The town board is again staging a power play along party lines with a clearly disruptive move to exclude Mr. Strough. Yet, John Strough has worked for Queensbury and its residents for years with his board members without politicking his leadership. Mr. Metiver had enough self respect to resist and reject the shenanigans years before, and now, at a time of divisive and dishonest attacks on democratic processes, he joins the herd. The scent of power is seductive. Unfortunately, some people get used to the stench.
Thank you for highlighting the Light Brigade. They are consistently and tirelessly fighting to spread the message for human decency.
The weird thing is that Metivier is term limited out by a resolution he helped pass years ago. In fact, he is currently only serving because he was “grandfathered” to serve beyond the term limit.
I doubt Tony will seek any other public office. I don’t get it.
Queensbury Ward 4 councilman Tim McNulty is also Queensbury Republican Party Chair.
It is a conflict of interest, but I doubt many voters know, and probably few care.
I has repercussions. When Rachel Seeber resigned as Qby county supervisor McNulty pushed Hilary Stec (Dan Stec’s former wife) to fill the vacancy. That appointment lasted only briefly but long enough for Stec to collect several paychecks while missing a number of meetings. After that they didn’t push to fill the seat until the election which was still months away.
People should know another thing about Queensbury, out of 20 or 21 seats on the Zoning Board of Appeals, Planning Board, Town Board, and county board of supervisors there is only 1 woman serving - Kimberly Bullard who sought appointment to the Planning Board last year with no thought of seeking higher political office. There are roughly 15,000 women living in Queensbury and you can count the number of women who served in one of those positions in the last decade on your fingers. Possibly only one hand. I can only think of 5 off the top of my head, but I might be forgetting someone. Sometimes the rate of women serving in those representative offices is zero.
That is appalling. All the other municipalities in Warren County have a rate of 20%-40% representation by women. What is wrong in Queensbury?
As former chair of the Queensbury Democratic Committee I paid close attention to the workings of the town. About a year before I ran for public office I resigned my political office - because in general it is wrong for someone with obligations to an office in a political party to serve in public office. I make exception for cases in very small towns where a political committee might consist of a few people, but Qby is not one of those towns and the Republicans here have no qualms about those sorts of conflicts. In fact, 3 recent Republican chairs McNulty, Ferone, and VanNess all served in elected office concurrent with town and maybe even county chair positions. VanNess, a retired police officer, pushed out a woman who had been serving as deputy election commissioner in order to be appointed as commissioner - a well paying job for a retired guy.
I should clarify about the replacement of Rachel Seeber, there was a process to choose a replacement. I believe 6 of us interviewed with the town board to fill the seat. Hilary Stec was the only Republican, clearly because she was chosen in the Republican town committee to be seated. The other candidates were 2 Conservative Party candidates;Travis Whitehead and Jim Dobkowski; and 3 Democrats, Dave Strainer, Robin Larkin, and myself.
So when Ms Stec resigned within 6 weeks or 2 months it seemed logical that the town board would simply go back to the candidates who had so recently interviewed, ask if they were still interested, and choose from among them.
It was my opinion that any one of the candidates would have capably served for the roughly 9 months left in the term.
But the Republican town board members at that time apparently felt it wasn’t important to fill the seat leaving Queensbury under represented on the county board for that period of time - six times longer than the wait to fill the currently open seat on the town board.
Call me cynical but I believe they simply did not want to fill the seat because none of the other candidates were Republicans and all but one had expressed the intent to seek the office in the election.
Shining light on this will help for sure - and I would imagine someone who has the ability to make that light brighter could possibly cause a little discomfort. As John Lewis said "Make good trouble"!!
Republicans definitely have a plan and this garbage has to be stopped at the town level. It trickles up from these local positions and impacts our politics from the roots up. I've always like Mr. Metivier and thought of him as an honest fellow. Most likely because in year's past, that was how he functioned and I go by actions not words. I'm disappointed that there is less of a fuss over this situation because it is obviously a sneaky maneuver consistent with the present republican party under Trump.
