Picks for panels raise concerns
Gaston says choices favor friends and disregard women
Members of Saratoga and Warren counties’ boards of supervisors are chiding their chairs over committee assignments they say are “misogynistic” and preferential to their friends.
Saratoga Springs Supervisor Tara Gaston said the annual committee assignments for Saratoga County leaders, handed out on Tuesday, were “unfortunate” and “appalling ” as they favor Chairman Todd Kusnierz’s allies, including Clifton Park Supervisor Phil Barrett.
Barrett will sit on four of 12 committees and chair two, including Health and Human Services, just a week after a member of his own town board and party accused him of not following COVID -19 protocols when he was spotted in public with a mask on his chin after he tested positive for the virus.
“It’s insane,” Gaston said. “Someone who may or may not have followed public health guidance is in charge of the health committee and making decisions for those who might feel very differently about public health.”
More concerning, she said, her city is not represented on that committee, even though the city is home to Saratoga Hospital.
“It’s a sign that this particular government is not working for the residents of Saratoga Springs or the county as a whole,” she said. “It’s unfortunate.”
County business is contentious in Warren County, too, where female supervisors say they are disrespected and disregarded by leadership. Of the 14 standing committees, Chair Kevin Geraghty chose only one to be chaired by a woman. Edna Frasier will lead the Health Services Committee. She is one of five woman on the 20-member board.
Glens Falls Supervisor Claudia Braymer says some of the men on the Warren County Board of Supervisors “don’t like to let go of their powers and they definitely don’t want to let go to a woman.”
“Last year, we had our first female chair,” Braymer said. “There were a few men who gave her a horrendous time. At one of the board meetings, I lost my cool and said I don’t know how to explain this behavior of some of our members of the board other than it seems to be misogynistic. A couple of weeks later, one of the board members brought forth a motion to censure me for my comments. That was the epitome of misogyny. I call it out and I get punished for it.”
The relationship between Geraghty and Johnsburg Supervisor Andrea Hogan has grown so toxic that on Tuesday she quit as chair of the county’s special American Rescue Plan Act committee.
“In light of the lack of communication, I can only conclude that the current chairman plans to continue this treatment of me,” Hogan wrote in an email on Tuesday. “I have not been told what precipitated the behavior, but I don’t think I have to label it, we all know what it is. I do not say these things to embarrass or threaten anyone, only to illustrate my decision-making process.”
She went on to say that Geraghty, the Warrensburg supervisor, has “consistently been disrespectful” to her.
“He has been so discourteous and demeaning, most particularly in committee meetings he chaired in 2021, that, unsolicited, my family and members of the public who witnessed this, remarked on it,” she wrote. “Their concern led me to go so far as to seek counsel and review the county’s policies on discrimination and harassment and to put the county administrator on notice.”
Both Kusnierz and Geraghty dismiss the accusations from female supervisors and emphasized that the appointments are their prerogative.
Kusnierz also said that Barrett has been falsely accused and it is his “firm belief that it would be a disservice not to name him chair” of the Health and Human Services Committee.
“Supervisor Barrett brings an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience after 24 years of service to the residents of Clifton Park and Saratoga County,” said Kusnierz who hails from Moreau. “There is no better fit than to have him as chair of the health committee.”
Barrett also denied he disregarded COVID -19 safety guidance when he tested positive on Monday, Jan. 10, and was out in public on Thursday, Jan. 13, when the town was handing out test kits.
“Thankfully, the county does not make decisions based on false narratives and misinformation,” he wrote in an email. “It’s all hands on deck. Help the team or get the hell out of the way.”
Gaston was relegated to one committee assignment, Real Property Tax. She said the appointment was meant to marginalize her as the city of Saratoga Springs does not participate in the program.
“They are being very transparent with what they are doing,” Gaston said. “They don’t care.”
Kusnierz shot back that Gaston is engaged in “political theater.”
“Someone should remind the supervisor that she is a county supervisor and she should be concerned with the business of county residents not just focused on the city of Saratoga Springs,” Kusnierz said.
As for Geraghty, he said he had no comment on Hogan’s resignation from the special committee. He also said he created the standing committee assignments “to the best of my abilities.”
“I chose the right people for the job,” Geraghty said. “I don’t know what to say about that.”
Geraghty said that if supervisors don’t like the committee assignments “that makes me a bad person.”
“That’s a shame,” he added.
He also said if Hogan called him, he would call her back, and he doesn’t hate women.
“I’m married,” he said. “I’m not misogynistic. I don’t know what to tell you. It’s an awful charge.”
Hogan is not so sure. At the end of her resignation email, she urged all of the supervisors to take Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training.
“We have a problem, folks, and it is getting worse,” she said.