As already confessed, Gossips wasn't present at last night's Board of Supervisors meeting. the following account of what happened is a press release from Columbia County Forward.
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| Photo: Columbia County Forward |
Last night, more than 150 residents from across Columbia County filled the Board of Supervisors meeting room to demand one simple thing: the right to vote. Instead, they were met with silence, stonewalling, and outright disrespect from Chairman Matt Murell and the Republican majority, who are waging a desperate, partisan campaign to deny voters the chance to decide whether to create the position of a full-time, elected County Executive. This was the most attended Board meeting in recent history.
"This is a blatant attack on our democracy," said Abbie Hodgson, an organizer with Columbia County Forward. "People took time out of their lives to show up and speak out because they believe voters, not politicians in a backroom, should decide how our government is run. Instead of listening, Murrell and his cronies are doing everything in their power to silence us."
The packed meeting was sparked by Murell and the Republican-led Board's ongoing effort to kill a citizen-driven ballot initiative that would finally give Columbia County residents a say in whether to establish a County Executive. Murell is ignoring the will of the people, relying on dubious legal technicalities and political scheming to bury the referendum.
Worse, Murell flat-out refused to explain how much taxpayer money the County is secretly spending on a high-priced lawyer to block the initiative--raising serious questions about what he's hiding.
"Why won't Chairman Murell be transparent about how much taxpayer money is being spent?" said Hodgson. "Residents of Columbia County deserve clear, honest answers from their elected officials. Trust in government depends on transparency and open communication. This is our county--not one person's to control--and the public has a right to know how their money is being used. We shouldn't be using taxpayer money on a partisan attorney to block this popular referendum."
Chairman Murell failed to include the referendum on the published agenda, so Supervisors in the minority raised it during "Other Business." But Murell quickly shut down the conversation and moved the Board into executive session--forcing more than 150 residents out of the room. Once again, Chairman Murell dodged public accountability, refused to answer questions, and chose to address the referendum only behind closed doors. Attendees were told they'd be allowed back in. But after more than an hour, Murell reopened the doors only to immediately adjourn the meeting without explanation.
The public was never given a chance to speak.
"Power rests with the people, not Chairman Murell. We're not backing down. We'll keep fighting until every Columbia County resident has the chance to vote on this critical issue. Last night was a powerful reminder of what we can achieve when our community comes together," Hodgson said.
Columbia County Forward is calling on residents to stay engaged, spread the word, and demand that Murell and the Republican leadership stop playing games with our democracy.
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| Photo: Columbia County Forward |
Clearly an issue that resonates among those of a certain age . . . did they forget to advertise on social media?
ReplyDeleteExecutive session is allowed only for specific, authorized purposes under OML. I’m curious what topic came up during ‘other business’ which would have necessitated such action.
ReplyDeleteIs there a video?
Lots of Subarus parked in the area last night with “coexist” bumper stickers.
ReplyDeleteI Kid.
Being that this has turned into a Red/Blue issue it was easy to mobilize the usual gray haired crowd that you’ll find at the weekly 7th Street protest. They’d love a chance to stick it to republicans at the local level, bringing in their “MAGA Matt” signs with them.
I hate seeing this type of toxic partisan fighting at the local level. I get it, MAGA Matt and the Republicans escalated this with their shenanigans to invalidate the petition. So the local dems are just fighting fire with fire. The people should decide at the ballot box. But all of this crap from both sides just wastes the county’s money and time and increases division. This is why many of us support reform that would hire a non-political professional executive manager. Many counties do that too, as the TU article pointed out.
It seems Murell and his group of cowboys don’t appreciate that the $179M of Columbia County Tax Payer’s hard earned money they control, actually, belongs to those taxpayers and not them. Their actions over the years, and especially recently, should anger all their constituents. Their backroom deals, lack of transparency and holier than thou approach to running our county is pathetic. Year after year Columbia County wins the most corrupt NY county award and they’re all very proud. Hopefully twice as many people show up at next month’s “not” public meeting. It’s time for competent and honest leaders to clean up their ol’ boy systems and do what’s best for ALL the residents of our county and not their chosen few. Raise your voices and get out the pitchforks!
ReplyDeleteJohn Kane- to answer your question as I was there, as Carole has reported the supervisor of Copake, Richard Wolf’s signature was invalidated by the clerk and republican board of elections commissioner.
ReplyDeleteIn the other business section of the agenda, Richard was allowed to speak to this. This opened the flood gate and every democratic supervisor that was present spoke, many specifically about the fact that the board and the county are now being sued and the first they heard about it was in the press. The republican majority did not feel it was necessary to notify them. Which is pretty outrageous.
The executive session was called to discuss the litigation which is a legitimate reason for a closed session.
Of the 150 attendees that were present, almost 100 people waited through the executive session and filed back in to close the meeting.
I agree that a partisan fight is very unpleasant, but Columbia Forward has no choice but to fight back.
This should have happened naturally with the board of supervisors agreeing to recharter the county or at least appoint a county manager. But they did not and now it has come to this.
The idea that we are not equally represented by our county government is not a partisan issue.
The argument that supervisors know their town’s needs and that we are better represented by 23 supervisors is preposterous. How am I better represented when, to use HCS’s analogy, this is the House of Representatives and I live in the equivalent of Maine?