You will be pining for the days of Tony Metivier as his term ends at the close of 2025. The candidate who wants to replace Tony attended the RNC and had a photo op next to a life sized cut out with Donald Trump's head and the body of young Sylvester Stallone complete with camouflage pants, straps of ammo adorning his bulging chest muscles and carrying an AK-whatever weapon of war. The candidate who wants to replace Tony Metivier attended the Memorial Day parade in a red, white and blue outfit, cowboy hat with rhinestones that read "Trump" and carrying a large Trump flag with flagpole. Mind you, this was Memorial Day, a day that honored our fallen heroes. Should have been a day she left her Trump outfit at home.
The election is November not next week. Yes, it is politics in action, but I do not see it as bad politics to allow Ward 2 citizens to be represented in the interim and for one candidate to gain some experience even though that candidate may not be elected. I am sure that if the Democrats were in power, they would not hesitate to make the appointment.
As a former chair of the Queensbury Democratic Party I can assure you that we would not countenance seating a potential candidate for 6 weeks. Candidates, and anyone else, can attend board meetings, look up past budgets, read minutes of previous meetings to familiarize themselves with ongoing issues.
You can see my comment above about what happened a couple years ago when Republicans failed to replace their own replacement to the county board with many months left in the term. They didn’t worry about Queensbury being properly represented then.
Robert S. McMillen I would not be so hasty to say that the Democrats would do the same. You don't know. As a Democrat, I feel we are always looked at through a large microscope. Whenever we say the slightest exaggeration, we are blasted with terms like "Failed Ed Jones" or "Crooked Jane" and so-on. This is stacking the deck by the Republicans. It's a rat, it's easy to see that. When and where is this meeting, I will be there, and I encourage everyone who sees the date, time, and location, to join me. So I guess I'm "Troublemaker Joe Wagner" (if you were responding like our Congresswoman.)
I also object to this resolution by the majority republican board; it seems to me though obvious, wrong and does not honor Harrison's memory despite the trappings of interviewing candidates to override the voters' will. The advantage of incumbency even by a very pointless and short term appointment can be determinative.
(This has shades of Mitch McConnell's blocking of Obama to appoint a Supreme Court judge after Scalia died and then, later, again by McConnell's the ramming through of Coney Barrett).
Another angle is that it is important to have a balance on the board. Atherden and Switzer, both democrats and women oprovided important different perspective and in my opinion we would be lucky to have Kim Bullard , a dynamic, thoughtful, smart and creative new voice. It is shocking that in Queensbury tampering with process can happen. I would like the chance to work for her and have my vote count.
I thought that representatives were elected, not appointed. What is the great rush to appoint rather than elect. Since Freer was a Democrat, it seems that he should be replaced with a Democrat. If anyone were to appoint, why not the only other Democrat: John Strough. And, really, why not have, like any democracy, the people voting and perhaps thinking What or Who would Harrison think worthy, caring, thoughtful to replace all the good values he brought to the board.
Very sad to hear of this back room deal leaving Supervisor Strough out of the loop. Did his board and Deputy Supervisor realize while they were concocting this underhanded resolution, Mr. Strough was in the hospital receiving Chemo Therapy? Sad, very sad they would stoop so low. Mr. Metivier has a short memory.
Does the Republican’s pick for Ward 2 even know where Ward 2 is? I see his signs all over Queensbury and even in The city of Glens Falls.
It’s not coming, it’s here…that is what we are witnessing in real-time. Brooks is late to the party again…
The town board is again staging a power play along party lines with a clearly disruptive move to exclude Mr. Strough. Yet, John Strough has worked for Queensbury and its residents for years with his board members without politicking his leadership. Mr. Metiver had enough self respect to resist and reject the shenanigans years before, and now, at a time of divisive and dishonest attacks on democratic processes, he joins the herd. The scent of power is seductive. Unfortunately, some people get used to the stench.
