Letter To The Editor – A Matter Of Fairness?

To the editor:
Recent Democratic Party activities since Rocky Brown began his party chairmanship give an indication of how Mr. Brown intends to represent New Lebanon Democrats as party chairman. They pertain to the candidate selection process for the upcoming November elections, and all voters should be aware of them as the electoral season approaches.
This past spring at the special election held to fill the vacated Hillary Clinton seat I was approached by Mr. Brown as to my intentions to run for reelection for Town Justice. I am the incumbent and a Democrat. I responded that I was going to run for reelection. Phyllis Hulbert was standing next to him and heard my response. Mr. Brown then told me that the Democratic Caucus would be held in September so “we would give people a chance to get back from summer vacations.”
I subsequently learned that Mr. Brown called at least two private meetings to discuss potential party candidates and the Caucus.   I was neither made aware of nor invited to those meetings, but a rival Democratic candidate for Town Justice was and did attend.  My candidacy was brought up, and Mr. Brown told all present that he could not get a straight answer out of me as to my desire to run again. Ms. Hulbert then spoke up and said that I did indicate clearly my intent to do so.
At this point, the proper course of action would have been to clarify the situation before proceeding further. A simple phone call to me would have resolved any confusion; allowing a democratic candidate selection process to take place. This was a matter of courtesy and of fairness.
However, Mr. Brown chose not to contact me, deliberately excluding me from the electoral process and perhaps ensuring that I would not be yet made aware of his plans to hold the Caucus in early June, not in September as we discussed earlier. Eventually, I did receive a voicemail four days prior to the Caucus, but only to be told of the date and not asked of my intentions to run for reelection.
The Caucus was held on the same night as the New Lebanon High School sports awards.   This scheduling seemed odd, since one of the attendees at the private party meetings was a School Board member and another was one of Mr. Brown’s sons, a current teacher at New Lebanon High; who both would have been aware of the conflict of events.   Many of my potential supporters also attended the school function.  I did not ask any to attend the Caucus since the opportunity to be present at an event where one’s child is to receive recognition for outstanding achievements is more important.
Despite these attempts to impede my candidacy for reelection, I intend to run.   But in casting a vote for any candidate, voters should be able to count on a fair and open candidate selection process.
Shaun P. McHugh
New Lebanon