Ancram supervisor confronts ‘First Amendment auditor’

A First Amendment audit is part of a social movement. An online search for the term focuses on hundreds of videos taken at various town halls, police stations, libraries and other public spaces around the country.

First Amendment Watch, an online news and educational resource for journalists, educators and students, reports the concept of First Amendment audits is part of a growing movement where individuals film in public places to test the rights to film in public spaces.

Ancram Town Hall was visited March 17 by a person who told employees he was conducting an audit. The man identified himself only as David. A 28-minute video of his audit was posted on YouTube last week.

In the video, David films himself entering town hall, speaking to various town employees and officials in the building and asking for public information, such as names and business cards, a copy of the town’s budget and the application form for a Freedom of Information Law request.

The video also shows David walking around town hall, zooming in on maps, pamphlets, flyers and various other items posted on the walls.

David said Monday he is from the Bronx and has done several audits in the state.

“I would say it was like a pass at first, but then it failed,” he said. “It went from a pass to a fail, just from his (Bassin’s) behavior. As a town supervisor, for him to behave that way, knowing that I’m recording, is totally unbecoming of a public official, I tried to give him a chance.”

When town officials ask David his reason for visiting town hall, he tells them repeatedly he has not finished conducting his business.

Town Supervisor Art Bassin is one of the people seen in the video working at town hall.

Bassin tells David he wants him to “please leave the building,” several times. When Bassin repeatedly asks David about his business, David says, “My business,” several times.

Eventually, Bassin picks up his phone and asks the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office to send an officer to escort someone out of town hall.

“He wouldn’t tell us who he was, or what he was doing,” Bassin said. “He kept saying he was an independent journalist. He wouldn’t tell us who he was writing his story for. He said he was writing it for himself. I asked him if we could help him and he said no, that he was just here doing his videoing and that he has a First Amendment right to do that.”

David said he answered all the questions asked by town employees, which he said that, as a private citizen, he did not have to do.

“I told him what I was doing, I tried to give him a chance to start over,” David said referring to Bassin. “I tried to remind them and educate him that the citizens have the right to record our government workers in the course of their duties. The same way we can record cops, we can record our government workers. And that is the people’s building. They have the right to come in and record their interactions.”

People have the right to go into a town hall and check on the workers because we pay their salaries, David said.

“That’s our building, it belongs to the people,” David said. “If you ever feel that you were mistreated, don’t be afraid to stand up and express your concerns and voice your opinion.”

Bassin characterized David as being calm and well-mannered and was not rude or abrupt.

“We were just kind of concerned because, given the way he was dressed, he looked like he was not there to conduct normal town business,” Bassin said. “And he was just wandering around videoing things. So we were a little concerned. We asked him to leave multiple times and he didn’t, finally after he finished doing what he was doing he left.”

In the video David can be heard telling Bassin he is, ”Not here on no ill-intent, not here on no malicious intent either,” and Bassin responds, “You have to admit it’s pretty unusual to have someone come in and do what you’re doing.”

At this point in the video David says he is conducting a First Amendment audit to see if his right to record is being respected.

Since the video was posted, Bassin said, he has received three or four phone calls from people who saw the video, some from people who were calling to be critical of the way the town handled the situation and others from people who praised the way the town handled the visit.

“Nothing like this has even happened while I’ve been in town hall,” Bassin said. “In retrospect, now that I know what this is all about, I would have been much less concerned.”

The town clerk was relaxed and professional when David entered her office, Bassin said. She had heard of these audits happening in other places through her professional associations.

Bassin said he has heard of this happening in the town of Amenia in Dutchess County and the town of Stamford in Delaware County, and in Sharon, Connecticut.

“It was my first experience,” Bassin said. “If I had to do it all over again, I would have offered the guy a cup of coffee and that would have been that.”