March 5, 2007

Statement concerning Manuela Mihailescu
and the Rochester Town Board

I've been reading all of the letters to the editor to our local papers, the letter mailed out anonymously to Republicans in the Town of Rochester, opinions on the Republican Club Website as well as other websites, and letters suitably mailed and signed by others to citizens in the Town of Rochester concerning what happened to Manuela Mihailescu on January 24, 2007 and the subsequent events in our town. I've seen so much spin, counter spin, and counter-counter spin that my head is actually spinning. I think it is time to put things in a factual perspective and to hopefully answer some questions that have been posed in a honest and forthright manner. I truly wish that our elected officials on the Town Board would try to do the same.

On January 24, 2007 Manuela Mihailescu was called in for a second interview for a volunteer position to the Historic Preservation Commission for the Town of Rochester before the Town Board in an executive session. Manuela came prepared to discuss historic preservation in our town. The discussion she had with the Town Board had nothing to do with historic preservation. They wanted to know about her alleged involvement with a pornographic website due to the fact that "such a website had been linked to her name during a Yahoo Search." A visibly shaken and distraught Manuela Mihailescu vehemently denied any involvement with such a website but was further subjected to pornographic images by her accusers on the Town Board.

The Town Board left the burden of proof on Manuela to prove her innocence which is contrary to what our forefathers had provided for in the United States Constitution. The burden of proof has always been placed on the accuser. This is a cornerstone in U.S. Constitutional Law. This all occurred under the "watchful" eyes of the Town's Appointed Attorney, Rod Futerfas. I am truly concerned as to the value of the legal advice he has given our Town's elected officials. Manuela left the interview in an upset and distraught condition and had an accident upon leaving the Town Hall's parking lot. There are some very serious questions to be answered here as to how a citizen of our Town who only wants to volunteer her time to serve the Town in the area of historic preservation is treated by our Town Board.

The evening of January 24, I received word of what happened at Manuela's "interview." I was appalled and dismayed at what had happened to Manuela Mihailescu. Word quickly spread throughout the Town as to what had happened. The executive board of the Rochester Republican Club quickly reached a consensus on the following weekend to approve sending out a newsletter to all households in the Town of Rochester with a registered voter in the household informing those citizens of our community of what happened to Manuela and addressing certain budgetary concerns in our Town, and to ask people to attend the Town Board Meeting on 2/1/07 to see what is going on and voice their concerns to our Town Board. It was an enormous task to write the newsletter in such a short time span. I worked very hard on that Sunday writing the main body and Jon Dogar-Marinesco did an amazing job of editing the text I wrote, creating the graphics, and organizing the newsletter. We tried our best to make the newsletter as inoffensive as possible while still dealing with the pornographic subject matter that Manuela was subjected to. It was a difficult task and we had numerous rewrites. A few people were offended by the newsletter and I apologize to those that felt that way. I wish that I could have found another way, if possible, to relate what had happened to Manuela at her "interview." I can, however, assure you that the terms used in the newsletter can be found in the textbooks our children use in our public schools. I also urge each of them to please visualize what Manuela was confronted with.

On the afternoon of 2/1/07 word had reached me from several sources that Supervisor Duke was calling potential supporters for her and the Democratic controlled Town Board to be at the Town Hall by 6:15 PM for the Town Board Meeting. I was told that the NYS Troopers would be at the meeting and that people would be turned away from attending the meeting once the 78 person capacity of the meeting room at the Town Hall was reached. I was appalled by this news as I believe that all citizens in our Town should be able to attend a public meeting held by our Town Board. I immediately responded by sending out an email requesting people to come to the meeting by 6:00 PM and I also started making phone calls to fellow citizens so that I could alert them to the situation.

