DUANESBURG Town officials accused of stealing campaign signs BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Steve Perog set up a deer camera Monday morning near his campaign sign on Knight Road, then tucked himself into the brush roughly 60 feet away. Decked out in full camoufl age, the Duanesburg highway superintendent said he aimed another digital camera toward his sign and waited. Less than 10 minutes later, a black Cadillac rolled to a stop by Perog’s sign and Deputy Town Supervisor Tracy Rabideau emerged from the vehicle, according to the statement he gave to state police. “In less than 30 seconds, she got out, ripped the sign up, threw it in her trunk and drove away,” he claimed Wednesday. Perog reported the theft to authorities and turned over photos he shot from both cameras. On Tuesday, Rabideau was issued a criminal summons for petty larceny, a misdemeanor charge that carries a maximum penalty of up to a year in jail. Rabideau, deputy to Republican Supervisor Rene Merrihew, wasn’t the only one cited for allegedly stealing Perog’s signs: Jean Frisbee, a 10-year member of the Town Board and the Duanesburg Democratic Committee chairwoman, is scheduled to receive a summons for petty larceny today, state police spokeswoman Maureen Tuffey said Wednesday. “We know for sure each of them took one [sign],” she said. Perog said his sign was legally tethered with wire to the stop sign on Knight Road, the dead-end street where Rabideau lives. He said about eight other signs were in the general vicinity and weren’t removed when his was plucked from the stop sign. Rabideau, 42, did not return calls for comment to her office in Town Hall on Monday or Wednesday. She does not have any other listed number. Frisbee, 72, acknowledged that on Sunday, she took a sign Perog posted in front of the Duanesburg Volunteer Ambulance Corps station, where the Democrats were hosting a pancake breakfast. She said she told Perog, who is a Democrat, to remove the sign because he’s not the candidate endorsed by the party. When Perog refused to move his sign, Frisbee said she picked it up and moved it into the kitchen inside the building. She said Perog had access to the kitchen and could have taken the sign back at any point, but opted to call state police instead. ....................>>>>...................>>>>.........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00102&AppName=1
It's unfortunate that the good people of Duanesburg have to tolerate this nonsense from their elected representatives. The residents deserve better.
Many of my signs went missing in Duanesburg as well as in Rotterdam when I campaigned in 2009. Lawn signs placed at the homes of my family members were taken multiple times. I believe that I know who was responsible, but chose to "turn the other cheek" and remain above the level of those responsible.
Desparation to retain power and control leads some to commit unethical, if not criminal, behavior.
Highway Superintendent? This guy should be running for County Sheriff.
Have to love a man who will dress in camo, set up bait and photographs the whole thing! Really? This is what campaigning has come to? Tearing up signs and telling people from the same party that they are unwelcome at a fundraiser?
Working together is certainly not working in Duanesburg.
Hey BL that is probably why you lost. You turned the other cheek instead of asking for an apology and giving the other person a chance to make it right.. You missed your opportunity at a shot at restorative justice. Read your Chrisitan manual again.....
Hey BL that is probably why you lost. You turned the other cheek instead of asking for an apology and giving the other person a chance to make it right.. You missed your opportunity at a shot at restorative justice. Read your Chrisitan manual again.....
Wow .. is that really the philosophy of you and your "party"?? Scary.
And what is the town code in the town of Duanesburg? If these signs were placed against the law, then the charges should be dropped. If they were there legally, then the code should be enforced, and it should be punished to the fulles extent of the law. And wouldn't the deputy supervisor be someone that can legally enforce the code of the town?
Frisbee didn’t deserve rap over political sign removal
I was annoyed by the Nov. 5 editorial on political sign removal. Not because I disagree: Political signs, though annoying, should be left where they are, if they are properly and legally placed. I was annoyed because you castigated one of Duanesburg’s fi ner citizens, [Town Board member and Democratic Committee Chairwoman] Jean Frisbee. Mrs. Frisbee has devoted significant time to our town, serving on the Town Board, devoting hours of volunteer time to the Duanesburg Ambulance Corps, planting flowers in the town park, and other worthy activities. I do not know the back story of what occurred that day, causing Mrs. Frisbee to move a political sign. The Gazette’s article about the incident was very sketchy and did not get Mrs. Frisbee’s side of the story. I am sure she had good reason to do what she did. I am confident she didn’t deserve your public chastisement.
Logged
If Jean were a DEM she would be made head of County youth programming at $80,000 a year. 
