To the Editor:
On March 7, I had the honor and privilege to be a part of history, by assisting the Albany County Sheriff’s Office in distributing COVID-19 vaccines to residents of the Hilltowns. The Albany County Sheriff’s Office, along with their volunteers, had pulled together this event in a few short days. It ran so smoothly that over 200 people were vaccinated in three hours! I want to thank them for the incredible service they provide.

On Thursday, March 4, Supervisor Lyons called me to tell me the good news that we would have 102 vaccines available to our residents and asked me to assist in scheduling appointments. Knox, Westerlo, and Rensselaerville were also called with the same news: Each of their towns would also receive 102 vaccines.

The sheriff’s office relied on the town supervisors and the town clerks to reach out to the residents to get everyone signed up. Who better than your town clerks to know how to reach the residents? I want to thank all the other town clerks who rose to this occasion and got the job done. We all know each other, have tremendous respect for one another, and are always willing to help each other in any way we can.

Within two hours of being alerted by Supervisor Lyons, I had received lists of our eligible seniors from Karen Stark and Alyce Gibbs and started making phone calls. From those lists, my own personal knowledge of residents, and all the posts on Facebook and the town of Berne website, (the post was removed Friday after 5 p.m. when the deadline expired) the word was spreading, and my list was growing.  

We were given a directive to start making appointments for residents 65 and over; however, I also thought it might be useful to compile a list of residents with comorbidities and a waiting list.

As I sat at my dining room table Thursday afternoon, and all day Friday, receiving text messages from Supervisor Lyons, and answering three phones, we were able to compile a list of 102 residents by our deadline of 5 p.m. Friday evening.

I was also told by Sgt. Poole that I would be able to add our residents with underlying health conditions, and they would also receive their vaccine. When I called one woman to give her the news, she cried and said she couldn’t wait to tell her children!  

Saturday morning, we were told we could book 50 more vaccines. Working with my lists again and coordinating the extra vaccines with the Westerlo town clerk, we were able to fill those slots and not one vaccine went to waste!

Sunday was a fantastic day — each of the 204 residents with an appointment came and received their vaccine! This was a tremendous group effort, and I cannot express my excitement in being part of a lifesaving, life-changing event for so many.

However, when I came home Sunday, I was told of Facebook posts that were posted that very day by Barbara Crosier, wife of the former Supervisor Kevin Crosier and head of the Democratic party in Berne, who also questioned the validity of the clinic and filed a formal complaint and asked to have an independent group oversee the distribution.

One of the Facebook posts stated that I had scheduled only Republicans for vaccines! WHAT!!?? I spent over 22 hours on the phone, reaching out to people to get them scheduled. I certainly did not ask one person what their political affiliation was, as it was totally irrelevant in a time of pandemic.   

How in the world would Barbara Crosier know what political affiliation an attendee had — did she stand outside and interview everyone?

To use an event so incredible and important to so many and try to make it into something deceitful and political is beyond comprehension. Mrs. Crosier had no knowledge of what took place on Sunday and felt perfectly comfortable posting information that was untrue. I will not name people who attended but I can say that people who so easily called this a political stunt were there receiving their vaccines! 

Please stand up and defend your town from the people who are truly trying to hurt it and spreading lies.  Using a resident’s unfortunate death and a vaccine event to save lives, should not be used to gain political stance.

This is a time of new beginnings and our chance to make our town healthy and whole again but it will take all of us, as a community, working together.

I am truly grateful to have been part of this event and for my time of service as your town clerk.

Anita C. Clayton

Berne Town Clerk

Editor’s note: Supervisor Sean Lyons told The Enterprise in an email this week that he posted information about the vaccine distribution on various platforms in the following order: his personal Facebook page, the town website, the Helderberg Hilltowns Neighbors Helping Neighbors Facebook page, the Helderberg Hilltowns Facebook page, and the Berne Republican Party Facebook page. “It was one of my most rewarding days and joyous for so many,” Lyons said. “Sad these people want everything to be political.”

After receiving questions from town residents concerned about the alleged politicization of the vaccine distribution, The Enterprise supplied each of those residents with the information provided by Lyons and also informed resident and former Democratic councilwoman Dawn Jordan, the moderator of the Berne Watch Group Facebook page, which is a community webpage that encourages commentary on the town’s government and other local interests, to allow her to effectively moderate the page as she saw fit.

Jordan replied, in part, that, while she was disappointed that “everything gets politicized, especially something like vaccines,” she was nevertheless troubled by “the fact that Joel [Willsey] – the lone Democrat on the Town Board – was not informed by Sean, Anita, or anyone else that the vaccines were available, which prevented him from helping in any way, looks awfully politically motivated to me. Also the fact that it was posted on the Republican party Facebook page, but no one reached out to the Democrat Committee so that they could do the same, pretty well sews up the political motivation. 

“If it were anything else,” Jordan continued, “I’d say those are perhaps weak arguments, but when you are dealing with people’s health, and a vaccine in the midst [of] a pandemic … I do think there are questions that need to be asked. I’ve been to town board meetings all over the state and I’ve never heard any board member complain that they are systematically denied important information that all the other board members are given.”

Willsey confirmed that he was not given any information about the vaccine distribution.