Councilmen Question Supervisor about Photos Taken of Them, Their Families

A special meeting of the Southeast Town Board Thursday night wrapped up after one councilman unexpectedly shared a recent incident involving his family.

At the start of the roughly 30-minute meeting, the Town Board passed a number of resolutions regarding the Springhouse Estates Water District well project — the business officials were slated to discuss at the gathering. Officials then engaged in a over the town's bills.

The second surprise came when Councilman Robert Cullen announced that he was in the process of speaking with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office following an episode that occurred around 5:30 p.m.

“My children were in the yard of our house playing and they brought to my attention that there was a person in a black car sitting in front of my house taking pictures of them,” he said. “I ran outside, went to go after the car and see who it was, and as I pulled out of my driveway, Mr. Rights, in his Jaguar, was there blocking me, and then slowly continued down my street so I was unable to get around him to see who was taking pictures of my children.”

Cullen's two daughters are 9 and 11 years old. The councilman, who is up for reelection in 2013, said that he lives on a cul-de-sac.

“Bob, that’s untrue,” Rights countered. “I was in Indian Wells to see a constituent; I pulled over to use the phone. You’re making a lot out of nothing.”

Gross then said that Rights took a photo of him earlier that day in a parking lot. Rights admitted doing so.

“No one photographed your children,” he said to Cullen before ending the meeting.

After the meeting, Rights told Patch that Cullen is "scared and desperate" because of the approaching primary elections. He said he did not see another vehicle on the road.

"I just really think that this whole political process in the Town of Southeast has reached a new low," Cullen said. "Where someone who's not even running for any office is having their children photographed and their house photographed, for whatever reason."