The Observer has learned that Jon Lemelin, the white male who has self-appointed himself as leader of the Town of Niskayuna's Racial Equity Task Force, has called a second secret meeting of the group. This time, violating the spirit of the state’s Open Meeting Law by telling the Task Force's members that only seven of them may participate - thus avoiding a quorum in an attempt to skirt legal requirements that the meeting be open to the public, and that minutes of the meeting be kept for taxpayers to review.
As you may recall, last week, Lemelin called a meeting of the Task Force's entire 15-person membership under the guise of socializing, a clearcut violation of the Open Meeting Law.
Lemelin summoned only six of the task force's members to last night's meeting in a cynical attempt to avoid falling under the Open Meetings Law's jurisdiction by lacking a quorum. This is despite having called the meeting for the purpose of preparing the task force's business, which the Court of Appeals has held should be subject to public scrutiny in Orange Pub. v. Newburgh, affirming the Appellate Division in finding that "every affirmative act of a public official as it relates to and is within the scope of one's official duties is a matter of public concern" and that "it is the entire decision-making process that the Legislature intended to affect by the enactment of [the Open Meetings Law]" (60 AD 2d 409, 415).
Lemelin's decision to hold another meeting is particularly shocking given that he has bragged to town residents of having convinced the Daily Gazette that “there’s nothing to see here” regarding his first illegally convened meeting. It is also took place amidst the continued outcry demanding the removal of all white members of the task force, as detailed in last week's article, and rumors of a new, thus far unidentified effort to sue the town over the racial quotas outlined in Councilwoman Rosemarie Jaquith’s resolution establishing the Task Force (Resolution 2020-189).
The week's events have left many puzzled, as they so directly contradict Lemelin's past statements on government transparency and the Task Force's leadership. Just two weeks ago, in a letter read at a public session of July 28th's Town Board meeting, Lemelin said that he "believe[s] that this task force should be led by People of Color, specifically African-American members of our community," but within days he was scheduling secret meetings and maneuvering to take over the Task Force. Why the sudden sea change on such a basic and fundamental issue?
The secret meetings, and calculated attempts to undermine the state's Open Meetings Law, also come in sharp contrast to the image Lemelin cultivated for himself as a government transparency activist throughout 2019, when he spoke at Town Board meetings in June, July, and November to demand various changes to the town's ethics code, criminal statutes, and meeting practices which he claimed would promote transparency, despite the suggestions falling largely outside of town jurisdiction.
Lemelin's November remarks on the topic of record keeping at Town Board meetings are particularly of note, having said "its in the interest of transparency" for the privilege of the floor remarks of non-governmental personnel "to be documented in the meeting minutes", and that he "would hate to see the town go in the opposite direction and actually withdraw transparency". So to be clear, Lemelin believes that the musings of non-governmental officials must be documented in the official record for public scrutiny, but he himself convenes unannounced meetings of governmental bodies, of which no record whatsoever is maintained for the taxpayers to scrutinize?
The issues raised by this situation are numerous. Why does Lemelin continue to flaunt the law? Who appointed Lemelin - a white man - to lead this task force? Who is empowering Lemelin to take these actions, that clearly violate the spirit, and sometimes the letter, of the Open Meetings Law? And most importantly: Where are town officials and why aren’t they speaking out?
There are some good people on this task force and they want to do good work. However, the Observer questions Lemelin’s motivations. We call on the Racial Equity Task Force's membership to reject Lemelin’s (and others behind the scenes) manipulative power grab and meet out in the open. We also urge town decision makers to wake up, pay attention, do their jobs and give the Task Force a scope of work, rather than leaving them to work from Councilwoman Jaquith's brief resolution, which does not provide any guidance for Task Force members.
Protecting the interest of the taxpayers by scrutinizing a government-sanctioned group with no clear jurisdiction, which is seemingly being co-opted by a politically motivated leader who only respects the law when it’s convenient doesn’t make anyone a racist. Not doing so makes you incompetent - or worse.
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