On August 12th we attended the Altona town meeting. I can’t pretend it was fun. We were under attack by a board member and their animal control officer. Both sitting right next to Legislator Francis Peryea. Yes we were under attack. You feel like you are under attack, when you have been to a lot of meetings and were welcomed and treated with respect. In this case we were under attack, even though we were a guest and scheduled on their agenda.

A week later on August 19th we attended the Ellenburg “so called” Public Hearing. There was no written proposed law. We were told we needed to show we have support. Honestly, we don’t know anyone in Ellenburg. I spent weeks texting town residents to gain support, off the voter registration list provided by the Board of Elections.

From the moment we arrived at the Ellenburg Public Hearing, we were under attack. I essentially recruited by own opposition by advertising the public hearing all over Clinton County and specifically Ellenburg. None of the other towns have made me “show support”, this was the same thing we went through at the County Legislature. It just brought people out of the woodwork to fight against us. After the Public Hearing we were accosted at the door and harassed as we were leaving. When I got home we were then attacked online too. This event made us change the way we will doing things for a while.

In the future: If you propose the law to your town and they agree to allow us to visit, we are happy to attend and speak. This way we know we have supporters and we are walking in to a meeting where we are not alone and not under attack.

If you would like our help with your town law, please use the “contact us” tab to reach out to us. We are still pursuing the towns that have been cooperative and welcoming. We are just avoiding enemy territory and experiences like Ellenburg.

The City of Plattsburgh, Town of Schuyler Falls, and Town of Dannemora are drafting their laws. We are waiting to see their law proposals and hear when they schedule a public hearing.

We are also waiting for the newly elected county legislators to take their oath, and then we will go back to the county and propose a county law again. Until the legislators are replaced, nothing will get done at the county.