Executed without a shred of decency

To the Editor:

I am writing today to show my support for Cheryl Baitholts, Emily Vincent, Todd Schwendemann, and Tim Doherty, each of whom has been dismissed or demoted from town work. I am writing to support fair and honest government in Berne.

Respect must be earned. It is born of behaviors and activities undertaken for the home, office, or the community, that contribute to the well-being of those entities.

We honor those we respect. We acknowledge their contributions and welcome their involvement. We listen to them, talk with them, share information with them, and work cooperatively with them. We acknowledge and value their skills, talents, and expertise.

Berne is lucky to have many individuals deserving of our respect and appreciation.

But in January, the Berne Town Board effectively ended our former model of government and replaced it with one based on spoils and cronyism. In the course of doing so, they hurt four individuals.

These people weren’t thanked and honored; they were instead dismissed, disparaged, and disrespected.  Some of the removals were illegal, and all of them were executed without a shred of decency or common courtesy.

Two illegal examples of this pattern are the removal of Cheryl Baitholts from her position as dog-control officer and the demotion of Emily Vincent from planning board member to alternate member.

Three more egregious examples are the abrupt dismissal of Todd Schwendemann as chairman of the planning board, his replacement a man convicted of personal corruption while an officer of the court, and the removal of Tim Doherty, a career child- and family-services professional, from the youth board.

This was done without advance notice to them, without discussion with them, and without proper legal or ethical protocol. No reasons were offered to them, no acknowledgement of the fine jobs they did, no thank-you for their efforts, no appreciation of the complexity of their jobs and the skills required to complete them

They were given no opportunity to defend their roles, and instead, were simply dismissed in a public forum.

Is this how we honor those who have contributed so much of themselves to our community? Is this how we show them respect?

And while Emily and Cheryl are the most flagrant examples of an arbitrary, capricious, and insensitive disrespect, others who have volunteered their time, effort, and expertise to the town have been treated in a similar fashion.

Committees have effectively been disenfranchised, long-term members and chairs not reappointed, and their liaisons eliminated. The public has been denied the competent leadership those individuals offered.

Yes, to the victor belongs the spoils, but, we are a small community. We are friends and neighbors who work together to make our community successful. We need each other, and so, though we may not always agree with one another, we continue to value and appreciate the efforts of even those with whom we disagree.

Or at least, we have until now.

The disrespect shown to all these individuals is not only shameful, it is destructive. It will discourage even the most ardent individuals who might otherwise be inclined to give of their time and energy. No one wants to be devalued.

Yet that is exactly what this town board has done. Cheryl, Emily, and every committee member and chair not reappointed, have been treated in a cavalier, hurtful, and callous manner: devalued and disrespected.

Dwight David Eisenhower, an extraordinary general who led thousands, and our country’s 34th president, expressed his guiding principle when making tough decisions:

“I have only one yardstick by which I test every major problem — and that yardstick is: Is it good for America?”

What has happened here is not good for Berne. It has destroyed trust, politicized town government to the point of disfunction, and diminished our capacity to work together.

It is time to reinstate Cheryl, Emily and each and every person so unceremoniously dismissed. 

Karen Schimmer

Berne

Editor’s note: Karen Schimmer, a Democrat, was a member of the Berne Town Board who did not seek re-election last November. Haytham Bajouwa read this statement composed by Schimmer, here in letter form, at the February Berne Town Board meeting.

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