Ulster County Press Article No. 2

FLUSTERED DEMOCRATS RUSH TO QUELL CONTROVERSY
Chairman says concern exists "about the issues raised... and the way it was handled"
by Melissa Lajara - Ulster County Press Feb.7, 2007

The Town of Rochester's Democratic Committee, flustered by a continuing controversy and publicity nightmare for its supervisor and town board, held a hastily called unofficial meeting on Super Bowl Sunday to discuss its options — one of which, said two sources, was to offer Manuela Mihailescu a public apology and a seat on the town's Historic Preservation Commission.

Mihailescu, a member of the Rochester Republican Club and an applicant for a spot on the Commission, said last week that during a second interview for the position she was accused by members of the town board of being involved in a pornographic Web site and was shown sexually graphic photos. A day after the story first broke in the Jan. 31 edition of the Ulster County Press, the town of Rochester was scheduled to hold its regular monthly meeting. The Democrat-controlled board refused to move the meeting site after an overflow crowd swarmed Town Hall, and then abruptly adjourned the meeting after only 20 minutes, leaving residents angry and frustrated.

Sources told the Ulster County Press the Democratic Committee rushed to put together the Feb. 4 meeting at the Accord home of active Democrat Zali Win after the Feb. 1 town board meeting debacle. An e-mailed invitation to Win's home for coffee, obtained by the Ulster County Press, referred to "the recent controversy" and encouraged residents to come and "discuss some of the issues and ways that we can strengthen our community."

Democratic Committee Chairman Max Finestone confirmed that an "unofficial meeting" took place, and that residents who attended were "concerned about the issues raised by this controversy and the way it was handled, and so forth."
Neither Rochester Supervisor Pam Duke nor the five members of the town board attended the meeting.

When asked whether the Democratic Committee would ask Duke to issue an apology, Finestone said "it would be incorrect to say this is what we plan to do, or not to do... There were no conclusions reached (at the meeting). People voiced differences of opinion."

Duke is on vacation and was unavailable for comment. Messages left for Win at two different numbers were not returned by press time Tuesday. Democratic Town Councilman Tony Spano said he was unaware that any meeting had taken place.

Reached Tuesday, Mihailescu said that she would still accept the Commission position if it is offered to her, but said an apology would be "too little, too late."

"I totally lost my trust in them as leaders," she said. "Even in a relationship or a marriage, when you lose the trust you lose everything."

Mihailescu has received a groundswell of support from local residents, most of whom are Republicans. However, the board of the Kerhonkson-Accord Chamber of Commerce, led by President Lolly Chase, also drafted a letter supporting Mihailescu and her husband, who are both local business owners.

"The fabric of our community can only be one of harmony if all voices are allowed to sit at the table," reads the letter. "Not to do so only fuels mistrust in the town board."

Prior to the Feb. 1 town board meeting, Republican Club President Carl Chipman mailed out 2,000 glossy fliers asking residents to come and respond to the allegations and call for the resignations of the town's largely Democratic board members.

About 200 people showed up and the building quickly exceeded its 78-person capacity. State troopers manned the doors at the behest of the town board and kept more than 50 people outside, many of whom shouted and honked car horns. Ron Santosky, the only Republican on the town board, made a motion to move the meeting to a larger venue, but it was not seconded. He said later that members of the board and Duke made a decision earlier that day not to move the meeting. Other capacity meetings have historically been moved to the local firehouse or a large municipal garage.

The town did issue a release saying it is not able to give its account of what happened until Mihailescu signs a document waving her right to confidentiality, which she said she will not do. The town also said in its release that conducting the Feb. 1 meeting became impossible "because of interruptions from persons who wished to turn the routine meeting into a political rally: There are times and places for such activities, and we embrace their right to free expression, however, when town business cannot be discussed with mutual respect, and when the public's physical safety is threatened, the choice to adjourn was an obvious one."

Chipman said he has filed a request with the New York State Committee on Open Government to determine whether it was acceptable for the board to refuse to move the meeting.

Kurt Kortright, a resident who attended the town board meeting, brought a hand-held camera outside to record the protests but was told by state police to turn his camera off. Although protests and blaring horns could be heard for well over 10 minutes, there were no arrests at the meeting.

But it was adjourned following commentary from Rondout Valley School Board member Imre Beke, who said the board would have to answer to its citizens. "They didn't think the opinion of their neighbors was important enough to move one mile" he said later.

"I'm guessing 90 percent of the people who came here, came on (Mihailescu's) behalf," said Accord Fire Commissioner Wayne Gray, who attended the meeting.

Resident Don Dunn, a Democrat, was also there, and said he thinks the controversy takes away from the real business of the board running and improving the Town of Rochester. "Let them just do their job," he said.

Finestone agrees, and said he's hoping the controversy will be soon laid to rest. "This is an unfortunate and divisive situation," he said, "which I hope can be resolved quickly so that the town board can move on with the important work it has to do."

He said that at a meeting of the Democratic Committee set for this coming Sunday, the Committee will "discuss what happened and the input and ideas expressed."