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Not fit to serve

Kambri Crews
Posted 3/18/21

To the editor:

Though the resolution to censure Chairman Robert Doherty was struck down, it is abundantly clear from his repugnant behavior that not only was a censure deserved, Mr. Doherty is …

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Not fit to serve

Posted

To the editor:

Though the resolution to censure Chairman Robert Doherty was struck down, it is abundantly clear from his repugnant behavior that not only was a censure deserved, Mr. Doherty is not fit to serve as Chairman. As a citizen of District 1, it is unacceptable that he is there to represent me.

I attended the legislative session on March 11th to give public comment regarding a Google map I created of places to get a vaccine in Sullivan County. Vaccination distribution is something of vital importance to the residents of this county. Instead, I witnessed the Chairman name call, bully and threaten fellow legislators and a woman who gave public commentary.

Mr. Doherty arrogantly flipped his hand toward Legislator Perrello as though he were batting away a pesky fly, called him a “punk” for voicing concerns and threatened him with retaliation. How is this behavior tolerated? How is it even legal?

This is not an isolated incident. Discord, confusion and interruptions by Chairman Doherty are frequent. During public comments and departmental reports, he is often heard talking in the background, clearly not giving the speaker the basic respect of having their voice heard. Given that the videos are not captioned and his microphone picks up his voice, it makes it difficult to follow.

On community Facebook pages, it's not uncommon to see folks bickering. What is uncommon is to see an elected official engaged in the fracas. Yet there he is, Chairman Doherty, stoking the flames of dissension. He engages in public online spats on serious issues and seems to operate from a place of inflated ego and self-importance.

The chairman of a county legislature cannot act so purposefully divisive and expect things to end well. Citizens of Sullivan County depend on this legislative body to do the work they were elected to do. With Chairman Doherty at the helm, this work takes a backseat precisely at a precarious time when focus and care is required above all else.

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