HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/14/2022 1
Town of Southold,New York
Anti-Bias Task Force - Steering Committee
Draft of Minutes from Online Zoom Meeting
February 14,2022
Members Present: Sandra Benedetto,Sylvia Dail`YMike Domino,Emily Geiger,Laura Held,
Carolyn Peabody,David Schultz,Valerie Shelby (Co-Chair),Cynthia Smith,Sonia Spar(Co-
Chair).
Members Absent/Excused: Marjorie Day,LeRoy Heyliger,Jean LePre,Eleanor Lingo.
Also Present: Brian Mealy (Town Board Member,Liaison),Police Chief Martin Flatley (Police
Department Liaison).
Guest: Louisa Evans (Town Board Member).
The meeting was opened at 5:08 p.m.by Valerie Shelby.
Agenda Items
1.Approval of Minutes from January 2022.
Motion to approve Minutes of 1/10/22 meeting [Laura Held], [Emily Geiger].CARRIED
with no corrections suggested.
2.Members introduce themselves (two minutes each).
As our membership changed with the start of a new calendar year,Valerie Shelby
requested that each member(and guests)take a couple of minutes to introduce themselves to the
group.
3.Follow up discussion on the two letters we sent to the Southold Town Board regarding the
racist incidents (Zoom bombings) that happened during two Southold Town Zoom meetings.
Chief Flatley reported that while the Zoom bombings occurred during two different' _
meetings,they are being handled as one investigation.He explained that his team started right
after the incidents by sending Zoom a preservation letter to secure all of the data associated with
these meetings.After collecting the information,the team visited the Computer Crimes unit at
the Suffolk County Police Department(SCPD)to see if they had any success in investigating
these types of incidents.The Computer Crimes unit told them that the only success that they
have had so far was with a meeting in Suffolk County where they backtracked and got subpoenas
that revealed the culprit to be a teenager from Brooklyn who had no personal connection with the
meeting or the group that was attacked.Chief Flatley added that they also learned from the
Computer Crimes unit that there are websites available online that give links and imbedded
passwords for online meetings that allow perpetrators to easily access those meetings.
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The next step was to go to the SCPD Hate Crimes unit and share the particulars with
them.The Hate Crimes units was inclined to label the event as a hate incident rather than a hate
crime because it did not fit into the New York State Penal Law section as a crime.
The team then went to the Suffolk County Attorney's Office Hate Crimes Task Force
where they experienced greater success.They sat down with Robbin Hartman,the Acting Bureau
Chief,Case Advisory Bureau,and a member of the Hate Crimes Task Force.After starting at the
same point as the others,she decided to explore a different angle in order file subpoenas to get
the IP addresses of the individual(s) who broke into the meetings.As subpoenas can only be
done when some sort of crime is committed,she was able to fit the incident into another section
of the law that will allow her to file the subpoenas.Hopefully,this will identify the individuals
associated with the IP address(es).Although the investigation did not start out in a positive
direction,it is now looking to be more promising as an investigation.Chief Flatley will continue
to advise us of any progress.
Discussion: Sandra Benedetto asked what the Southold Town Board it doing to mitigate
future attacks.Brian Mealy responded by sharing some of the conversation that the Town Board
has been having while considering various options that we might follow to protect everyone from
such attacks.These included establishing specific checklists,procedures,and protocols for our
Zoom meetings to control audience access without restricting free speech. Sonia Spar added that
we need have avenues of oversite in place that include the Police Department,the Town Board,
and the reporting of incidences to reveal potential patterns of attacks while educating our
community about our problems and ways to reduce the attacks.Louisa Evans shared that the
Town Board shut down the chat option for their meetings but still allow audience members to
use the raise hand option to address the group.This maintains free speech while giving the Board
control over who can be recognized to speak.The discussion continued for another 15 minutes
with additional suggestions for how to mitigate future attacks from those who Emily Geiger
refers to as anonymous mud slingers.
4.Committee report on critical race theory.Also,are any books banned in our North Fork
schools?
The committee has not had an opportunity to meet with the North Fork school
superintendents.They will report to the group as soon as they have made progress with this.In
the meantime,those interested in learning more about banned books might want to visit their
village library and speak with a member of their expert staff who would be happy to show you
where these books are located.You can also learn a lot about banned books by visiting the
American Library Association's website where they are listed along with suggestion on how to
deal with book challenges in your schools or community.https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks
5.Are beach permits biased against any particular group of people?
Sandy Benedetto and Emily Geiger have raised this question over the course of the past
year.They report that there continues to be a lack of clarity of who is allowed to walk upon and
otherwise use the beaches that border our lovely Southold Town.Sandy explained again that she
had a number of family and friends coming to visit her last year and decided she would ask about
obtaining guest permits. She was told that permits were only for the cars,and anyone can walk
onto the beach.Then she saw signs around the town that said that you needed to be a resident to
visit the beaches.She has also heard anecdotally that a number of people,primarily people of
color,have not been allowed to walk onto the beach. She explained that one of the things we are
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trying to do before it gets to be beach time again,is to determine what is the Southold Town
ordinance and how has it changed.In addition,how is that enforced?Clearly it is arbitrary.Most
of the attendants are young teenagers who are given the responsibility of determining who has
the right to visit the beach. So,Sandy asks if there is clarity here with something printed that
outline the rules and regulations about beach use in the Town of Southold.
