Editorial of February 27, 2025

Hats Off to Hartwick

For the past six months or so, the Town of Hartwick has been in the news quite a bit, and for all the wrong reasons.

Town officials struggled to find common ground following the resignation of Supervisor Robert O’Brien who, having moved, left his post in late November 2024, and the early resignation of town attorney William C. Green, originally set to exit that position as of January 1, 2025.

Town meetings both before and after these departures were soured by allegations of ethics violations by councilmembers Chris Briggs and Bryan LoRusso. The already tense atmosphere was exacerbated by the discovery that Briggs, who had served as deputy supervisor, failed to sign the oath of office for that position. As per state law, the oath book must be signed within 30 days of appointment. Thus, the town also found itself without a deputy supervisor.

A clear divide between the four remaining town officials resulted in repeated stalemates on voting for everything from a new town attorney to a deputy supervisor to check signatories to an interim town supervisor. And, while sitting in on these meetings, or watching them online afterward, we noticed that some folks—both municipal officials and members of the public—could use a refresher course on meeting etiquette.

Happily, the four councilmembers have since been able to come to a consensus on the interim town supervisor, appointing Connie Haney to that position on Tuesday, January 21.

Haney, co-owner of the Cooperstown Bat Company with husband Tim, was appointed following a motion by LoRusso. Councilmembers Briggs, Bruce Markusen, LoRusso and Tom Murphy—often at loggerheads since O’Brien’s resignation—voted unanimously in favor of moving forward with Haney taking the lead. She has since named Cody Moore as deputy supervisor.

Watching the videos of the February town board and work session meetings, we noticed a distinct change in the tone of those gatherings, and in the body language of the town officials. There was no yelling, no dissention and, dare we say, even a sense of humor as Haney led the group through the agenda items. Motions were made, discussions were had and, for the first time in months, councilmembers and Town Clerk Andrea Vazquez appeared to be on the same page as they moved town business forward.

The New York Coalition For Open Government Inc.—“a nonpartisan charitable organization comprised of journalists, activists, attorneys, educators, news media organizations, and other concerned citizens who value open government and freedom of information”—believes that, if government is of the people, by the people and for the people, then it should also be open to the people.

We agree with NYCFOG, and feel that the time has come for New York State to require local governments to livestream their meetings and to post recordings online. As of a June 2023 NYCFOG report [https://nyopengov.org/content/reports/Coalition%20Livestreaming%20Report.pdf], two states, Oregon and Indiana, have already done so, and similar bills have been proposed in Maryland, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and Virginia.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Hats off to the Town of Hartwick for being one of only four Otsego County municipal entities—along with Otsego County, the City of Oneonta, and the Village of Cooperstown—that currently livestream and record meetings and make them available to the public for viewing online. Hats off to Town of Hartwick officials as well for continuing to record and post their meetings despite all the inner turmoil, for opening themselves up to criticism and for finally turning things around for all to see.

While people may be unable to physically attend municipal meetings for a variety of reasons, the public is very interested in what is happening in their local communities—the good, the bad and the ugly—and, in these troubled times, transparency is a must.

We encourage all of Otsego County’s villages and towns to follow Hartwick’s lead in livestreaming municipal meetings and posting those video recordings online. It is neither expensive nor difficult. Hats off to Hartwick for being a trailblazer in open government and civic engagement, painful as it sometimes is.