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Tonawanda council names Jay Mario Pena city clerk at $66,500, adopts reorganizational resolutions and moves to executive session
Summary
The council amended and adopted the appointment of Jay Mario Pena as city clerk with a $66,500 salary, approved a slate of standard reorganizational resolutions (3–10), heard public concerns about a possibly fraudulent communication to an assemblyman, and voted to enter executive session on personnel.
The Tonawanda Common Council amended and adopted resolution 5 to appoint Jay Mario Pena, notary public, to carry out the duties of city clerk effective Jan. 1, 2026, at an annual salary of $66,500 with a term expiring Dec. 31, 2027.
The council also waived readings and moved through a set of reorganizational items, adopting resolutions 3–10 by roll call. Those items included routine appointments, bank depository designations and deputy registrations; sponsors and roll-call votes were recorded for each resolution and the clerk declared them adopted.
Public comment included congratulations to the new council and mayor, concerns about meeting acoustics and venue, and more substantive allegations from a resident who said a bill had been filed with Assemblyman Conrad regarding a part‑time judgeship that claimed the position could not be filled by a Tonawanda resident. The commenter asked the council to investigate whether someone had impersonated a city official in communications to state lawmakers and requested FOIL access to the underlying documents.
Council response and next steps: Council President and the mayor said they were unaware of the specific email or bill referenced and pledged to investigate the allegation. The president advised use of FOIL to obtain related documents and said the council would pursue due diligence. Before moving to executive session for personnel matters, the mayor reiterated the fiscal rationale for hiring a full‑time in‑house attorney and described projected savings on outside counsel.
Votes at a glance: Resolution 5 (city clerk appointment) was amended on the floor to set the salary at $66,500 and adopted by roll call; several other routine resolutions (3–10) were adopted with recorded ayes. The council then voted to enter executive session for personnel of a particular person.
What’s next: Staff will prepare corrected resolution language and budget detail for follow-up; council scheduled an informational discussion of the budget process for the next meeting on Jan. 20 and indicated it will pursue an investigation into the alleged unauthorized communication to the assemblyman.
Selected direct quotes in this article are drawn verbatim from the meeting transcript and are attributed to speakers who appear in the attendance and roll‑call records.
