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'We are not puppies'

| 03 Dec 2015 | 11:58
    Provided photos Many of the people who attended last Monday's public hearing at the Town of Monroe Arts and Civic Center donned "We are not puppies" T-shirts to protest comments made by Monroe Town Councilman Dan Burke. About 150 residents and other interested parties attended the hearing.
    Provided photos Many of the people who attended last Monday's public hearing at the Town of Monroe Arts and Civic Center donned "We are not puppies" T-shirts to protest comments made by Monroe Town Councilman Dan Burke. About 150 residents and other interested parties attended the hearing.
    More than 150 extra large T-shirts with the words 'We are not puppies" were distributed by members of United Monroe prior to Monday's public hearing on proposed zoning changes.
    More than 150 extra large T-shirts with the words 'We are not puppies" were distributed by members of United Monroe prior to Monday's public hearing on proposed zoning changes.

MONROE — In addition to speaking at Monday night's public hearing, Monroe residents wanted to remind Town Councilman Dan Burke and the rest of the board that their comments after the end of the Nov. 16 town board meeting - captured on tape by the town's own camera and broadcast on the town's web site until it was pulled off - demonstrate the board's disdain for residents.

'This is how you train puppies'

What better way, they felt, than to wear T-shirts to refute Burke's comment captured on that tape: "This is how you train puppies."

And so they did, with a red shirt with the phrase "We are not puppies" emblazoned on the shirt's front, along with a single paw print.

The shirts, said United Monroe chairwoman Emily Convers, were donated by "an anonymous donor who offered to make the shirts for the purpose of this meeting. This person was horrified to hear Dan Burke's comments."

At a rally prior to the start of the public hearing, 170 shirts were distributed and worn at this past Monday's hearing.

What happened?After the Nov. 16 meeting was officially concluded, town officials apparently thought the camera which tapes board meetings was turned off.

But it wasn't.
In addition to his "puppies" comments caught on tape, Burke also said: "You want to lease a synagogue for two years for $200,000, first thing you do, put up a canine waste law, a gun deputy law and a then a budget, and then whatever else, go over these houses and everything. It's midnight, you can do whatever you want."

In a subsequent News 12 interview, Burke, by then clearly aware his comments had gone viral on social media platforms, said: "Folks, I don't refer to the audience as puppies. You're citizens, not puppies."

Burke - who lost his board seat in last month's election offered no apology in that interview.

Instead, he said in that report: "That was pretty much a sample of Dan Burke doing stand up."

During Monday's public hearing comments, many people made a point of noting how distasteful they felt Burke's comments and the comments of Supervisor Harley Doles captured on tape were.

"We wanted to send a message to Dan Burke, in particular, but the board, overall, who clearly have no respect for the citizens they were elected to represent," said Convers. "And that message is: We're not going to take it anymore. We will not tolerate your insults. They got our message loud and clear They just didn't want anyone to feel they were affected by it."

At Monday's meeting, Burke said he had made personalized apologies.

- Nancy Kriz