To the Editor:

The article "Schools critic is threatened with arrest" in your Nov. 3 edition misrepresented to some degree the event at the Bedford Central School District's Citizens Facilities Advisory Committee meeting on Oct. 24.

Never was I ordered by anyone to leave the meeting. The subject never even came up. And I never turned on an audio recorder, thus never refused to turn it off. We all agreed for that meeting, pending further discussion, not to record anything. The record needs to be corrected.

I would not have pejoratively characterized as argumentative the debate among the committee members, Committee Chairman Homer Schoen and myself. To the contrary, no one raised a voice. I did feel set upon when Mark Betz, assistant superintendent of schools, unilaterally rose to announce he was calling the police. He telephoned the Bedford Police Department, reporting that there was "a male who refused to leave, an administration meeting." Again, nobody was ever asked to leave the meeting at any time.

Committee members expressed their concerns that tape recording comments might lead me to "take out of context" what one or another said on my weekly radio program. I appreciate the plug, but "Generally Speaking" (WVIP 1310 AM Sunday mornings at 9:05 a.m.) is a program featuring non-fiction authors. The heartfelt, though on-the-spot, prohibition appeared targeted at me personally.

Why "note-taking" could not lead to the same comments being taken out of context remains an open question. It was my contention that a meeting open to the public is open to the public. Will the committee's position also apply to The RecordReview reporter doing his job so that an accurate, verifiable record is reported to its readers?

Does not The Record-Review believe that we all must be able to remain informed? Observing (and recording) the deliberations and decisions that go into making of public policy is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society. Borrowing directly from the spirit of the New York State Open Meetings law, "this is the only climate under which the commonweal will prosper and enable the governmental process to operate and for the benefit of those who created it."

Hand-held tape recorders and notepads do not take comments "out of context," the on e reporting does that. And when an event is misreported, like this one at the facilities committee, it's incumbent on those that feel aggrieved to set the record straight. If I can write a letter to the editor so can a committee member.

Philip Christe

Mount Kisco

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