A political battle is continuing in Ulster County.
First-term Democratic County Executive Metzger is involved in a controversy with the County Human Rights Commission, which began when Metzger fired Commissioner Tyrone Wilson.
"This story kind of really all begins with the decision I made several months ago, to relieve the head of the Human Rights department of his duties for insensitive comments he had made about Asians, Jews, LGBTQIA people and single mothers, while serving in a position tasked with protecting these and other communities from discrimination," said Metzger. "Those comments, which were made on the radio and on social media, are a matter of public record, clearly disqualifying him from serving as the county's Director of Human Rights. I asked our chief diversity officer Esi Lewis, to serve as acting director in the interim while we work to hire for the position and I do expect to make an appointment very soon."
Reaction was swift. Three commission members, Martin Dunkley, Carl Brown and Bruce Ginsberg, resigned in a joint letter in which they said Lewis "cannot be trusted." Ginsberg says they want Lewis removed immediately.
"We have exposed, I think, the hypocrisy of the Metzger administration and of the county executive in putting someone in charge of our commission, who was not equipped to run a commission like ours who didn't have the passion for human rights who didn't understand how our procedures work and didn't take seriously that work," Ginsberg said. "She canceled the first meeting that she would have presided over because she had a conflict. She has a paid position on the town council of New Paltz, and our regular monthly meetings conflicted with her meeting time for another paid position. She canceled our meeting and didn't reschedule it, which is a violation of our charter. That delayed several cases that we had in process. And then she further demonstrated her incompetence by mishandling those cases."
Ginsberg says one of those cases involved a county employee who had lodged a complaint of racial discrimination. Metzger stands by Lewis.
"Contrary to their outrageous claims, Esi Lewis has conducted herself in this temporary position professionally and with integrity," said Metzger. "In fact, it was precisely because of these qualities of hers that I asked her to step into this interim role. Her track record as a public servant, and as an attorney, and her lifelong commitment to helping marginalized people really made her a great choice. But I do look forward to having her back full time as the county's Chief Diversity Officer very soon, once I appoint the new department head."
Saying she wields too much executive influence, County Legislator Joe Maloney is calling on his fellow Democrat to take a few steps back.
"There's good people on all sides of this," Maloney said. "It's gotten ugly and didn't need to. And I think there is a much needed conversation to be had around how much control elected officials have over these commissions and boards. And right now, I'd like to see Jen Metzger, Executive Metzger, come to the table and give up a little power. Everything great that this country is was built upon, that moment where George Washington refused, powered, I hope Jen does the same with some of these boards and commissions, starting with the Human Rights board, there's no reason that one person, the most powerful person in the county, the executive, the largest employer in the county, controls human rights. That should be an independent body. And that's a lot of what these human rights commissioners were asking for."
Ginsberg agrees.
"We would like to see the county executive ease up on her attempts to control and stifle the work of the Human Rights Commission," said Ginsberg. "We're asking the county legislators to revise the charter so that the county executive doesn't have the majority of appointments to the Human Rights Commission. A commission like ours works best when it's allowed to do its work without political interference, without a thumb on the scale of justice."
Metzger says she intends to follow the county charter in carrying out her legal responsibilities, has complete confidence in the Human Rights Commission and will soon make appointments to fill the vacancies.
"I'm very keen on making sure you know, consistent with the county's charter, that the commission itself is reflective of the diversity of groups that the commission is charged with protecting," said Metzger. "So for instance, we have no Latino representation on that commission. To me, that's a real gap, because that's an you know, an important demographic in our community. So I'm looking to make sure that you know, at least one of my appointments, you know, has a representative from that community. And we also have to make sure that we have geographic diversity and representation. Ulster County is a very large county. It's over 1,100 square miles, 23 towns and villages and one small city. We really just have to make sure that the county is covered and that the mission of the county, of the County Human Rights Commission, can really reach into all of the communities that it represents."
Wilson released an open letter to constituents in April but told WAMC he cannot comment due to pending legal action. Lewis could not be reached for comment.
