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Two married people into one board won’t go

    As if the city of Schenectady does not have enough problems, the Schenectady City Council has taken months to address the issue that is most likely on every resident’s mind: unruly married couples serving on volunteer city boards. The perceived danger is that two people living under the same roof would conspire to form a powerful voting bloc of two!
    This fear is so overwhelming that it acts to undermine a century of women’s rights issues, and, now that the state has opened the doors, same-sex marriage. This century’s progressive thinkers are about to be thrown under the city of Schenectady bus!
    First the good news: you can get married. Now the bad news: get off that board!
    Since only the honest will be covered (couples stepping forward and stating their relationship), the council will rely on those “living in sin” to fess up! Perhaps this will spawn a whole new City Council committee on bed checks.
    This brouhaha came from a duly designated and very qualifi ed couple [my wife, Darlene Lee, and I] serving on the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB)— nominated by their organizations listed in the legislation, approved by the City Council and the mayor. The “anti-married” lobby struggled for years to bring this threat to the attention of the council.
    The same group chose to overlook three members from the same not-forprofit corporation; no conflict there. It also overlooked four members of the same Democratic ward committee; no conflict there. The CPRB has struggled for a decade to make a quorum to review cases, but nothing can stop this cult.
    The great fear is, apparently, that a couple, made up of one Democrat and one Republican, somehow would conspire to ruin everything! In light of the deadlock in state and federal government, between Democrats and Republicans, it would seem there could be a teachable moment or two.

    FREDERIC LEE
    Schenectady The writer is a former CPRB member.