I would imagine that some of you have read the newspaper articles which are linked to on various blogs and forums. On the other hand, the overwhelming majority of people have no idea that this is happening in a small town in upstate New York. So, to get everyone up to speed, here's a synopsis of what's going on:
On January 24, Manuela Mihailescu was called to an interview with the Town Board of the Town of Rochester regarding her application to a position on the Historical Preservation Commission. The interview was held in Executive Session, closed to the public. This is standard procedure for such interviews throughout New York State.
What is not standard is what Manuela said happened during the interview. She says she was confronted by the Town Board and told that they found signs during a web search on her name that she was involved with a porn site. She says they then showed her printouts of photos from this site she is alleged to be involved with.
As anyone knows, almost any search you do on the Internet will bring up some porn, somewhere. That is, obviously, not a sign that the person whose name is searched for has anything to do with the site found!
An interesting tidbit is that Manuela's husband was recently denied a position on the Town's Business Development Committee. Rather than first interviewing him in Executive Session, members of the Town Board openly stated that his activities and writings as the Republican Club's Webmaster made him ineligible for this position. They later voted not to appoint him to the Committee.
With a good portion of the Town up in arms over Manuela's treatment, about 200 of us showed up at the Town Meeting Thursday night. That was the start of the festivities. The Town Hall has a legal occupancy of 78. When I counted about 15 minutes prior to the start of the Meeting, there were 75 people in the room with more coming in. The single ideological Republican on the Board moved that Meeting moved to a larger venue. The Town Garage, which is attached to the building, could have held us all as could have the Fire House, which is about a mile away. His motion was not even seconded as a courtesy to allow the motion to be discussed, much less voted on.
Before the actual commencement of any business, the Town Board informed us that "Public Comment is not a right but a privilege granted at the sufferance of the Town Board." The hundred or so people locked out of the Hall began honking their horns rather persistently, to which a Town Councilman reacted by telling us (inside, who had no control over what was happening outside) that if the honking doesn't cease, he would move to adjourn the Meeting.
The Town Board then invited two young men and their families in to give them an award for saving their friend's life. It was a heartwarming tribute and demonstrated what was best about small town America. If only we had been able to continue in that vein.
Manuela asked to make a statement, but the Town Attorney began cross-examining her about whether or not she would waive her rights by signing a waiver that her attorney had not had the opportunity to review. After several minutes of trying to get a yes or no answer from her while she tried to give a broader answer, the Attorney was harshly criticized by the audience and allowed Manuela to read her statement.
At that point, Public Comment was opened, but not until the Town Attorney stated that the Town Board could not speak of what happened in Executive Session until Manuela waived her rights in writing. Furthermore, we were told, the Board "was not interested in having a one-sided conversation".
Being that I am the Chairman of the Town's Conservative Party (I'll explain about the peculiarities of New York's party system in a later post), I often find myself allying with local Republicans against the ultra-liberals who have recently come to power in Town. Usually, I'll speak my mind at a public meeting, forcefully, but with respect for the elected officials of our Town, despite my strenuous disagreements with their policies.
This time, I was given the privilege of the floor and began to criticize the manner in which this issue was being handled that evening at the Town Board Meeting, not the Executive Session. After my first sentence, the Town Attorney (who apparently had taken over the duties of presiding over the meeting from the Town Supervisor), interrupted me and made it clear that I would not be permitted to continue. I replied that Robert's Rules of Order did not permit him to rule me out of order. He shot back that Robert's Rules of Order did not allow discussion of Executive Session materials. (Robert's makes no such reference and I was not discussing Executive Session proceedings.) I then made it clear to the Town Board and Attorney that they answered to the people, we do not answer to them. I further stated that "This is our house and we will be heard."
The Town Board quickly moved to close the meeting.
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