“Apologize profusely, change your attitude, resign immediately, and retire forever from public life.”
That’s the demand Cobleskill Highway Superintendent Tom Fissell emailed to Mayor Mark Nadeau and Supervisor Tom Murray, charging them with using words like “nigger” and “spooks”.
Both Mayor Nadeau and Mr. Murray deny the charges.
“Anyone who knows me, knows better than that,” said Mr. Murray, who said he has no intention of resigning.
“I have no idea where this is coming from at 11pm at night.”
Mr. Fissell’s email—also sent to the rest of the village and town boards—went out at 11:07pm last Wednesday following an unadvertised town workshop meeting.
In it, he charges:
• That Mayor Nadeau “mocked President Barack Obama’s slogan of ‘Change,’ stating that the ‘N’ stands for ‘nig-er,’ ” and describing himself as “being treated like a ‘nig-er’ ” at the town barn.
• That Mr. Murray called Martin Luther King Jr. Day, “that nig-er day,” and called several African-Americans waiting at a Cobleskill bus stop “spooks.”
• That Mayor Nadeau has repeatedly confronted longtime Highway Department employee Donald Dawson, an African-American, pressuring him to take more time off.
“Anyone with the smallest shred of common sense can piece this all together and see what we are dealing with: An ingrained culture of bigotry and racism,” Mr. Fissell wrote.
In an interview Thursday, Mr. Fissell said he wrote the email because he wasn’t satisfied with the town’s reaction Wednesday to his accusation that Mayor Nadeau intimidated Mr. Dawson into taking 32 hours of “comp” time while both Mr. Fissell and Deputy Highway Superintendent Jeff Eckler were away.
“I want people to know how they operate,” he said. “Shame on me if I let this go.”
Friday, Mayor Nadeau said there’s no basis to Mr. Fissell’s allegations of racism.
“If there’s racism, it’s racism against the working man,” Mayor Nadeau said.
“I can’t believe he would take advantage of a longtime employee [Mr. Dawson]. I treat all employees equally and fairly.”
Mayor Nadeau said it was at Mr. Murray’s request that he stepped in while Mr. Fissell and Mr. Eckler were gone.
His concern over comp time, he said, has everything to do with the taxpayers and nothing to do with race, and he said he raised the comp time issue with other employees—not just Mr. Dawson.
“Tom is being held accountable now and he doesn’t like it,” Mayor Nadeau said. “I understand that he’s feeling the heat.”
Mayor Nadeau took the step of calling a meeting of village department heads Monday, where Mr. Fissell’s email was made available for anyone who hadn’t seen it; most had.
“I assume you’ve all gotten this email that’s floating around the community,” he said.
“I can assure you this much: The allegations are false…I run an open door policy…anyone can come talk to me.”
Both in his email and an interview Thursday, Mr. Fissell called the racism in Cobleskill government pervasive
The timing of the email, he said, was prompted by the town’s unwillingness to take seriously Mr. Dawson’s fear that he would lose his job or home for reporting Mayor Nadeau’s “intimidation.”
“I’ve worked for 14 supervisors and mayors and 39 councilmen and trustees,” Mr. Fissell said. “No one has ever uttered the ‘n’ word. Ever, ever, ever—let alone once every other day. The atmosphere is pervasive…Just connect the dots.”
Six months ago, the village and town merged their Highway Departments, making the single department the town’s responsibility.
Saying it’s a personnel matter, Mr. Murray refused to even name Mr. Dawson, but said he’s asked the Joint Highway Committee to meet with town attorney Mike West.
“I have not received a complaint from the employee,” he said. “I can’t take action if there is no complaint. He [Mr. Dawson] and I are great friends.”
“Why he [Mr. Fissell] would do this…Our responsibility is to this employee. He can do everything.”
Mr. Fissell is hoping going public with these charges will prompt a public outcry at the next town meeting.
He has also promised to contact the state Department of Labor for advice on how to proceed with formal charges, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and prominent members of the local African-American community.