CASSADAGA — Turnover continues to mount in the village of Cassadaga. Former Deputy Mayor Bill Astry has resigned from his role as a Village Trustee; his wife, Roxanne, will not return as a Clerk; and Annette McChesney has submitted a letter of resignation from the role of Village Clerk.

Bill Astry read his letter of resignation as Village Trustee aloud at the latest Board meeting, following his report as a Trustee. He and his wife then left their keys on the table and walked out of the meeting.

“I have decided that I no longer need the positives of village service at this time in my life,” Bill Astry said in his letter of resignation, while stating that he does not want to be part of the Village’s new administration. “I have always considered myself as a commonsense kind of person and this makes sense to me.”

Later in the meeting, McChesney provided the Board with her own letter of resignation. The Village is now seeking an immediate replacement for the position while McChesney finishes out her final days in the role after giving two weeks of notice.

“In my 10 years on the Village Board, I’ve sat through public meetings with 60-plus people questioning the integrity and honesty of the board. In my entire working life, I’ve never been questioned about my integrity or challenged on my volunteer work or called a liar on social media until my time at the Village,” Bill Astry said in his letter of resignation.

As Trustee, Bill Astry took on the Bathhouse at the Beach project. After bids for the work came in well over $100,000, far surpassing the amount of grant funding available to the Village through the American Rescue Plan Act, Bill Astry volunteered to help build the structure with the grant funding used for materials. He credited Ryan Burlingame and the Village DPW for assisting with the project, as well as Steve and Nancy Wickmark, Dave and Jill Lawson, Cindy Flaherty, and Roxanne Astry for their efforts with painting.

Bill Astry estimated over 200 hours spent working on the Bathhouse at the Beach, and roughly $1,480 of his own money spent on the project. He noted, “Everyone said I did a great job and were very thankful, even though the finishing touches were not completed.”

Bill Astry was the longest tenured member of the Village Board at the time of his resignation, serving the Village for over a decade. He departs from the Board just two weeks after the terms of Mayor Bill Dorman and Trustee Cindy Flaherty expired at the end of 2025. Flaherty chose not to seek re-election, while Dorman was defeated in a write-in campaign for a Trustee seat after choosing not to run again for Mayor.

Roxanne Astry has served as Deputy Clerk for the past three years following a lengthy career as Village Clerk. She stayed on as Deputy Clerk to assist McChesney after she took over as Village Clerk. The Village Board decided to not fill the role of Deputy Clerk at its organizational meeting.

The Village also recently accepted the resignation of Department of Public Works Superintendent Sam Alaimo, effective Dec. 31, and the role of Village Attorney has not yet been appointed for 2026.

In just over three years, the Village has seen a complete turnover on its Board and Clerk’s Office. Following tension surrounding several issues, especially short-term rental property disputes, Rachyl Krupa resigned from the Village Board. Fellow Trustee Mark Wilson resigned shortly afterward. They were replaced by current Board members Cathy Cruver and Danna DuBois.

Tensions died down momentarily in the Village after the short-term rental property issue was resolved, but consistent complaints from the public regarding the Department of Public Works (DPW) caused tensions to rise yet again. The Board had several heated discussions between members, as well as with members of the public, regarding issues stemming from the DPW.

One major issue was between Alaimo and Adam Diate, owner of Valley Outdoors, regarding the placement of cement blocks on Diate’s property to protect a fire hydrant from traffic. As the situation escalated, Alaimo was later charged with Criminal Mischief in the Fourth Degree, Criminal Tampering, and Trespass by Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Deputies stemming from an incident on June 6. Following the charges, Bill Astry declared Alaimo as “innocent until proven guilty.” Alaimo kept his job until he chose to resign, effective Dec. 31.

In his final report as Village Trustee, Bill Astry noted that while there was public pressure to fire Alaimo, after six months of keeping him employed while letting the legal process play out, all charges against Alaimo were eventually dismissed.

Bill Astry stated in his final report, “We had many people waiting for him to be fired six months ago, and I said he was innocent until proven guilty, but these people insisted he be fired and our new Mayor promised to do that if elected. Well, he is gone and his value to the village will be missed. Just remember, ‘Not Guilty’.”

The Village turnover coincides with its new administration under Mayor Rudy Abersold, a former Village Trustee. Abersold was elected in November, defeating write-in candidate Nancy Wickmark. Jeff Frick was elected as a Village Trustee, while Danna DuBois accepted a new term on the Board as a write-in candidate after initially planning not to run for another term.