To the editor:

I attended the Special Legislative meeting in Sullivan County on April 23, which had been rescheduled for 4PM on a Friday with barely 48 hours' notice. The meeting started out with Legislator George Conklin being prompted to unmute his mic on Zoom.

The only legislators present were the majority, two on Zoom and three in the room. Soon after, Legislator Nadia Rajsz came in on Zoom via the phone line. She said that she had been trying to get into the meeting since 10 minutes before it started.

I looked behind me, and the Commissioner of ITS was just sitting there, watching, like me. As the Zoom meeting's host, he is responsible for the Zoom technology, but nobody tried to help her or suggested the meeting be delayed until she had video access.

Later in the meeting, Nadia was told by the Chair, the Attorney and the Parliamentarian that due to the recently changed Rules of the Legislature, she could not vote or make a motion because she was not visible.

Thus, the majority was able to vote in every single item on the agenda unopposed, and Nadia, as an elected official, was denied the right to represent her constituents. No public comment was allowed. That is how our government is being conducted in Sullivan County.

Yesterday, I heard Luis Alvarez, another Democratic legislator, say that he had tried to enter the Zoom meeting but couldn't because he was “not authorized” to enter the meeting.

Can somebody explain how the Commissioner of ITS collects a six figure salary, courtesy of us taxpayers, but can't or won't ensure that all legislators have remote access to Zoom meetings?

Does he work for the good of the county or for the Chair of the Legislature? Or should I be asking the same questions about the County Manager? The mystery of government is not how it works, but how to make it stop (P.J. O'Rourke.)