I was the Victim of Mayor Sheprow's Bulling

At the May 28th Village Board of Trustees meeting, Trustee Candidate Matt Franco referenced an incident in which a member of one of the Village’s commissions had been bullied by the Mayor. That individual was me.

At the time, I served as the Chairperson of the Citizens’ Commission on Erosion, working on the bluff restoration project. Following one of our meetings, as I was leaving, Mayor Sheprow approached me to reprimand me for a personal Facebook post I had made regarding a prior Board of Trustees meeting. She told me that, as a Commission Chair, I was not permitted to publicly comment on village matters.

I explained that I had made the post as a private resident, not in any official capacity, and had not referenced my title or role with the Commission. I pointed out that restricting me from speaking on public issues was a violation of my First Amendment rights. She disagreed, telling me to “go home and think about what I wanted to do,” and warned that if I continued to publicly comment on village matters, I would need to resign from my volunteer position.

Although I strongly believe this was an infringement on my constitutional right to free speech, I felt intimidated and chose to resign. Despite stepping down, I have continued to attend every meeting as a resident observer, always respectfully and without disruption.

Unfortunately, the bullying didn’t end there. At a recent Commission meeting, when the Mayor was asked a question by a Commission member, she looked directly at me—sitting quietly at the back of the room—and sarcastically asked, “Are you going to write about this?” When I replied that I didn’t know, she stated that she would withhold the information if I remained in the room. Later, she again refused to answer a question, saying she would not speak while “the reporter” was present. It seemed clear to me that she was trying to pressure the Commission to ask me to leave or to intimidate me into doing so myself. I stayed.

All Village Committee and Commission meetings are open to the public. When residents volunteer to serve, they are not provided with any guidelines restricting what they may say in public forums or on social media.

No resident should be treated this way. Refusing to share information at a public meeting simply because a blogger (I am not a reporter) is present is yet another example of Mayor Sheprow’s selective approach to transparency.

Selective Transparency - Not A Way To Govern

 

If this morning’s News 12 article was the first time you heard that a developer has officially submitted a request to build a four-story hotel where the GAP building is located?

If you answered “Yes,” it is most likely because our Village is governed using an approach known as Selective Transparency. 

Wayhomestudio.com (freepix.com)

Selective transparency refers to revealing some information while concealing other information. It's a strategic approach in which an organization, government, or individual chooses to be transparent about certain aspects of its operations or decisions while maintaining secrecy or opacity regarding others. 

In the case above, the May 9 Planning Board Meeting Agenda was not released on time as required by the New York Open Meeting regulations. It is required that the meeting agenda be released to the public a minimum 24 hours prior to the scheduled meeting. However, I repeatedly checked for this agenda until around noon on Thursday, and it was not posted. At that time, I assumed that the only item up for discussion at the meeting would be the posted Open Meeting for an application to allow an apartment above a home.  

To me, it appears that this little “Oh, sorry for the error or late posting” is just another example of the many times this has happened during the current administration. If it were not for News 12, many of us would have no idea about the insane proposal to rezone and allow the building of a four-story hotel in the heart of our quaint historic harbor front village.

A truly transparent leader tells the good, the bad, and the ugly and looks for input from the residents before taking action. There have been too many Closed Executive, Special, and Emergency meetings resulting in immediate action by the Board of Trustees. Using this guise allows decisions to be made without input from the Village residents and does not allow the Trustees sufficient time to study the matter adequately. 

Some examples of when selective transparency was used by our current Mayor include: Removing of the firearms from Code Enforcement Officers, a lease of the Country Club, which permanently closed the restaurant/bar making the facility a catering establishment, and moving forward with the multi-million dollar Bluff Restoration Project Phase II without a referendum. I am sure you can think of many more. 

The Mayor believes that her Commissions and Committees are staffed by residents, and since any resident can join,  it ensures transparency. These groups do excellent work and I applaud the members for their service. However, the 4 -12 member groups do not provide a valid statistical sample of the voice of people since our Village has over 8,000 residents. 