By 6:50 PM there was an enormous crowd at the Town Hall and the doors to the meeting room were finally opened for the public to enter. About 90 people were allowed in and scores of citizens were locked out of the meeting (we will really never know how many could not attend the meeting as many had found they couldn't enter the building and went home — as per many calls relating their experiences to me). The meeting was called to order at about 7:00 PM. Councilman Santosky immediately made a motion that the venue of the meeting be changed so that all citizens could attend the meeting. This motion died for lack of a second as the other members of the Town Board did not show concern for the disenfranchised citizens left outside. It is mistakenly thought by some that all of these people were members of the Rochester Republican Club. I will grant that some of the citizens were members of our club but there were also many people who weren't. I saw Democrats, Republicans, non-enrolleds, and from other parties such as the Conservatives. Their presence had nothing to do with political patronage. They were all there as citizens concerned with what had happened to Manuela Mihailescu and what was going on in our Town. The disenfranchised citizens shut out of the meeting began honking their horns as a form of protest because they were not allowed to attend the meeting. I will admit that this was disruptive but one must also realize that these people were locked out of a meeting by the very officials that were elected to serve them. One should remember that Supervisor Duke and Councilmen Miller and Spano ran on a platform of "open government" in our Town. Since when did a lockout of citizens to a public meeting of our Town Board represent "Open Government"? I feel that they have failed to fulfill the very promises that they campaigned with.

The meeting then progressed to giving recognition to two young men that aided a teenage friend that had been struck by an automobile in the hamlet of Accord. I felt very sorry for these young citizens that their moment of recognition was marred by the disruption caused by our Town Board's lack of concern for the citizens they are elected to represent. The floor was then turned over to Rod Futerfas, Attorney for the Town of Rochester. Mr. Futerfas urged Manuela to sign a waiver so that the Town Board could discuss the events of January 24 without fear of violating executive session privilege of confidentiality as any discussion about her "interview" without the waiver would not be allowed. Later contact with the NYS Dept of State Committee on Open Government revealed that there is no such executive privilege. I have also reviewed the waiver presented to Manuela and believe that signing that waiver would have erased any rights for recourse available to her. Manuela smartly did not sign the waiver. Manuela tried to read a statement as to why she would not sign the waiver but was rudely interrupted by Mr. Futerfas on numerous occasions.

During this time Councilman Miller also reminded the attendees of the meeting that public participation is a privilege and not a right and that the meeting would be adjourned if the disruptive noise from outside continued (as if we had any control over what was going on outside). Councilman Miller might be legally correct on his assertion as to public participation at the meeting but I feel that he is morally way off base and not what I expect and feel that we deserve from someone who is elected to represent all citizens of our Town. Rod Futerfas continued to chair the meeting even though he is only hired as a legal adviser to the Town. I see this as complete abdication of responsibility by our Supervisor Pam Duke. It is her responsibility to chair the meetings and not that of the Town Attorney. Attorney Futerfas then recognized Imre Beke to speak and that turned into a verbal exchange between the both of them in which Mr. Futerfas was definitely on the losing end. Councilman Miller promptly made a motion to adjourn the meeting which was seconded and voted for in the affirmative.

The spin machine of the Rochester Democratic Committee and other supporters of Supervisor Duke and her Democratic controlled Town Board has been running at full steam since the evening of 2/1/07. There have been numerous letters to the editor written by members of the committee and other ardent Democratic supporters. None of these letters seem to address what happened to Manuela during her "interview." Joanne Still even refers to Manuela as the "so-called victim" as if what occurred on 1/24/07 was some sort of publicity stunt concocted by Manuela and the Rochester Republican Club. Most of the letters have focused on the "disruption" of the 2/1/07 Town Board meeting and supposed inappropriate actions by members of the Rochester Republican Club. Marlene Shaver stated in one letter to the editor that if the club was not upset about what happened to Manuela, we would be complaining and rallying about something else. What happened to Manuela had nothing to do with politics as far as our response. It was a simple matter of right and wrong regardless of partisan affiliation. I believe these letters have been written in order to shift the focus away from the terrible treatment Manuela Mihailescu received from our Town Board.

The most insidious letter of all was an anonymous letter mailed to Republicans in the Town of Rochester by a group claiming to be "Concerned Republicans of Rochester." This letter was filled with total falsehoods attacking the club as well as David O'Halloran — personally and professionally. David addressed many of the issues involving him and his business quite adequately in a letter mailed out to Republicans in our Town. David's letter is posted on this website and I strongly urge everyone to read it.

