Nick Vaugh, a Republican councilman in Ogdensburg and city manager Art Sciorra's strongest backer, will not attend tonight's City Council meeting in protest, he said in a letter provided to the media.

The Journal in Ogdensburg reports that the special City Council meeting tonight will be on whether to fire Mr. Sciorra, who was caught in a scandal over a house in which a family was able to live rent- and tax-free for a year.

Mr. Sciorra has said he was not involved in the matter, but Mayor Bill Nelson has said that the top of the management food chain is responsible for his underlings.

Sources on both sides of the fight have told me that Mr. Nelson has the votes to remove Mr. Sciorra from his post, but considering the lawsuit that Mr. Sciorra has filed, the big question will be: at what cost?

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer