Devoted to dissolving villages, Kevin Gaughan is currently a man without a village.

Lately he is having a tough time finding venues within villages in which to spread his message.

Patrons of a Village of Lancaster restaurant threatened to boycott the business once word got out Gaughan planned to meet there.

And in Sloan, he has been turned down twice -- including by the local school district.

Gaughan was disinvited to speak Wednesday in the historic Eagle House restaurant in Williamsville.

"It broke my heart to receive this phone call. I know this behavior does not reflect the vast majority of Williamsville residents," Gaughan said.

 It would have been the first time Gaughan held a public gathering on dissolving the village in Williamsville. He said about 100 people were expected to attend the meeting discussing the costs and benefits of dissolving village government.

But the restaurant backed out, apparently bowing to outside pressure.

"It really hit home right here at home," said Tricia L. Browne, manager of the Eagle House.

She said she started hearing from patrons and residents who were so upset about Gaughan's plans for the community meeting that they threatened to boycott the restaurant. Browne also pointed out that, according to legend, the vote to incorporate the Village of Williamsville occurred in the restaurant.

"It's a pretty emotional issue for residents, and it was important to our customer base that the meeting not take place here," said Browne, who emphasized the restaurant was not taking sides on the issue, but it was a matter of business.

"If the event meant that much for them not to be here, then it meant that much to us not to have it here," she said. "We have customers who have been patronizing the Eagle House for generations. Nothing is worth jeopardizing that special tradition."

Amy Alexander, co-founder of Friends of the Village of Williamsville, which opposes dissolution, was one of the people who called Browne about Gaughan's meeting there.

"It was disappointing to have a business considered to be the heart of the village to hold a function that is intended to eliminate that heart," she said.

Gaughan, who has been criticized for not bringing his message into the villages he targets, is often shut out when he tries. Take Sloan, for example.

Competing meetings

Like voters in Williamsville, Sloan residents will be voting to dissolve the local government on Aug. 17.

Gaughan said he has scheduled a community meeting for 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Dingens Bar & Grill in Cheektowaga. However, Cheektowaga-Sloan School District and the Frank L. Gierlach Post, American Legion, in Sloan have turned him down.

Superintendent James Mazgajewski said Gaughan's request was tabled by the School Board because he wanted to meet on the same date and time that residents were holding their own meeting on the same issue at a local fire hall.

"We felt we shouldn't be setting up a competing meeting," Mazgajewski said. "That's why. We're not trying to take sides or create a problem for him. Instead of having two different meetings, he should go the meeting that was [already scheduled] on the same night at the same time."

Viewed as an outsider, Gaughan -- a Buffalo resident -- was invited by the Village of Williamsville Citizen Study Group in June to participate in three community meetings, then later withdrew the offer.

"Yes, we invited him only if we were on the same page, if our goal was the same and that was to provide information," said Chris Duquin, co-founder of the group. "We're done inviting him. He ditched us twice. He doesn't have a plan, and his agenda was to spin the issue. It was not to have a factual conversation."

Emotions running high

Currently, Gaughan is searching for another Williamsville site to replace the Eagle House, but has yet to find one.

One meeting was held earlier this week at Williamsville South High School, just beyond the village line on Main. That's where he first unveiled his plan for the village. Another session was held in Le Metro Bakery & Cafe on Main Street, just outside the village, but it was not a public meeting. The Rotary Club invited him to speak.

Another meeting is scheduled for the senior center on Audubon Parkway in Amherst, well north of the village, at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

In March, an inaugural meeting for volunteers to campaign for dissolution was scheduled in Eddie Ryan's restaurant on Central Avenue in the Village of Lancaster. As word spread of the meeting, some residents threatened to boycott the restaurant.

The meeting took place, but the owner pulled Gaughan aside, fuming that he never called to ask if he could meet there, but sent out a mass e-mail announcing where it would be.

Emotions also ran high on the dissolution issue last year in West Seneca, Evans, Orchard Park, Alden and Hamburg.

But the opposition was different in those places, Gaughan said.

"In each of them, politicians and their protectors made what should have been [civil debates] acrimonious," he said.

"There were efforts to avoid debates, but it's been slightly more pronounced in Williamsville," he said. "I know this behavior does not reflect the vast majority of Williamsville residents."

News Staff Reporter Sandra Tan contributed to this report.

dswilliams@buffnews.comnull