The Times Herald-Record
May 31, 1991
EDITORIAL

One vote for free speech

By one vote, members of the board of directors of an anti-poverty agency in Sullivan County were spared the dubious distinction of tossing the First Amendment into the trash can.

Fourteen directors of CACHE voted in secret to get rid of Thomas Rue. That was one short of the two-thirds majority needed for expulsion. The directors tried to dump Rue because he dared to disagree publicly with a board decision. They say the agency's bylaws prohibit this.

Rue was the only director to vote against spending $2,200 to send the agency's executive director on a five week trip to London. Rue didn't see how it would help to redress poverty in Sullivan County and he said so in a column in a weekly newspaper. Other directors got upset because this created that great bugaboo of all local governing bodies -- negative publicity. Translation: Don't let anyone know we think with more than one mind.

Well, be thankful for dissenters, CACHE directors. And be wary of private votes affecting public monies. Most of all, be rid of any bylaw that prohibits free speech.