Certain falsehoods were stated in the anonymous letter and I feel that they should be addressed. The letter stated that the Rochester Republican Club has embarrassed Republicans many times in the past with bullying, disruptive tactics filled with screaming and shouting at town meetings. Nothing could be further from the truth. We do voice our opinions at meetings but we also do it within the framework of the rules of public participation. Challenging opinions counter to the very guiding Republican principles we believe is not disruptive within the framework of meeting guidelines. We have a right to disagree and are exercising that right. The anonymous letter also tries to maintain that the actions of the Rochester Republican Club are controlled by a few people who are only interested in protecting or furthering their own personal agendas. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Rochester Republican Club is not David O'Hollaran's hoard of homeys. It is not Shane Ricks' rabble of rowdies. It is not Carl Chipman's cast of characters either. We are a democratically organized group that is joined together in our beliefs of Republican values. Decisions are made by a vote of our general membership or by a consensus of opinion by our executive board. Our executive board is composed of club officers and chairs of our committees who are appointed by myself as the chief executive officer of the club. I do have certain powers as president but try at all times to make decisions by a consensus of opinion. Our meetings are open to all and participation at those meetings is appreciated and encouraged regardless of membership status. We believe in democracy and our Town Board could learn a lot from us.

The letter by the "Concerned Republicans in Rochester" troubles me greatly because false statements are being made while hiding under the cloak of anonymity. I strongly believe that one should always take ownership of his or her own statements. I sign my name to everything that I write with pride and conviction and can not believe that others who make such sweeping falsehoods as in that letter could do the same under anonymity. I've also taken shots from others that I am trying to speak for all Republicans.I only speak for what I believe in and the values of our club. It is not my fault that the chairperson of our party has not even attempted to contact Manuela to hear her side of the story or lend support. I will continue to speak for what I believe in and those that want to follow are making that decision of their own volition.

The saga continued with the Town Board Meeting of 3/1/07. Supervisor Duke read and handed out a statement concerning the affair that attempted to justify the Town Board's actions. She still hides behind confidentiality of the executive session interview as a reason to not discuss the events of 1/24/07 even though the Committee on Open Government has determined that there is no such protection afforded by the executive session. Justification of confronting Manuela seems to be that the rumor of being involved with a pornographic site would adversely affect her participation on the Historic Preservation Committee. The Town Board voted on 3/1/07 on Manuela's application. She was denied appointment by the following vote: Supervisor Duke - Nay, Councilman Gray - Nay, Councilman Miller - Abstention, Councilman Spano - Aye, and Councilman Santosky - Absent. I believe that the Town Board considers this to be the final chapter in the Manuela Mihailescu fiasco.

This miscarriage of justice is not over by a long shot. I believe that we must resort to legal remedies for a final solution. Manuela Mihailescu's rights as a citizen were trampled on. She was denied appointment to the Historic Preservation Commission due to rumors and allegations of involvement with a pornographic website. Those rumors were supported and passed along by Councilman Gray from what I have been able to ascertain by others involved with the controversy. One might ask why and I think I know the answer. Manuela is a Republican and she believes very strongly in individual rights. She also believes in voluntary participation of landowners for preservation of our historic treasures as opposed to coercive government authority to preserve such treasures. She is eminently qualified to serve on the commission but does not support the government-knows-better attitude that prevails on our Town Board. All one has to do is review the restrictive legislation that they attempted to pass last year in order to see the agenda that they are trying to impose on the residents of our Town. Manuela is obstinate in her desire to serve while her qualifications are exceptional. This created a problem for the Democratic Town Board's facade of Open Government. It made it necessary to create and pass a rumor, and I believe Councilman Gray played an essential part in it. The sad thing is that this can happen to anyone in our Town. No one is safe.

We must follow this until the guilty parties are identified and suitably punished. They are depending on us to let it go and the general public to forget what happened. We must not let that happen. I suggest that legal remedies be followed and that a fund be created for Manuela to retain proper legal assistance. This fund should be under the guardianship of someone not a member of the club as it is a matter of right and wrong and not of partisanship. There will be no justice in our Town until we have Justice for Manuela.

Respectfully,

Carl J. Chipman
President, Rochester Republican Club