Silvia Daley shared her story of the time she was challenged to show a pass in order to
walk on Breakwater Beach on the west side of the Mattituck Inlet.
Emily Geiger told us that there were signs everywhere stating that you had to show
residential identification.At Kenneys Beach and McCabe's Beach in Southold the two lines
stating this on the signs were whited out.You still needed a permit to park there,but it looked as
though the residential requirement to walk on the beach had been removed.But this was not the
case for other signs in the town.When she went to get her beach pass for this year,Emily learned
that the Town had change to new passes that are designed to hang from your car's rearview
mirror rather than being a sticker that is affixed to your bumper.In addition to the new pass,the
beach pass has a section at the bottom that can be removed.As noted on the Town of Southold
information page that comes with the permit, "The bottom perforated card will be used as a
beach walk-on pass for the property owner/resident and anyone with them in their vehicle." As
Emily wondered during our meeting,how do you share that little piece of plastic with,
potentially,a car full of family members when you get onto the beach?In addition,she notes that
this direction seems to announce that you must be a resident and/or have a beach pass to walk on
the beach in Southold Town.
Chief Flatley explained the history of the enforcement of the residential requirement
evolved during the onset of Covid-19 and the influx of out-of-town visitors who drove east to
visit our beaches.In some villages,visitors would park anywhere along the streets and walk to
the beach,which certainly frustrated many residents who have walked to the beach themselves
each summer but found them full of visitors from other parts of Long Island and beyond.He also
explained the difference between the Southold Town beaches and the park districts within the
individual village who have their own rules and fees for their beaches.
Chief Flatley added that the Town has not met yet to discuss parking issues for the
coming summer season.Brian Mealy confirmed this adding that the Town Board has not
discussed this yet.Brian also shared that during a conversation he had recently with Town Clerk
Denis Noncarrow,he learned that guest passes are available from the clerk's office in Town Hall.
In any event,the question remains regarding why people of color continue to be
questioned while others have never been challenged when they go to the beach.As Sandy
Benedetto,Sylvia Daley,and Laura Held all pointed out,as much as this might be explainable
during the time of Covid-19,it does not explain or justify different treatment for different folks
during this or any other timeframe.
Recommendations and questions as we move forward.
Sandy recommended that we reconsider how beach access policy is enforced.Who is trained for
this enforcement and how are they trained?Is respect and civility emphasized throughout this
training?Mike Domino suggested to Louisa Evans and Brian Mealy that they include the
Trustees when the Town Board discusses beach access as the Trustees have a lot of experience
with this.He also reminded us that we all have a right to walk on the beach("public trust
doctrine"). Sonia Spar reminded us that no matter what is decided,it must be properly conveyed
to the public; and the more information,the better.Sylvia Daley repeated the importance of
treating all people with respect and civility. Sandy Benedetto added emphasis to Sylvia's
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thoughts by pointing out that two women of color who are a part of this meeting have been
challenged while visiting a beach in Southold Town this past year.Val Shelby summarized our
thoughts by reminding us that we need to be very careful about how we treat all our citizens.
Sandy Benedetto volunteered to work with the Town Board on this topic.
Motion to form a beach permit committee:
Sonia Spar moved to designate Sandy Benedetto,Mike Domino,and Emily Geiger as
representatives from the Southold Town Anti-Bias Task Force to continue discussing the issues
related to Southold Town Beach Permits with the Southold Town Trustees and the Southold
Town Board. [Sonia Spar], [Laura Held],CARRIED
6.Possible activities for the coming year:
A.April Youth Synergy Zoom
Val Shelby reminded us that Chris North said he would be happy to do this and
involve Professor Banks.As Chief Flatley needed to leave the meeting earlier,Val will add this
item to next month's agenda.
B.Juneteenth (June 19)
Val explained that she added this event as a historical sharing.We could put
something in the paper about it or plan an activity to celebrate the date.Brian Mealy suggested
that we involve the schools;perhaps have a Juneteenth essay contest or something like that and
have the winners on Zoom.We should keep in mind that this date is very near the end of the
school year.
C.Community Picnic (August 13)
It's been two years since we had our picnic and Val believes we should go ahead
and do it.We want to bring the community together,but do so in a safe way.We can plan more
as we get closer to summer.
D.Helen Prince Award (October 6)
If we have a return of Covid,we could do this event on Zoom.Val asked us all to
think of a worthy candidate to be honored this year.
Sylvia Daley remembers working with Marjorie Day and Jo Watson for many years as part of the
Black History Month program put on by Peconic Landing.This was a community wide event
that was well attended.This could be a possible activity for 2023.
Reports
1.Police Department: See Chief Flatley's report in item 3 above.
2.Youth Bureau: Resumes are still being reviewed for a new director.There was also discussion
about the internships for high school students in our schools that has worked well for students
during recent years.
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3.Schools:
Fishers Island: Sandy Benedetto has taken over the liaison role between the ABTF and
the school. She thanked Brian Mealy and Louisa Evans for reaching out to Julie Arcelus,the
Fishers Island School Counselor.
Greenport: Needs a new liaison to replace Chris.
Mattituck: No Report
New Suffolk: No Report
Oysterponds: No Report
Southold: Open spot that needs a liaison.
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn at 7:00 p.m. [David Schultz], [Sonia Spar]. CARRIED.
Minutes recorded and submitted by David Schultz