Committee challenges crosswalk supporting Pride month as waste of taxpayer dollars
DELMAR – Controversy came to the corner of Hudson Avenue and Adams Street in Delmar last week when the Town repainted a crosswalk in the Pride rainbow colors as part of the upcoming June 22 Bethlehem Pride Festival.
On May 18, the Bethlehem Republican Committee posted a photo on its Facebook page of the crosswalk being painted by a Town of Bethlehem employee with the caption, “Your hard earned tax dollars at work.”
Bethlehem Republican Committee Chair James McGaughan said the post objected to the crosswalk repainting because of the cost to taxpayers. “At a time when people are struggling to afford groceries and housing and the Town’s
structures are crumbling, I don’t know why they are spending money on putting up rainbow flags on the Town Hall and painting the crosswalk,” he said. “It feels out of touch to me.”
When asked, he said he did not know what the crosswalk painting cost, but “knows paint costs a lot of money” because he had just bought four cans of paint for his own home that cost about $250. Town Supervisor David VanLuven said the project did not cost very much and only took a couple of highway department employees a few hours and a few buckets of paint. “We repaint crosswalks all the time, he said. “This is not an entirely new thing.” He did not know the project’s exact cost.
McGaughan said he would like to see the Town Board refocus its priorities “on more important matters like the business environment, the cost of everything, the crumbling infrastructure and the bigger questions not being addressed in town.” He also said he made the post because “people need to understand there is another party with different objectives and we need to get our message out.”
At the writing of this article, 120 replies followed the Bethlehem Republican Committee’s posting, all commenting negatively on the crosswalk. Those comments included statements, like the Committee’s, questioning the use of Town tax money to paint the crosswalk, some decrying the Town’s choices and its attention to gender/sexual orientation issues, and a handful of comments suggesting the crosswalk be subject to a “burn out” and be painted over.
McGaughan said his Committee does not support any unlawful conduct like burnouts or painting over the crosswalk. “It’s just that the crosswalk is unnecessary and unneeded,” he said. When asked if he would delete the posts relating to burnouts and painting over the crosswalk, McGaughan responded, “Unless something is egregious and truly about violence or victimizing someone, I don’t typically delete posts.” When asked if that means he will not delete any of the comments posted in response to his original post, he hung up on the phone interview.
VanLuven said that anyone who was found to have committed a burnout or repainting the crosswalk would be criminally prosecuted for vandalism. “Vandalism is a crime,” he said. “I hope this is on-line bluster of unhappy people in their basements and not something people would actually go out and do.”
VanLuven also said the negative comments underscore the value of declaring June as Pride month and having a Pride fest ‘to remind residents that we are a good, kind and welcoming community.” He recognized there are people who may disagree, but noted that some of the negative comments on the Facebook site came from people who do not even live in Bethlehem.
As for McGaughan’s claim that the Town’s resources are being diverted unnecessarily to re-painting the crosswalks and failing to address infrastructure issues, VanLuven disagreed. “I challenge anyone to find a pothole on any road in Bethlehem that we do not fix in a day,” he said. In response to the charge that the Town’s efforts could be better spent at picking up leaves, VanLuven declared “we are actually quite good at it.” He said the Town highway department does a “brilliant job” and rather than criticizing the commenters should, “say thank you for the great work you do and not be sneering at them because they are unhappy about something.”
VanLuven also said that he had received only one or two complaints about the repainting of the crosswalk or the Pride flag and one of them came from McGaughan. Instead, he said he is getting a lot of emails from the community supporting the Town’s decision. “Bethlehem has 35,000 people in it with a range of opinions and perspectives and we support and embrace that. There are some people who are unhappy with it, but the vast majority think it’s a great idea.”
Pride Fest Coordinator Nora Yates, who lives in Bethlehem, said, “I’m excited about the Town taking this step and being in line with outer towns and cities.” She said, “as a taxpayer, I’m very excited about painting the crosswalk. I love it!” Yates also said, “I appreciate the diversity of people in our Town and that’s part of the best part of our Town. I hope we can stay in the realm of respecting each other as neighbors.”
One post on the Committee’s Facebook page questioned whether painting the crosswalk with Pride colors violated NYS Department of Transportation regulations. VanLuven, referring to a similar case when in 2021 the City of Saratoga painted a crosswalk in the Pride colors, said that he understood that the issue had been resolved in favor of allowing the repainting.
VanLuven may have been referring to a news report that a DOT employee had responded in an email to a press inquiry ostensibly on behalf of the DOT Commissioner, that read “the DOT will not stand in the way of a community’s ability to celebrate and promote these important messages of diversity and inclusivity. As the City of Saratoga is responsible for maintaining this roadway, we will respect whatever decision local officials come to regarding the future of this crosswalk and will work with them to ensure the safety of the intersection.”
The repainting of the crosswalk was approved by the Town Board at its April 24 meeting, when it also voted to fly the Pride flag at Bethlehem Town Hall during June 2024 to mark LGBTQ Pride month. The Board also proclaimed June 2024 as LGBTQ Pride Month. VanLuven said this is all “government speech” so another group cannot demand to have the crosswalk painted on behalf of their own organization.
Some posts on the Bethlehem Republican Committee’s website said there should be a push to have the crosswalk repainted red, white and blue for Independence Day on July 4. VanLuven said that idea had not been raised before to the Town Board, so he does not know how it would be decided. “We have American flags flying all over Town and fly them proudly. The patriotism of the Town is not in question,’ he added.
He said he hopes there is no litigation over this, but “if it does go to court we will win because it’s government speech.” In the meantime, he invited the Town’s residents to attend the June 22 Bethlehem Pride Fest at the Methodist Church on Kenwood Avenue.