I believe the Village needs a new leader who will be transparent in all instances. We can take the good along with the bad and the ugly if we are part of the process in making these major decisions. 

We have a chance to make change happen this June 17, when we go to the voting booth. Be sure you vote and select the officials you feel will provide true transparency and who truly encourage resident input PRIOR to making major decisions. 

Author Note:

I encourage comments and discussion, but if possible, I suggest you post them on the corresponding Healthy Conversations Port Jefferson Facebook page, where this post was listed. This way, all members can join in the discussion. 

More Can Be Done To Stop Dangerous Bicycle Behavior

Background:

I have been reading and hearing numerous residents complain about young men on bicycles acting dangerously on the streets and sidewalks downtown. Some residents feel threatened. For example, one resident posted, “I was in the village yesterday when I watched 25-30 young men on bicycles block the road between the Steam Room and the ferry entrance doing wheelies and riding in circles.I then witnessed them terrorize people in Harbor Front Park by doing wheelies and riding erratically across the lawn down onto the dock.” 

Life used to be simple. You just called Code, and it was handled. But, now we need to figure out who to call, the police or Code. So I decided to ask Code this question at last night’s Board of Trustees’ Meeting. The answer I received was very different than what I read in the Village Code. 

Code’s Response: 

When I asked who to call when such an incident takes place (Code or 911), I was informed that we can call Code and they will respond and talk to the offenders. This answer is very different than what I read in the Village Code. There is a lot more that can be done at the Village level. And these additional tools need to be used to put a stop to this behavior.

Village Code Related to Bicycles:

Chapt 181 - Peace and Good Order, Art IV - bicycles 181-13 Reckless Operations of Bicycles clearly outlines what is considered “Reckless Operations of Bicycles.” So it appears that violations of this code could (and should) result in a fine and not just “being spoken to”.

According to the Code 181-13 these acts are considered a violation:

No person shall operate a bicycle:

A. Without due regard for the personal safety or the safety and rights of pedestrians and drivers and occupants of all other vehicles, and to endanger the life, limb and property of any person while in the lawful use of the streets or sidewalks or any other public or private property

.

B. Without exercising reasonable and ordinary control over such bicycle.

C. By trick riding or in a weaving or zigzag course, unless such irregular course is necessary for safe operation in compliance with the law.

D. By attaching the bicycle or themselves to any vehicle being operated upon a roadway.

E. By operating the bicycle while, at the same time, also operating a cellular phone, camera or other electronic device.

F. In or on a Village athletic field, athletic court, fenced or enclosed area in a Village park, playground area, or Rocketship Park.

More Aggressive Action When Called For:

Village Code 181-14 allows the impounding of the bicycle being used in violation of Code 183-13. 

It states: “In addition to any other penalties imposed by law, whenever a person operates a bicycle in violation of the Village Code, the bicycle may be seized by any member of the Suffolk County Police Department or Village of Port Jefferson Code Enforcement Office and impounded. A bicycle so impounded will be surrendered to the owner or, if the owner is a minor, to the parents or guardians of such minor, only upon final disposition of any charges or the payment of any fines levied for all violations of this Village Code. A complete record of each such impounding shall be kept in the office of the head of Code Enforcement.”

NOTE: Mayoral Candidate Kathianne Snaden was the Commissioner of Public Safety and worked with the Village attorneys to write this legislation and pass the new Code. She has definitely proven that the safety and well-being of village residents is one of her top priorities. 

Author’s Opinion: 

The Village Code provides adequate tools for the Village Code Office to use to set clear examples that this type of behavior will not be tolerated in our Village. Sometimes, strong actions are needed to protect the safety and well-being of the people. 

Other residents have said that they approached a Code Enforcer about this behavior and were told to “Call 911”. According to the Village Code, it is their job to use the tools available to put a stop to this behavior. I suggest you take the Code Enforcer’s name and report it to the Code Supervisor and the Village Clerk’s Office. 

As we all know, the Office of Code Enforcement has recently been revamped, so let's hope this is just a learning curve.