In this digital era, those of us who grew up in the days when the video camera only came out at birthdays, recitals and championship games, find ourselves coveting the privacy of simpler times. We live in a time where the average citizen is caught on camera 3 to 4 times a day. Whether you visit the ATM, run a red light, facetime on your smartphone or stop by the local deli for a bite to eat, rest assure it is not paranoia… you are being recorded. For the average resident, our daily lives are unaffected by this age of surveillance. Unfortunately for civil servants, every recorded action will be held accountable.
Last month, our town Supervisor fell victim to this accountability, in a live video stream recording at a Smithtown Town Board meeting. The prejudicial comment (referring to animal shelter activists) “lotta wackos here tonight… there’s about ten women…” was caught on cameras rolling, pre-meeting. The facebook community known as “The Smithtown Animal Shelter Needs Change” uploaded the clip of Supervisor Vecchio. The recorded comment was picked up by CBS New York’s Carolyn Gusoff, who documented the Supervisor’s regret for his comment.
On Thursday, April 23rd during the public portion of the Town Board meeting, a Smithtown Nurse Practitioner Bernadette Barron, confronted Supervisor Vecchio regarding his comment and other videos she became aware of via the 3,263 member facebook community advocating for change at the Shelter. Questions regarding the euthanasia of 28 cats in August 2012 and whether the Shelter operated as a No-Kill facility were answered in depth by Councilwoman Nowick. The Smithtown Nurse went on to ask Supervisor Vecchio about the video of Director Beatty leaving work to head to a local waterhole for the remainder of the work day in addition to confronting him regarding his own comments caught on camera regarding the women he called Wackos.
Supervisor Vecchio made claim that Mr. Beatty did put in for time off during the video in question. However, during a town board meeting in February, a member of the animal advocate group presented government records based on a FOIL request, proving Mr. Beatty had no documented sick, vacation or personal time taken on the record. Furthermore, Supervisor Vecchio denied disparaging women in general when confronted about the video of his “lotta wackos here tonight” comment. So not all women are wackos… just the ten women in the room that night?!
What can the taxpayers of Smithtown take from all of this? Many residents have expressed concern for the lack of accountability, our town’s department heads face when lines are blurred, crossed or just plain broken. Councilwoman Nowick said it plain and simple; The town board does not have the authority to terminate employment of a SAG union member without an official complaint followed by an investigation and hearing. Would the recent discussion of streamlining local government prevent the present predicaments from reoccurring in the future? Moreover, what do taxpayers do when voicing concerns are mocked and rebuttals are falsehoods?
In today’s live streaming society, we are all accountable for our own actions. Should we be surprised that an 86 year old doesn’t have the best recollection of his conduct… maybe not. As the longest-serving town supervisor in Long Island’s history, we as a community do owe a generous level of respect and gratitude for Mr. Vecchio’s years of service. We can’t change previous events by lashing out in anger. We can support those local government officials, who continue to push forward to improve protocol, current conditions and prevent potential destructive scenarios from becoming a future for Smithtown.