HARLEM VALLEY — Thursday, March 17, might have begun as an ordinary enough workday at the Ancram Town Hall, but by 11:08 a.m. it quickly turned into the unusual. That’s when a man dressed in dark jeans, with a black hoodie pulled over his head and a black mask hiding his face walked into the usually quiet Town Hall with his cell phone on record mode. He was conducting what is known as a First Amendment Audit.
It was the first time most in the small Columbia County municipality had ever heard of what is quickly becoming a trend in the U.S.
“The whole First Amendment Audit is apparently a nation-wide phenomenon,” said Ancram town Supervisor Art Bassin on Saturday, March 26. “These individuals are making a point that it’s their right to video us, come in and video public spaces. He was in Sharon, Conn., and Amenia, before Ancram. I heard the audits have been taking place in Dutchess County before happening in Ancram, and maybe other places, too.”
Bassin noted the “auditor” has no affiliation with any official government agency.
The entire 45-minute long “audit” is on YouTube, where it was posted on March 21. As of Monday, March 28, it had logged 2,026 views.
Bassin admitted the encounter, which began smoothly, turned rocky, as evident from its YouTube title, “1st amendment audit! Town supervisor tries to intimidate! And calls sheriff!”
Bassin actually didn’t call the sheriff’s office, he said.
“I figured that would make him leave, so I pretended I was talking to the sheriff, but I never really did.”
The town supervisor was able to eventually ease tensions between him and the auditor, who only gave his first name: David.
“We have since verified that he was within his rights to refuse to provide identification,” wrote Bassin in his Ancram email community newsletter sent on March 26.
As seen on the video, David politely interrogated every individual he encountered, gently demanding to know each person’s name, title and job duties. Before doing so, he recorded his walk from the parking lot into Town Hall, explaining his goal: “to promote transparency.”
While essentially asking each town employee name, title and duties, David also asked to see the town budget, employee salaries and a FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) form.
He then asked a series of mundane questions, ranging from if his subject was posting the mail to why all of the lights were turned off inside Town Hall. He also asked for everyone’s business card.
All throughout, David kept recording on his cell phone. He recorded the art hanging on the walls, the notices hanging on the bulletin boards, the flyers for local support groups and even the regional tourism brochures.
David eventually wound up in Bassin’s office; the supervisor was meeting with someone from the Highway Department at the time.
The video exchange
After a short exchange of vague pleasantries, the video shows David saying, “I’m doing a story on Town Hall… the people sent me. The owners of the building. The people.”
Bassin answered questions about the town, board meetings and his position, but then he asked David, who was not forthcoming about his full identity or his intentions, to leave.
“I don’t think we want you around here at Town Hall, casing the joint for something,” said Bassin in the video. “Why don’t you excuse yourself, unless you leave your phone number and name?”
David refused, saying, “I haven’t conducted my business yet… Do you know what the First Amendment is?”
It was then that Bassin said he would call the sheriff’s office, telling David he “had no right to take pictures at Town Hall.”
“I’m here with no ill intent; I’m here with no malicious intent,” David responded. “I’m not being disruptive and not being disorderly; you do know that citizens can record you, just like we can record the police. We are in public.”
He added, “The reason I did this is to normalize it.”
Under pressure from David, Bassin ultimately apologized for his reaction and things settled down. Sheriff’s deputies never arrived.
“If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t get the sheriff’s involved,” said Bassin. “That would just escalate the confrontation level and would be less productive. The situation gets ugly when law enforcement is brought in, when somebody tries to arrest somebody and that’s not what we’re trying to do.”
Bassin added, “For a normal person it was just kind of strange. He was very low key, very pleasant, not threatening. The only threatening part was the way he was dressed: all in black, a black hoodie, a black mask and he was videotaping everything.”
Bassin said that while the audit was being conducted, everyone at Town Hall was “pretty calm, cool and collected, but afterward a couple of people told me they were puzzled and not comfortable.”
Adding that such events are a “sign of the times,” Bassin said if it were to happen again, he would act differently.
“The next time this happens I will probably offer the auditor a cup of coffee and some candy and let them do their thing and leave them alone,” he said, adding it’s important not to react or trigger a confrontation. He also said other towns need to be aware of this phenomenon so if it happens to them, the process will go smoothly.
Amenia audited too
Amenia Town Clerk Dawn Marie Klingner agreed, and said the town supervisor, Victoria Perotti, warned everyone working at Town Hall such an audit could occur back in January. The Amenia Town Hall even posted signs at all of its doors and windows barring access except for the front door, said Klingner.
So when David visited the Amenia Town Hall during the first week of March, going by the name of “Guy,” Klingner said most were prepared.
Her description of Guy matches David’s right down to the tattoos on his hands and wrists (and neck). She said he was also dressed in black, though his hoodie wasn’t pulled up over his head.
Klingner said Amenia’s audit was very similar to Ancram’s in terms of what was requested and what was videotaped. She said she accommodated all of the requests and the whole exchange went smoothly.
“I said, ‘How can we help you?’ and it was no problem,” said Klingner on Sunday, March 27. “I wasn’t going to argue with him because he was videotaping.”
Klingner said “Guy” also audited the Stanford Town Hall and the Pleasant Valley Town Hall, where the town clerks were reportedly agitated by his presence. Those interactions have been posted on YouTube, whereas the Amenia audit was apparently so bland it “didn’t make the cut,” she said.
“He’s only posting people who call the police or are rude to him,” said Klingner. “I just didn’t want any conflicts.”
Klingner said the County Association of Town Clerks was to meet on Tuesday, March 29; she was betting the topic of First Amendment Audits would be raised. She planned to advise her colleagues to share what auditor requests, even if, as in Guy’s case, he doesn’t appear to be a local taxpayer.
“To me it doesn’t matter if he lives in Dutchess County or other jurisdictions; it’s public information… I have the information that’s available and if he wants it, have at it.”
Safety the real worry
In retrospect, Klingner’s main concern is whether the Town Hall’s safety was compromised, and if those who are conducting First Amendment Audits have anything nefarious planned.
“By taking video, he knows where our cameras are; what floors he has access to; and if we called the police, he would know the response time,” said Klingner. “Now our security issues are heightened. So what kind of county funding is available to address that? It is raising a lot of good points. I just don’t know how far to raise this issue.”
Klingner said such thoughts are just a reality in today’s world, and are “a sign of the times,” as Bassin said.
“I think the police should be alerted if someone is going to all the town halls; that’s just putting us in jeopardy,” she said. “The FBI should like to know what’s going to all these town halls, too. Maybe there’s something there.”
It’s worth noting, the Good Guy Audits YouTube channel on which David posts his audits also rates those audits with a pass or fail. Ancram’s audit was not rated; the Amenia audit didn’t even make the site.
Submitted
