Dear Citizens of Ulster County:
As County Executive, I am appalled and deeply disappointed by the disingenuous and false claims made by three Human Rights Commission members in their resignation letter. Their letter is fundamentally dishonest and contains a number of falsehoods that are easily disproved.
In what I believe is the crux of the matter, these individuals claim that former Commissioner Tyrone Wilson was dismissed for “trivial comments,” and that his firing was a “political assassination.” In fact, former Commissioner Wilson’s insensitive comments about Asians, Jews, LGBTQIA+ people, single mothers, and other groups are a matter of public record and clearly disqualified him from serving as Human Rights Commissioner. It is my view that the authors of this letter are more invested in exacting retribution for former Commissioner Wilson’s dismissal than faithfully fulfilling their duties as members of the Human Rights Commission.
The letter alleges that the Commission has been recently “padded” with those “loyal” to me. In fact, I have made zero appointments to this Commission. All existing Commission members were appointed by the prior Administration or by the Legislature. The letter claims that Alice Cook was removed from the Commission by me. In fact, Ms. Cook’s term expired last year, and former County Executive Pat Ryan appointed Reverend Gary Fuller as her replacement.
The individuals claim that I appointed Reverend Fuller as Chair using a “legal loophole.” In fact, the County Charter clearly grants the County Executive the authority to appoint the chair of the commission, and Reverend Fuller’s appointment strengthens the Commission’s ability to fulfill its mission. Reverend Fuller has significant prior Board leadership experience as the former Chair of the City of Mount Vernon Board of Ethics. His long history of civic engagement and advocacy work focusing on housing rights is critical at a time…
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