To the Editor:

The public hearing held on Feb. 20 regarding the proposed town of Berne ATV law was certainly interesting.

It was heartening to hear so many residents express their appreciation for Berne’s rural environment and beauty. They spoke of the quiet, peaceful surroundings, and of the beauty of the extensive, undisturbed woodlands and fields.

Their comments reflected the results of resident surveys taken when the current comprehensive plan, adopted in 2017, was being constructed. The bucolic features of the town were then, and are now, of primary importance to them. Their strong opposition to any attempt to degrade that environment was evident at the hearing.

Supervisor [Dennis] Palow, in response, conceded more research was needed before the law would be put up for a board vote. His statement, and the concerns of those speaking, made clear that there was no thoughtful, research-based analysis of this issue before the proposed law was written.

Residents weren’t consulted, government statistics and laws weren’t studied, a true assessment of the costs and benefits wasn’t undertaken, and local services weren’t apprised of the impact it might impose on them. All of this should have been done prior to a public hearing, certainly before the board considered writing the law.

Every person who spoke did so respectfully — with the notable exception of Supervisor [Dennis] Palow.  Unprovoked, without cause, but with evident malice, he ejected Kevin Crosier from the hearing.

Mr. Palow and Ms. [Anita] Clayton, his deputy, later admitted the ejection was retaliation for something that occurred six years ago. This administration has repeatedly chosen to engage in pettiness: lashing out in response to perceived slights and indulging personal animosities, belittling the voters’ voices, and — in Mr. Crosier’s case — ignoring their fundamental rights as United States citizens.

Rather than look at their own misguided actions — their failure to pay bills on time, the computational errors in their budget, allowing town assets to crumble, the failure to comply with the comptroller’s disastrous financial report — their focus is squarely on disparaging and undoing the good done by previous administrations.

The overwhelming rejection of the ATV law by those attending the hearing was clear. But the tacit message behind many comments was equally clear: Mr. Palow and his board need to spend less time focused on previous administrations, and more time focused on governing — governing by and for the people — all of the people — of Berne.

Karen Schimmer

Berne

Editor’s note: Karen Schimmer, a Democrat, is a former Berne Town Board member; she did not seek re-election, leaving office in December 2019.