The Citizen Anti-Bias Committee hopes Cobleskill’s long summer is over.
The volunteer group forwarded what it’s calling its Discrimination/Harassment Policy to both town and village officials a few days ago.
Though she said she didn’t expect Supervisor Tom Murray and councilmen to approve it when they met last night, Tuesday, representative Susan Spivack said beforehand that she was hoping they’d come with questions.
“It’s a very comprehensive policy,” Ms. Spivack said Monday.. “Now that they’ve had some time to review it, I’d like to hear what they think.
“I think the community is very much for this. Now it’s time for them to act.”
Formed after Highway Superintendent Tom Fissell circulated emails and then audiotapes of Mr. Murray and then-Mayor Mark Nadeau using the “N-word,” the Anti-Bias Committee drew from a number of existing policies in drafting its own.
The seven-page policy combines the best of similar polices, including the Schoharie County Policy Manual and one from the New York State Conference of Mayors.
The policy begins by defining harassment as including “epithets, slurs, negative stereotyping, threatening, intimidating or hostile acts or denigrating jokes...” and calls on all elected and appointed officials to “take immediate and, if authorized, appropriate action when allegations of illegal discrimination or harassment come to their attention.”
“If this policy had been in place and properly attended to, this [the emails and tapes and all that followed] could never have happened,” Ms. Spivack said.
“Every player was in violation—including Tom Fissell.”
But rather than seeing the proposed policy as a way to “zing” the town and village, Ms. Spivack said it should be seen as a way of creating a positive work environment for everyone and a way to move forward.
For anyone found to be violating the policy, disciplinary action could include letters of reprimand, fines, loss of pay, suspension, demotion or removal from office or employment.
The policy outlines complaint procedures and establishes a 15-day period for complaints to be resolved before its turned over to the Discrimination/Harassment Committee.
There is a section listing steps for appealing any decision by the Discrimination/Harassment Committee; steps for filing an appeal are also listed.
Key to the policy’s success, Ms. Spivack said, are requirements that it be posted and reviewed annually.
“It’s not going to work if it’s just filed in a drawer somewhere,” Ms. Spivack said. “That’s the real lynchpin.”
The village expects to address the policy when it meets next Tuesday, the 19th.
“I think the community is beginning to deal with this [the events of the summer] and this is a good chance for the town and village to do the same and move forward,” Ms. Spivack added.
To help jumpstart that, the Anti-Bias Commmittee will sponsor its first public event, what it’s calling a Comm(Unity) potluck this Sunday in Center Park from 2-6pm with games for kids and adults.
All are invited to attend and bring a dish to pass that reflects their ideas about diversity.
Bring chairs, plates, cups, and silverware. The meal will begin at 3pm. Bad weather location is Golding Park Teen Town on North Grand Street.