With Cobleskill Supervisor Tom Murray‘s refusal to step down, councilmen—and others—are wondering how they can work with the man they no longer believe can lead.
“It’s frustrating,” said Councilman Ken Hotopp. “It’s going to be hard to get anything done.
“But legally, an elected official is responsible mainly to the people who elected him. We don’t know what else we can do.”
Mr. Murray was tape-recorded in January by Highway Superintendent Tom Fissell using the “n-word” in reference to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Mr. Fissell, who’s come under fire himself for the secret recording, also taped Mark Nadeau, who has since resigned, using the “n-word” in his successful campaign for mayor.
Mr. Hotopp said councilmen chose their words carefully when asking Mr. Murray to resign; still, he fears the issue has begun dividing the community.
“What I’m hearing people say now is that it’s a terrible situation and they feel terrible for anyone who’s in the middle of it,” Mr. Hotopp said.
“But I think this would have gone away a long time ago if Tom had just apologized. We all mess up…None of us took any pleasure in asking for his resignation.”
A report on an independent investigation into whether racism is “pervasive” in Cobleskill government—as Mr. Fissell has charged—is at least a month overdue.
But even that is expected only to suggest solutions like anti-bias training and not resignations.
After a July campaign stop in Cobleskill, State Attorney General and Gubernatorial-hopeful Andrew Cuomo promised to look into the incident but has since been silent on it.
Cobleskill Concerned Citizens, a group formed after the racist tape surfaced, has petitioned Governor Paterson to remove Mr. Murray—the only legal recourse anyone has been able to suggest; Governor Paterson’s office did not return phone calls Monday questioning the status of the petition.
Cobleskill Concerned Citizens and ACCORD representatives expect to address the county Board of Supervisors Friday.
Both groups are working together to develop anti-bias policy for the town and the village and to distribute copies of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Speak Up: Responding to Everyday Bigotry” brochure throughout the community.
Mr. Hotopp said he likes the brochure and the idea, in part because it gives people ways to address racism in their everyday lives.
“Is this a thing that exists in every community? Maybe. But that doesn’t make it right and it doesn’t mean we don’t need to deal with it,” he said.
“As councilmen, we needed to tell people where we stand and that this isn’t something [racism] that we support.”