later in an interview with The Buffalo News. “In December, the issue will become ‘official’ village business. The Village Board will have to determine whether it moves a dissolution plan along.”

Crook has said the time is ripe for the community to debate the merits of his idea amid the backdrop of a struggling economy, talk about streamlining government, debate about a joint municipal facility in Aurora and efforts to reduce costly duplication of government services that leads to taxing residents twice in some instances.

“I’m going to demand that you keep us informed on something as important as this,” Kasprzak said, noting that he has received 22 phone calls on the issue. “It just disheartens me. I know other members of this board feel the same way.”

Kasprzak added: “I’m really upset with this. We hear that people run for office—for open government and transparency, and I’m not seeing it.”

After the trustee’s criticism, Crook thanked him for his comments.

“I look forward to a lively and informative debate next month,” Crook said, noting the board will have an opportunity to become involved in studying the dissolution idea.

No other board members commented on the topic.