In a sharply worded letter, Johnsburg Supervisor Andrea Hogan resigned Tuesday from a special committee that is advising the Board of Supervisors on how to use $12.5-million in federal COVID recovery money.
In an email to her fellow supervisors obtained by FoothillsBusinessDaily.com, Hogan wrote: “Today I resigned my position as chair of the ARPA committee. I did not do this spontaneously. I did not do this to embarrass or punish anyone. I did this to protect the important work of the committee from what seems to me to be retaliatory and discriminatory bias.
“I hope that you will all reflect on how difficult this decision was, and the stressful culture that is being created by those of you who continue to turn a blind eye and even participate in aggressions against women, minorities and people with disabilities.”
In her resignation letter, Hogan accuses Board of Supervisors chairman Kevin Geraghty of Warrensburg of not returning two phone calls and that his behavior toward her in the past “has consistently been disrespectful
“He has been so discourteous and demeaning, most particularly in committee meetings he chaired in 2021, that, unsolicited, my family and members of the public who witnessed this, remarked on it. Their concern led me to go so far as to seek counsel and review the county’s policies on discrimination and harassment and to put the county administrator on notice.”
Geraghty declined comment.
Hogan told FoothillsBusinessDaily.com that said she was named chair of the ARPA special committee last year, and wanted to inquire about Geraghty’s support, but he never responded to her messages.
“So that was frustrating,” she said.
Added on to what Hogan says is the “real disrespect” Geraghty has shown her over the last year, most recently in November when she was connected by Zoom to an Occupancy Tax committee meeting that Geraghty was chairing.
“During the meeting, my daughter walked through and said, ‘Why do you let him treat you that way?’”
She said she looked into the county harassment policies and talked to county administrator Ryan Moore about her concerns, but decided not to file a complaint.
“But I couldn’t jeopardize the good work of this committee and members of the community like Ray Agnew and Mike Bittel,” she said. “The work of this committee is way too important.”
She said, “I don’t know what his problem is with me…it shouldn’t operate this way. It should never be personal. It’s a degradation of how county government should work.”
Hogan also pointed to the fact that there are five women on the board and only one is a committee chair.
“Why not put an environmental lawyer [like Claudia Braymer] as chair of the Environment committee? I’m an independent thinker. I truly make independent decisions and I’m very proud of that. In my previous five years on the board, I was on seven to 11 committees. This year I’m on three.
“My contribution is no longer appreciated, and this sends a terrible message to women in Warren County. It tells women, ‘Don’t bother. Your contribution is not wanted here.’ And that’s a terrible message.”
Contacted for comment, Braymer said: “The chairman has the right to put in who he wants as committee chairs. I just wish he would take into account qualifications and experience a little bit more. He’s not doing that.”
Queensbury At-Large Supervisor Doug Beaty, who has been critical of Geraghty in the past, wrote in an email: “The Warren county ‘good old boys’ are back in power lead by Kevin Geraghty. Going back to old policies and treatment seems to be the focus. Within one week the same pattern of misogynist behavior that many of the women supervisors expressed was happening in 2021 has been magnified in 2022 with a total disrespect towards them via the committee chair selections.
“Some of the most qualified and experienced supervisors on this board (Seeber, Braymer, Hogan) did not receive even 1 chairwomanship out of 14 committees. The women are speaking out loud and clear that this is treatment/behavior is no longer acceptable. I agree 100%.”
In her resignation letter, Hogan urged “every Warren County Board member to take the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training available to us. We have a problem, folks, and it is getting worse.”
Geraghty told the Times Union that he created the committee assignments “to the best of my abilities. I chose the right people for the job. I don’t know what to say about that. [Read that story here.]
He said he doesn’t hate women, noting “I’m married. I’m not misogynistic.”