“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” Well, what about being hit on the chest by a small, hourglass-shaped two-minute timer with pink sand in it thrown at him by the town supervisor at a public meeting?
Former Hurley councilmember Peter Humphries has filed assault charges after supervisor Mike Boms threw the timer to him during the February 27 meeting of the town board.
Humphries, speaking at the Public Be Heard segment of the meeting, said he used the timer to keep himself to the allotted time for each member of the public to speak.
After Humphries’ comments, Boms said, “Peter, there you go,” and tossed his timer to him in the air. It hit Humphries in the chest before bouncing on the ground.
An audible gasp could be heard in the audience.
“That was a little rude,” Humphries said.
“I know,” Boms said, and town attorney Matt Jankowski agreed.
“So, what are you going to say?” Humphries asked.
“I apologize. Two minutes are up,” Boms said.
Boms later dismissed the characterization of the interaction as an assault. Boms said he had casually tossed Humphries’ timer back to him. He said Humphries “put his hands up to catch it and he didn’t.”
Humphries had charged that the board’s appointment of Wendy Trojak could put the town at risk. Trojak, who had worked in former Ulster County finance commissioner Burt Gulnick’s office as the head of payroll, has been appointed Hurley senior account clerk for $25 per hour.
Gulnick was recently sentenced to two years in jail for stealing $97,000 from the Hurley Recreation Association, where he had served as treasurer, and $15,000 from former county executive Michael Hein’s campaign.
Gulnick resigned from his county position last March. Trojak resigned shortly thereafter, but has been cleared by the state comptroller’s office of wrongdoing. Other investigations are ongoing.
“She worked under Burt Gulnick, and I think we all realize and remember who he is. And there’s investigations that aren’t closed yet,” Humphries said. “And I think we might be looking into having some problems with our own town, because that investigation is not closed yet. And her name might still come up. I’m just saying it’s up to you guys what you want to do.”
Boms didn’t like Humphries’ comments.
“Do me a favor. Don’t make insinuations, please,” Boms said.
Offered councilmember Tim Kelly, “I just want to put it on the record that Wendy has stated that she was cleared by the state comptroller’s office, and she stated that on the record.”
Boms was steadfast in his support of Trojak. He said Humphries’ remarks about Trojak had been inappropriate.
“I spoke to Mark Spencer, who’s the New York State comptroller’s office investigator,” said Boms, “And he said that Wendy was never under investigation and she was clear, and he even said that she was very helpful and cooperative when they asked questions about Burt Gulnick. He said that she had never been under investigation. She was cleared and everything.”
The new administration has discovered incomplete financial reports for several months of 2023.
“Watching Wendy handle the books that were left incomplete … it was thoroughly professional, really professional,” Boms said.
Humphries said he was being respectful and didn’t deserve to be treated the way he had been. “During the whole thing, I wasn’t verbally abusive to anybody on the board,” Humphries said.
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