Legislator drops effort to ban phone recordings
Ulster County Minority Leader Hector Rodriguez is withdrawing a resolution that would have prohibited county officials from secretly recording phone conversations after the measure failed to garner the support of his Democratic caucus.
For several Democratic lawmakers, the issue came down to concern over whether the policy would infringe on individuals’ rights under the law.
Rodriguez, D-New Paltz, introduced the policy after a controversy erupted over surreptitious recordings made by Ulster County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach.
In 2013, Auerbach recorded phone conversations with a county legislator, the clerk of the Legislature and a member of the public. Auerbach has said the the calls were recorded — without the knowledge of the individuals at the end — as an “experiment” to determine whether it would be helpful in the office’s audit responsibilities. He said the “experiment did not pan out” and the practice ceased.
In New York state, recording phone conversations is legal as long as one of the parties on the call is aware of the recording.
News that Auerbach had made those recordings upset county lawmakers. But the idea of a policy prohibiting what is allowed under state law didn’t sit well with members of the Democratic
caucus.
Legislator Dave Donaldson, D-Kingston, said he was concerned that the policy could prohibit individuals who are being threatened or harassed from recording those threats.
Others, including legislators Lynn Eckert, DKingston, and Tracey Bartels,
a nonenrolled voter from Gardiner who caucuses with the Democrats, said they were concerned about taking away legal rights.
Legislator Kathy Nolan, D-Shandaken, who supported the resolution, said she viewed the policy as giving to the person being recorded the right to know
their words are being preserved.
Legislators learned about existence of the Auerbach recordings after they were discovered by the director of the county Information Services Department, who shared them with County Executive Michael Hein. Hein, in turn, shared the recordings
with the Legislature’s leadership.
The Hein administration has said the recordings were discovered during an investigation into the unauthorized access by the Comptroller’s Office of administration files. Auerbach has claimed those allegations were a cover-up to distract from the “hacking”
of the comptroller’s computer files by the administration.
The Legislature has commissioned an independent investigation into the allegations of both Hein and Auerbach. On Monday, Auerbach said his office is commissioning its own investigation into the alleged breaches.