The Prattsburgh Town Board meeting on June 17 was disturbing for several reasons. For one thing, information given by the town attorney, John Leyden, was so confusing that I am still trying to figure out whether I am missing something or he was being deliberately misleading. On a personal level the other disturbing thing was the way Supervisor Harold McConnell behaved when an audience member lunged for my camera and nearly broke it.
The meeting started out like most meetings do – old business, new business, committee reports, etc. Then the board went into executive session to discuss lawsuits. Forty-five minutes later, when the public was allowed back in, we learned that the Board had decided to table voting on the Eminent Domain Resolution which Mr. Leyden had drawn up. We couldn’t actually find out what it was that the Board was going to be voting on because they wouldn’t tell us. Specifically, Mr. Leyden couldn’t or wouldn’t tell us.
It is disturbing that a vote on eminent domain was on the agenda in the first place, considering that the majority of Board members had not read any of the public comments. Mr. Leyden maintained there isn’t much to read because most of the comments have nothing to do with eminent domain. When pressed, he said that comments had been written about windmills. I pointed out to him that the town has to prove public purpose in order to legally condemn property and that is why people were writing about windmills and their unproven public benefit. Nevertheless, he did not rescind his advice to the Board to just skip comments about windmills.
At around this time, the man two seats down from me became agitated and interrupted to say that the problem is with the seven people that won’t sign leases. He maintained that they have to sign leases. Mr. McConnell agreed with him. Then this guy, whose name I haven’t been able to find out, lunged for my video camera and said he didn’t want his picture taken.
When people in the room protested at his action, Mr. McConnell took the opportunity to launch into a “You people” speech aimed, presumably, at the people in the room who have questioned the wind projects in general and eminent domain in particular. While admitting that I had the right to videotape the proceedings, Mr. McConnell said it was all right for the man to lunge at me.
I won’t be naïve and say that I don’t understand the man’s feelings. He was angry and instead of using his words (as we tell the four year olds) and asking me to turn the camera away from me, he tried to break it. I’m actually not as upset with him as I am with the Supervisor, who should have not allowed violence of any type to occur in the meeting room. The fact that he condoned it speaks to the atmosphere of fear and intimidation that has insinuated itself into politics in Prattsburgh for too long.
People in Prattsburgh have learned that if they speak up there may well be consequences – in this case, the Supervisor allowed an audience member to assault me and told me it was my own fault.
Papparazzi who swarm rock stars routinely have their cameras smashed, and the rock stars are brought to court. Well, I’m a (nearly) 60 year old woman – not a paparazzi, and the middle aged creep who grabbed for my camera was certainly no rock star, but Mr. McConnell has an obligation to the people in Prattsburgh to make sure that intimidation is not a part of public proceedings. If he can’t do that, then he needs to be dismissed.
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