RAUCOUS IN ROCHESTER: LARGE, LOUD CROWD SHUTS DOWN MEETING
By Joshua M. Rinaldi, Freeman staff 02/02/2007
ACCORD - A capacity crowd in the Rochester Town Hall - and more people outside honking their horns - became too rowdy for the Town Board to handle Thursday night, and the board's monthly meeting was adjourned after only 20 minutes.
More than 100 people came to the meeting, many to protest what they believe was unfair treatment by the board of town resident Manuela Mihailescu, a candidate for the town's Historic Preservation Commission.
Mihailescu claims that, during an interview with the board last week, she was accused of being associated with a pornographic Web site. She says the allegation - which the board told her was based on an Internet search of her name - is false and that she was targeted by the mostly Democratic body because her husband, Jon Dogar-Marinesco, is active in town Republican politics.
Carl Chipman, chairman of the Rochester Republican Club, rallied fellow GOP members to come to Thursday's meeting to protest Mihailescu's treatment. The meeting was called for 7 p.m., but people began showing up at the Town Hall on Scenic Road in Accord more than an hour earlier. When the doors opened at 6:30 p.m., more than 30 people had gathered.
At 6:50 p.m., two state troopers shut the doors to the building, saying the meeting room already had exceeded its maximum occupancy of 78 people. When the meeting began at 7 p.m., a few dozen people were standing outside. Some went to their vehicles and began honking their horns, keeping up the noise for about 10 minutes.
Councilman Ronald Santosky, a Republican, motioned that the meeting be moved to a larger venue, but nobody on the board seconded the motion, so no vote was taken.
Councilman Alex Miller, a Democrat, told the crowd to remain orderly and warned that he would motion for the meeting to be adjourned if they did not.
"This is a Town Board, it is not a political rally," he said. "Public comment is a privilege, not a right. We have an agenda we need to follow today."
Rod Futerfas, the town attorney, said the board could not discuss details of the Jan. 24 meeting with Mihailescu unless she signed a waiver, because it happened in an executive session. Mihailescu declined to sign anything, saying she already had made the matter public by talking to newspaper reporters.
Members of the board this week have either declined to comment on Mihailescu's claims or failed to return a Freeman reporter's calls.
Imre Beke Jr., chairman of the Rochester Conservative Party, said the board's actions were disgraceful. Futerfas responded that Beke had only one side of the story.
"Your points would be better taken if you knew what the heck went on," the attorney told Beke.
Beke said the Town Board works for the public, not the other way around. The room then erupted in applause and yelling, prompting Miller to motion for the meeting's adjournment.
Town Supervisor Pamela Duke had to bang her gavel to quiet the room before the motion to adjourn was approved.
The board's next scheduled meeting is in March. Chipman said he will try to rally a similar crowd for that session.
Accord resident Alysse Ricks, who was stuck outside during Thursday's meeting, said the board sidestepped the public's outrage by first refusing to let everyone in and then ending the meeting.
"Isn't the way of America that we can all be in a public meeting?" she asked.
Accord resident Don Dunn thought the display on Thursday was more about politics than moral outrage. And he blamed Republicans, saying they're upset that they hold only two of the five seats on the Town Board.
"If (Mihailescu) has a case, all she had to do was get a lawyer and sue someone," he said.
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