Opinion published in the Townsman, April 24 2008 edition
I know you are going to think I made this up, and all I can say is go to the town clerk's office and inspect the minutes for the April 8, 2008, meeting and see for yourself. You'll find another good reason for town boards to concern themselves with potholes and building fees, and to avoid issues that belong with the United States Congress.
Here, exactly as it appears in the approved minutes of the Woodstock town board, is the beginning of the resolution urging the government of the People's Republic of China to honor the Dalai Lama's request for negotiations on the status of the Tibetan Autonomous Region:
"Offered by Councilman Collins, seconded by Councilwoman Simonson:
"Whereas the Dalai Lama of Tibet has a bond of kinship with the town of Woodstock and has made a personal visit to our community and has solidified that bond of kinship, and;
"Whereas international media and rescue organizations and democracies worldwide have called this oppression cultural genocide, and;
"Whereas some of those protests have ended in violent and deadly clashes resulting in a high death toll, and;... " etc.
Councilman Collins teaches at a college, so one may presume that he takes utmost care with language, especially when addressed to foreign governments. I can imagine the surprise of the Chinese when our town board reports to them that the "international media and rescue organizations and democracies worldwide have called the Dalai Lama's "personal visit to our community" an act of "oppression," even "cultural genocide” (the board was kind enough to send a copy of the resolution to Consul General Pen-Keyum, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China).
I had no idea. Did you? I thought the visit by His Holiness went rather well. Later in Collins' resolution he admits to have "relished" Woodstock's bond of kinship with the Dalai Lama. Will he relish the idea of cleaning up his lofty sentiment? With resolutions like this we'll be lucky to get visits from defrocked friars.
On another hard-to-believe topic, the Woodstock town board broke all records for the longest meeting in Woodstock's history. Some background first.
The April 1, 2008, meeting of the town board began at 6:30 PM with an executive session in the supervisor's office to discuss the appointment of the planning board chair, and at 7:30 returned to open session at the Community Center. Hours later there came the period set aside for public comment. A member of the public was recognized, but soon apparently forgot that it is the supervisor, not he who conducts meetings. The supervisor expressed his annoyance by abruptly "adjourning" the meeting. Everybody went home and life went on.
Or so we thought.
The following week the April 8 meeting also began at 6:30, and also in the supervisor's office. The supervisor opened the meeting and then moved for an executive session to discuss police department personnel. Something rather odd occurred, as the approved minutes testify.
At 6:30 PM, Supervisor Moran opened the meeting and immediately moved to enter into executive session. However, his motion failed. Instead the town board discussed for 45 minutes the adjournment of the previous (April 1) meeting and the fact that Councilwoman Rosenblum and Supervisor Moran had recused themselves from voting for a planning board chairman. The minutes of the meeting then declare; "At 7:15, Supervisor Moran moved to adjourn the 04/01/08 meeting seconded by Councilwoman Rosenblum."
Even the most casual student of Woodstock politics must see there is something fishy here. Let's measure the whopper.
1) Once the motion for executive session failed, the board immediately should have returned to public session for their discussion of proper ways to adjourn meetings and issues of recusal. These topics are not executive session matters. Councilman Jay Wenk, who during his campaign for office had decried misuse of executive sessions, should, if he hasn't already, issue a detailed description of this 45 minute private discussion that should have been held in public.
2) With regard to the "recusal of Councilwoman Rosenblum and Supervisor Moran," there is not one mention in the public record of such recusal. Even if there were, this is not a matter for executive session. Jay, please hurry with your report.
3) The mystery of why the supervisor was compelled to "adjourn the 04/01/08 meeting" on April 8 will never be known to the public unless Jay is serious about the executive session biz he campaigned on.
Lo, the April 1 meeting of the town board did not end until approximately 7:15 PM on April 8 after a 45 minute meeting held behind closed doors in the supervisor's office. 167 hours and fifteen minutes! Thank goodness we don't pay elected officials overtime. That was some whopper of a meeting, in every sense of the word!
Naturally, we should feel inclined to blame the supervisor for this mess. But a careful parsing indicates that a majority of the town board instigated the private, illegal gab session. After all, the supervisor originally thought he was opening the April 8 meeting, not closing the April 1. Imagine the board's majority stewing all week over the supervisor's pulling the plug on the loud mouth on April 1, since their affection for this estimable member of the public is well known.
A conclusion to be drawn, what with Woodstock being oppressed by the Dalai Lama and the town board now having private gab sessions and week-long meetings, is that there is an assertive majority on the board that does not include the supervisor. There are circumstances under which this would not be a terrible thing. But in this majority there is one who does not "relish" writing a cohesive thought, a second who will not stand up for a principle he campaigned on, and a third who has been on the board a long, long time and from whom we can expect better.
This third one, by the way, on April 15 abstained from voting on paying the monthly bills or approving the budget transfers because, she explained, she didn't have the time to look at them!
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