New Paltz resident Steve Ford came to the April 17 town council meeting to speak about being “fired” from the police commission. A letter was sent to Ford and two other commissioners advising them that their services on the volunteer board were no longer required. This decision was made during one of the lengthy executive sessions council members engaged in during March and April, supervisor Amanda Gotto later confirmed; Gotto declined to discuss the matter further at the meeting. In response to an emailed request to confirm the names of the three individuals, the supervisor suggested that as volunteers, that it would be better to contact them to confirm who they are.
Gotto additionally explained in that email response that a current review of the town code empowering the police commission is intended “to ensure that institutional racism be an integral focus,” which was part of the intent of the 2020 recommendations about recreating that independent body, “but it is a challenge to accomplish for a body that has been operating for 3+ years without such direction.” Gotto noted having a “positive and productive meeting” with two of the commissioners who received letters advising of their dismissal.
Ford, when reached after the meeting, said that the other two commissioners removed were Karrie Rahaman-Bunce and Tara Fitzpatrick, and that the reasons enumerated in the letters were that their recommendations were not complete enough, that they did not record enough information after leaving an executive session, and that they had failed to complete a six-month review of police chief Matthew Sutton’s performance in a timely fashion. Ford said that the last point was “likely true,” as commissioners were finding it difficult to come up with an appropriate metric for measuring the chief’s performance.
At the April 17 meeting, Ford said that no member of the town council had reached out in any way to express any concerns prior to the letters being mailed, and wondered aloud as to the motive. Characterizing the action as having a “high-handed Trumpian” tone, Ford further opined that acting in this manner damaged the reputation of the board members, not those dismissed.
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