A petition circled around Painted Post in an attempt to convince village board members to bring back former police chief, Dennis Mullen.

He was fired last week. Mullen said he was unfairly fired and is now suing the village.

“The chief was let go and he did a wonderful job,” Karen Babcock, a village resident, said.

She and another village resident, Darlene Brown, started the petition. Brown handed it to the village board.

They said it garnered more than 200 signatures, but some of that support, wouldn’t last.

“I want my name taken off that petition,” another village resident said during the public comment portion of the meeting. “A lot of things on that petition were not true.”

One board member called it outright lies.

“That same person, or persons, have started to attack me,” Trustee Brian Francis said. “Feeding fabricated lies to get that petition signed, which every one of them were fabricated lies. I want you all to know that.”

The petition said “we the undersign are concerned citizens who urge our leaders to bring back Dennis Mullen,” Babcock explained. “That’s what people signed to, and if they thought they were signing anything different, it’s not. It says it right there.”

It was joined by a list of details highlighting Mullen’s accomplishments. Now, the position is still vacant and litigation is still ongoing.

“Until we get that ironed out, we won’t be considering somebody else,” Village Mayor Ralph Foster said.

In last Tuesdays’ edition of “The Leader,” Mayor Foster said he expected to hire Noel Terwilliger, an investigator with the Steuben County District Attorney’s office for the job.

Mayor Foster said he and the board will consider the petition and look at the signatures.