Thank you for highlighting the Light Brigade. They are consistently and tirelessly fighting to spread the message for human decency.
The weird thing is that Metivier is term limited out by a resolution he helped pass years ago. In fact, he is currently only serving because he was “grandfathered” to serve beyond the term limit.
I doubt Tony will seek any other public office. I don’t get it.
Actually, I did not know about the term limits either.
Me either.
Great post Beatriz
Sorry, I wrote politicizing and it was autocorrected. I should have checked before sending.
Queensbury Ward 4 councilman Tim McNulty is also Queensbury Republican Party Chair.
It is a conflict of interest, but I doubt many voters know, and probably few care.
I has repercussions. When Rachel Seeber resigned as Qby county supervisor McNulty pushed Hilary Stec (Dan Stec’s former wife) to fill the vacancy. That appointment lasted only briefly but long enough for Stec to collect several paychecks while missing a number of meetings. After that they didn’t push to fill the seat until the election which was still months away.
People should know another thing about Queensbury, out of 20 or 21 seats on the Zoning Board of Appeals, Planning Board, Town Board, and county board of supervisors there is only 1 woman serving - Kimberly Bullard who sought appointment to the Planning Board last year with no thought of seeking higher political office. There are roughly 15,000 women living in Queensbury and you can count the number of women who served in one of those positions in the last decade on your fingers. Possibly only one hand. I can only think of 5 off the top of my head, but I might be forgetting someone. Sometimes the rate of women serving in those representative offices is zero.
That is appalling. All the other municipalities in Warren County have a rate of 20%-40% representation by women. What is wrong in Queensbury?
I did not know that. It is kind of shocking.
As former chair of the Queensbury Democratic Committee I paid close attention to the workings of the town. About a year before I ran for public office I resigned my political office - because in general it is wrong for someone with obligations to an office in a political party to serve in public office. I make exception for cases in very small towns where a political committee might consist of a few people, but Qby is not one of those towns and the Republicans here have no qualms about those sorts of conflicts. In fact, 3 recent Republican chairs McNulty, Ferone, and VanNess all served in elected office concurrent with town and maybe even county chair positions. VanNess, a retired police officer, pushed out a woman who had been serving as deputy election commissioner in order to be appointed as commissioner - a well paying job for a retired guy.
I should clarify about the replacement of Rachel Seeber, there was a process to choose a replacement. I believe 6 of us interviewed with the town board to fill the seat. Hilary Stec was the only Republican, clearly because she was chosen in the Republican town committee to be seated. The other candidates were 2 Conservative Party candidates;Travis Whitehead and Jim Dobkowski; and 3 Democrats, Dave Strainer, Robin Larkin, and myself.
So when Ms Stec resigned within 6 weeks or 2 months it seemed logical that the town board would simply go back to the candidates who had so recently interviewed, ask if they were still interested, and choose from among them.
It was my opinion that any one of the candidates would have capably served for the roughly 9 months left in the term.
But the Republican town board members at that time apparently felt it wasn’t important to fill the seat leaving Queensbury under represented on the county board for that period of time - six times longer than the wait to fill the currently open seat on the town board.
Call me cynical but I believe they simply did not want to fill the seat because none of the other candidates were Republicans and all but one had expressed the intent to seek the office in the election.
Always good to review past actions to see if board is being consistent.
Great, informative post, Mike! Keep speaking up!
Do regular citizens/voters attend these "meetings" normally? Perhaps, if not, it might be time for people to take more of an interest?
Usually there are a few regulars, but not enough.
Possibly your publicizing of the issue might encourage a few more people to show up.
I play being there next week.
Shining light on this will help for sure - and I would imagine someone who has the ability to make that light brighter could possibly cause a little discomfort. As John Lewis said "Make good trouble"!!
So glad!
