PERTH — Perth Councilman Byron Barker is refusing to attend town meetings over a colleague's alleged use of ethnically-charged language at a recent meeting.
The boycott is centered around allegations that Councilman Robert Fisher made a series of remarks regarding counterpart Paul Priamo’s Italian roots during a special meeting on March 15.
Barker, a corporate investigator, said that he wasn’t at the March 15 meeting in question due to a work conflict and he then skipped the board's most recent session out of discontent with the alleged incident.
“By me going to those meetings and continuing what we do every day, it says, ‘I'm okay with what you said,’” Barker said.
Fisher, who called the allegations “nonsense,” said that Barker has no right to address the matter.
“He was not there, so I don't even know why he's sticking his nose in it,” Fisher said.
The tension isn’t new. Last month, Fisher and the two other Republican councilors were at odds over the purchase of a small $72,000 dump truck per a request from Highway Superintendent David Dopp. Priamo believed the vehicle wasn’t properly equipped, Barker questioned the department’s maintenance practices and Fisher was convinced both colleagues were being unfair and failing to heed the expertise of Dopp, a longtime public official.
At the special meeting eight days later, the board rescinded its original $72,000 purchase resolution and instead approved the purchase of a different truck, at a cost of $81,645, after an executive session.
Perth Councilman Robert Fisher Jr. at a meeting on Feb. 1, 2024.
Tensions poured over at the end of the public session when Priamo called for Town Supervisor Gregory Fagan to take action over Fisher allegedly calling him two Italian slurs. (Fisher later alleged during a phone call that Priamo had called him a s—head).
The Daily Gazette Family of Newspapers reviewed an audio recording of the interaction for the reporting of this story.
“I’m going to go because I don’t want to argue,” Fisher said during the public portion of the meeting, according to the audio recording. “You never win with an Italian.” The audio briefly became muffled.
“I’m not winning with either one of you,” Fagan said.
Fisher said he doesn’t recall those remarks. The lawmaker, an auto repair shop owner and property owner, maintained that he caters to a diverse crowd of people and carries his own Italian ancestry from his mother’s side.
“Well, my girlfriend is Italian if that tells you anything, so there's no prejudice with what they're getting at,” he said during a phone call. “This is nonsense.”
Italian-Americans have been subjected to derogatory language dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s. Around that time, more than four million Italians immigrated to the United States.
Fulton County Republican Committee Chairwoman Susan McNeil condemned Fisher's public remarks. The party leader lives in Perth and is married to local judge Wayne McNeil.
“I don't care what side of an aisle you believe in and what [party] you're registered as,” said McNeil. “What's inappropriate is inappropriate and that's inappropriate behavior.”
Priamo has declined to publicly address the incident and hasn’t shown up to a meeting since March 15.
The former board of assessment review member filled the seat of outgoing Councilman Peter Betz last year. Fisher was first elected in 2019 and Barker was in 2021.
The other members of the board, Fagan and Councilwoman Gay Lewandowski, long surpass the tenures of the three members. Neither of the two Republicans responded to a request for comment.
During the meeting, Fagan and Lewandowski tried to get the two to stop fighting. She remarked that they were acting like “children.”
The publicly recorded outburst came a little over a week after Dopp shouted at Barker, who was questioning him over the maintenance of vehicles. He later apologized to the board.
Later during the same meeting, Priamo urged Fagan — without calling an executive session — to discuss concerns in another room down the hallway. He was at odds with Fagan entertaining the original $72,000 request.
Publically, Priamo threatened not to come back to meetings that night, but ultimately requested a special meeting for March 15.
Lawmakers should attend meetings whenever possible, Fisher said.
“You've got to be involved with the town,” he said. “That's what you do. You're looking out for the townspeople and their expenses.”
Barker believes that Fisher’s behavior has been unbecoming of a town official. He won’t attend a meeting until the Fulton County Republican Committee or the town investigates the alleged remarks, or Fisher steps down.
Fisher “needs to be dealt with in a respectful way, in a cordial way and in the right way,” Barker said. “I just really strongly believe he should just step down and step away from the position. That's my thought. That's my wish.”
So far, the county party hasn’t received any formal ethics complaint from Barker, according to McNeil. It’s not clear if Perth has an ethics committee.
“I just think the issue needs to be addressed and I don't think we should move on to any other business until it's addressed,” Barker said.
Fisher, on the other hand, believes it is unethical for members to publicly disclose matters of executive session in public.
Executive session allows lawmakers to exclude members of the public in order to address sensitive matters, including personnel matters and union negotiations. Councilors aren’t legally bound to conceal the details of the meeting-in-a-meeting, but it’s often frowned upon.
“They voted on it, OK, that’s fine, but they shouldn’t be bringing things into the Leader-Herald about what's going on in a closed meeting — executive meeting,” Fisher said. “That's not right.”
He compared recent discourse from Barker and Priamo to mainstream critiques of former President Donald Trump.
“Business is business and that's what's wrong with this country,” Fisher said. “They're picking at things like even with the Trump thing — picking at that man, picking at that man. He says he's fighting. He's trying to do the right thing, but that doesn't matter.”