Three out of seven members of Port Chester's Village Board of Trustees were removed Friday because they failed to sign their oaths of office when re-elected.

Residents are now raising the issue of how the removals may affect votes the board has already made.

One such controversial vote was the decision to lay off firefighters in the village.

Brett Lyons, who had been a Port Chester firefighter for five years, is now petitioning to get his job back. He lost it two weeks ago when the village trustees passed a budget that included laying off eight full-time firefighters to save money.

Two of the three trustees removed Friday had voted in opposition to the layoffs.

Mayor Dennis Pilla says that under the state's public officers law, positions become vacant if office holders don't file oath within 30 days of taking the job. 

"If a public officer acts in good faith to make decisions, and there's a defect in the status, their decisions remain valid," Pilla says.

Either way, the mayor says he plans to reinstate the three trustees next week.