NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — A North Tonawanda committee wants to change the city attorney position from publicly elected to mayor-appointed. Except improper filing, which the mayor feels was intentional, will keep it off November’s ballot.
This summer, a charter revision committee has been reviewing the current structure of the city attorney position and considering whether any changes would best serve the city.
WATCH: A filing error blocks a ballot proposal in North Tonawanda
North Tonawanda Mayor Austin Tylec believes those changes are necessary, especially since residents have not had a choice in who held the office for over a decade.
“We are the last municipality in New York State to have an elected attorney,” Tylec said. “It’s been an uncontested office for over 13 years.”
The current city attorney, Edward Zebulske, has been in headlines more than once. According to North Tonawanda Police, he was arrested on charges of DWI in November 2023. In February 2026, Myrtle Beach Police arrested him on public intoxication with a charge of disorderly conduct.
Since then, Tylec has publicly criticized Zebulske’s quality of work and arrests.
WATCH: North Tonawanda City Attorney arrested in South Carolina
Zebulske did not resign after his second arrest.
Still, the charter revision committee is ready to change how his position is chosen. Following public meetings, this group can propose changes to the city charter to be publicly voted on during November’s election.
The proposal would change the city attorney position from publicly elected to appointed by the mayor, then approved by city council.
In July, the commission submitted a ballot proposal to remove attorney elections to city clerk Donna Braun to forward to the Niagara County Board of Elections.
The commission said for the next few weeks, all they received from both Braun and Zebulske were questions, until Aug. 3, which was the Board of Elections’ submission deadline, when the proposal was submitted.
However, three days later, the Board of Elections said the clerk’s submission was incomplete and could not be placed on the November ballot.
“The Board of Elections indicated that a standard certified text form was not included, more or less a cover letter, something that goes on hundreds of documents throughout the year,” Tylec said. “[Braun and Zebulske] got way more involved than they should have been.”
Tylec said that this wasn’t Braun’s only submission to the Board of Elections this summer. She submitted another proposal in June for a separate community center proposition with no issues.
“That proposition did have a proper certified text form, so it raised a lot of questions as to why this proposition did not have that,” Tylec said.
I reached out to Braun but never heard back.
Zebulske believes a different reason led to denial. He told me in a lengthy statement that the mayor and committee worked “without public notice, a public hearing and holding multiple meetings in secret."
You can find the Charter Revision Committee’s meeting minutes and agendas here on the city's website.
Tylec says the commission is now debating between a special election or waiting until next November for a public vote on this proposition.
You can read the entire statement sent to me by Zebulske here:
On June, 2 2026 the Mayor created a Charter Revision Committee to examine the Charter for the City of North Tonawanda. Louis DalPorto was named as the Chairman of this Committee. On July 17, 2026, Mr. DalPorto sent a letter to Donna Braun the Clerk/Treasurer for the City of North Tonawanda requesting a proposed amendment to the City Charter be filed with the Niagara County Board of Elections for placement on the November ballot.
The proposed Amendment was as follows: “Shall the North Tonawanda City Charter be amended to provide that the City Attorney shall be appointed by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by the Common Council, effective January 1,2027?”
Mr. DalPorto went on to request the following:
“In addition, please obtain a written opinion from the Office of the City Attorney confirming
whether the proposed amendment and ballot proposition are in proper form and whether all legally required preconditions have been satisfied for submission of the proposed amendment to the voters. Please transmit a copy of that written opinion to the undersigned, on behalf of the Committee, by August 3, 2026.”
As Mr. DalPorto requested my opinion on the matter, I reviewed the proposal and requested
information from Mr. DalPorto in a letter dated July 27, 2026. I requested the dates and minutes of all meetings of the Committee, the dates and publication of any public notice of these meetings, the attendance of the members at the meetings, correspondence between Committee members and any motions and voting results. At no time did I receive any of this information.
The Charter Revision Committee is a public body and subject to NYS Public Officers Law, aka Open Meetings Laws. As such, the public is entitled to public notice of such meetings. At meetings there should be minutes, attendance, resolutions and votes, etc. Without these, the actions taken by the Committee at these meetings are not valid and the proposed amendment is not proper. In addition, a proper charter review should include a public hearing, a review of the entire charter and a public report accompanying its proposal and an explanation as the decision to leave other provisions of the charter unchanged.
I relayed this opinion to Mr. DalPorto on July 30, 2026. In response, the Committee attempted to hold a public meeting on August 3, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. in an attempt to justify their proposal. Note that August 3rd was the deadline to submit the proposal to the Board of Elections. This meeting was held with less than 72 hours notice and there was no public attendance. Subsequent to this meeting, Donna Braun submitted the information to the Board of Elections, however, she still lacked much required information to rightfully certify this proposal. On August 6, 2026 the Niagara Board of Election Commissioners, Democrat and Republican, rejected this proposal as not proper.
The Mayor and his Committee attempted to sneak through a significant proposed change to the City’s Charter without public notice, a public hearing and holding multiple meetings in secret. That is why this proposed change was rejected.
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