Byrne’s Lack of Diversity on His Transition Team is Telling
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
The Highlands Current recently published an article announcing the members of incoming Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne’s transition team, who are, unsurprisingly, all White men. No Democrat is running against Byrne so he is virtually guaranteed the position.
While we all know Byrne, and Putnam County Republicans in general, are vocally opposed to fostering diversity, one would think Byrne might be interested in at least the appearance of propriety by pulling from his Log Cabin Republican or women supporters, for example. This announcement is nothing less than a slap in the face to the nearing 50 percent of his constituents who do not support Republican views or values, whether they are Democrats, Independents or some other party.
In 2020, as an assemblyman, Byrne refused to vocally denounce the violent, racist actions of a local man who drove a truck decorated with the words “F**k Black Lives” through a Black Lives Matter protest in Carmel. While the Westchester Fair Campaign Practices Committee failed to find evidence that Byrne refused to condemn the act, we know he did, because many of us and others we know asked him to, via both phone calls and on social media, and we were ignored. He said at the time in replies to social media posts that not every act by a “disturbed” person deserves a public statement.
This transition team, along with his history of failing to condemn racism and public championing of groups like Moms for Liberty, is further proof that Byrne plans to run Putnam County just like it has been for decades – a good old boys club headed by corrupt White cronies who are all in bed together trying to preserve their power at the price of keeping women, people of color, LGBTQ+ and other Putnam County minority groups relegated to the shadows and without services or community.
Of course, Byrne still has time to make it right if he wants to and to diversify his team. But we won’t hold our breath.
Eileen McDermott (Brewster), Baila Lemonik (Mahopac), Judy Allen (Putnam Valley), Dwight Arthur (Mahopac), Janet Mahoney (Kent), Juergen Tempel (Patterson), Karen Freede (Putnam Valley) and Other Concerned Citizens of Putnam County
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