Grass roots political activism has scored an important victory in the town of Sidney, NY. Readers here are familiar with the background: three Tea Party activists who held positions in the town's government were on a mission to force the excavation of Islamic graves in Sidney. The issue was reported on in Huffington Post; by Keith Olbermann and Stephen Colbert; and in other national and international media sources.
Sidney residents and their supporters began to organize an effort to stop the Town Board. Within weeks, evidence of financial misconduct and other related ethical violations surfaced. A local attorney volunteered his services for the tiny Sufi settlement. (This attorney has always been a strong democratic leader, and helped me finance the return of sacred pipes to the Lakota Nation years ago.)
Many of Sidney's republican elders voiced concerns about the radical right-wing activities of Town Supervisor Bob McCarthy and two board members (who happen to be McCarthy's son-in-law and best friend). When it became apparent that they were creating serious problems for the community, pressure was placed on the Tea Partiers. Included was the letter below, which reminded McCarthy that the problem was growing:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/39195791/Village-clerk-letterOver the weekend, one board member who had previously voted with McCarthy & Co. admitted that it was a serious error. The very public pressure, and the behind-the-scenes communications, were clearly having an effect. For example, after contacting the Governor's office – something that others on this forum had assisted me in doing – I did have a private communication from his office. I doubt that I was alone in hearing from the office.
I had also heard that the town's attorney was going to try to put an end to the controversy, by deciding the town could not legally pursue it. The only question was if this announcement would be made before tomorrow's (10-14) Town Board meeting. In fact, the attorney sent a letter to the attorney representing the Sufi settlement, linked below:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/39293580/Ermeti-letter-droppongThe media has already picked up on this – and not just the local news, as evidenced by the Boston Herald article below:
p://news.bostonherald.com/news/national/northeast/view/20101013apnewsbreak_ny_town_wont_disrupt_muslim_graves/
However, this last-minute effort to avoid a public discussion on the issues raised by McCarthy & Co.'s associates will not keep area people and the media from attending tomorrow's meeting. It's not nearly enough. Not only are people intent on forcing McCarthy out of office, but there are efforts at organizing citizens to replace every elected representative who has supported him. The candidates that I've been speaking to are mainly democrats, with the only exception being an independent.
I love the smell of grass roots democracy in action! And I'm looking forward to reporting on the meeting tomorrow night.
Peace & Justice,
H2O Man
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
