Cicero City Hall is in turmoil over allegations of harassment by superiors

CICERO, NY – It was a fiery night at Cicero City Hall as Cicero’s neighbors sought to alert city councilors to ongoing harassment allegations against City Manager Michael Aregano.

People who supported Cicero City Manager Michael Aregano, like Tony Borrio, called for due process and closure of the investigation.

What happened to due process? Calling for his resignation before the matter has been investigated and resolved is not the way to go.

Councilors said they were counting on support for Aregano because they felt it was a departure from the larger issue.

They are asking Aregano to work from home as the investigation into his workplace conduct concludes.

Councilors on the Cicero board say the city manager is accusing them of waging a smear campaign against him over the harassment allegations.

Councilman Mike Becallo insists these are narratives of distraction by the city manager.

“There are allegations made against the supervisor, and instead of dealing with these allegations, the supervisor decides to take action against the members of the City Council.”

Aregano said at the meeting that he strongly denies the allegations and claims that accuser Natalie VanEpps has not yet participated in the investigation, which led Aregano to request that the investigation begin.

I’m not trying to be arrogant here, but when we ask for an investigation, I expect an investigation here at City Hall with the staff, with myself, so we can get to the real truth.

Councilwoman Ashley Hogan responded to Aregano with, “But to be clear, you have already decided to continue coming to the office every day.” Hogan asked Aregano if his coming into the office compromised the integrity of the investigation, to which Aregano responded, “Absolutely not . You know, Mrs. Hogan, I’m not going to go into that.”

Afterward, Aregano supporters shouted at city councilors, saying he was doing his job by coming to work every day and not working from home throughout the investigation.

But Hogan feels it compromises the investigative process.

Unfortunately, he still comes to the office every day with his current city employees and I think that is having an impact on the investigation.

At the end of the meeting, Aregano again called for an investigation to be opened and for the city government to stay out of the process.

“This has nothing to do with the city administration. The process must be in place. Why is the board involved and why is only Mr. Karp (a city councilor) having these conversations behind the scenes?”

Aregano then thanked him, recommended closing the meeting, and left the building.

City officials say they will continue to be transparent about this investigation at future City Council meetings and provide updates to the community.

Both sides could agree that this investigation should be completed soon in the best interests of the neighbors in Cicero.