To the Editor:

The hearing Monday night for a local law proposed by the Berne Town Board was truly eye-opening. The large crowd in the Berne-Knox-Westerlo High School auditorium was treated to the blatant and unconstitutional behavior of the town supervisor, Dennis Palow, while the rest of the board looked passively on.

While disgusted by that, I was happily surprised to see that the vast majority of the audience agreed with me that the local law to “maximize” the use of town roads for ATV use would be a disaster.

After supervisor Dennis Palow adamantly warned the audience to respect speakers or face removal by sheriff’s deputies also present, he wildly disrespected the first person who tried to speak. Palow stood up, leaned over the table for the board, and shouted for the deputies to remove the person before he had uttered 10 words.

Two of the deputies obeyed him. The audience went into an uproar. When calm was finally regained, many people did have their say — overwhelmingly against the proposed law.

Palow clearly abused his office, but I question the actions of the deputies as well. Why did they not address Palow who was causing the disturbance? They enabled the silencing of a peaceable citizen’s right to speak.

At the end of the hearing, the supervisor and one other member of the board tried to excuse the clearly unconstitutional and unacceptable behavior apparently related to an encounter some years ago between Palow and past Berne supervisor, Kevin Crosier. Responsible and competent public officials do not carry their grudges into the public domain.

Nor is there any reason to ignore the lack of judgment on the part of the deputy sheriffs. They were there not to serve a dictatorial public servant but to ensure everyone’s, including Mr. Crosier’s, right to the safe expression of constitutionally protected speech.

The Albany County Sheriff would do well to brief his deputies on the Bill of Rights before sending them out to police public gatherings.

Mary Ann Ronconi

Berne