Republicans definitely have a plan and this garbage has to be stopped at the town level. It trickles up from these local positions and impacts our politics from the roots up. I've always like Mr. Metivier and thought of him as an honest fellow. Most likely because in year's past, that was how he functioned and I go by actions not words. I'm disappointed that there is less of a fuss over this situation because it is obviously a sneaky maneuver consistent with the present republican party under Trump.
You will be pining for the days of Tony Metivier as his term ends at the close of 2025. The candidate who wants to replace Tony attended the RNC and had a photo op next to a life sized cut out with Donald Trump's head and the body of young Sylvester Stallone complete with camouflage pants, straps of ammo adorning his bulging chest muscles and carrying an AK-whatever weapon of war. The candidate who wants to replace Tony Metivier attended the Memorial Day parade in a red, white and blue outfit, cowboy hat with rhinestones that read "Trump" and carrying a large Trump flag with flagpole. Mind you, this was Memorial Day, a day that honored our fallen heroes. Should have been a day she left her Trump outfit at home.
I'm sure we will. Terrible.
The election is November not next week. Yes, it is politics in action, but I do not see it as bad politics to allow Ward 2 citizens to be represented in the interim and for one candidate to gain some experience even though that candidate may not be elected. I am sure that if the Democrats were in power, they would not hesitate to make the appointment.
As a former chair of the Queensbury Democratic Party I can assure you that we would not countenance seating a potential candidate for 6 weeks. Candidates, and anyone else, can attend board meetings, look up past budgets, read minutes of previous meetings to familiarize themselves with ongoing issues.
You can see my comment above about what happened a couple years ago when Republicans failed to replace their own replacement to the county board with many months left in the term. They didn’t worry about Queensbury being properly represented then.
As I pointed out in my column, the Republiicans do not have a good track record in Queensbury or maybe Warren County in general.
Robert S. McMillen I would not be so hasty to say that the Democrats would do the same. You don't know. As a Democrat, I feel we are always looked at through a large microscope. Whenever we say the slightest exaggeration, we are blasted with terms like "Failed Ed Jones" or "Crooked Jane" and so-on. This is stacking the deck by the Republicans. It's a rat, it's easy to see that. When and where is this meeting, I will be there, and I encourage everyone who sees the date, time, and location, to join me. So I guess I'm "Troublemaker Joe Wagner" (if you were responding like our Congresswoman.)
I also object to this resolution by the majority republican board; it seems to me though obvious, wrong and does not honor Harrison's memory despite the trappings of interviewing candidates to override the voters' will. The advantage of incumbency even by a very pointless and short term appointment can be determinative.
(This has shades of Mitch McConnell's blocking of Obama to appoint a Supreme Court judge after Scalia died and then, later, again by McConnell's the ramming through of Coney Barrett).
Another angle is that it is important to have a balance on the board. Atherden and Switzer, both democrats and women oprovided important different perspective and in my opinion we would be lucky to have Kim Bullard , a dynamic, thoughtful, smart and creative new voice. It is shocking that in Queensbury tampering with process can happen. I would like the chance to work for her and have my vote count.
Love the post. Vote for Bullard, a nice lady!
Gosh, this is great writing, Ken, please continue to make people aware of these things.
I thought that representatives were elected, not appointed. What is the great rush to appoint rather than elect. Since Freer was a Democrat, it seems that he should be replaced with a Democrat. If anyone were to appoint, why not the only other Democrat: John Strough. And, really, why not have, like any democracy, the people voting and perhaps thinking What or Who would Harrison think worthy, caring, thoughtful to replace all the good values he brought to the board.
Mary Jenkins
Very sad to hear of this back room deal leaving Supervisor Strough out of the loop. Did his board and Deputy Supervisor realize while they were concocting this underhanded resolution, Mr. Strough was in the hospital receiving Chemo Therapy? Sad, very sad they would stoop so low. Mr. Metivier has a short memory.
Does the Republican’s pick for Ward 2 even know where Ward 2 is? I see his signs all over Queensbury and even in The city of Glens Falls.