Will He Now Be Removed from County Job?
By Dan Murphy
The Port Chester School Board, after months of pressure from the community at large, voted 3-1 at a special meeting on April 14 to remove President Tom Corbia from his position of leadership and power. Corbia, who has served for 10 years on the PC School Board, had defied the Superintendent, Mayor of Port Chester, and other officials and leaders in Village by not explaining racist, bigoted and insensitive Facebook posts attributed to his account, nor complying with his own vow to prove that his social media account had been hacked.
The post in question, on September 16, 2020, appeared on Facebook. “I’m selling my white privilege card. It’s just over 77 years old and it hasn’t done a damn thing for me. No inheritance, no free college, no free food, no free housing, etc. I may even be willing to do an even trade for a race card. Those seem way more useful and more widely accepted. Interested? Contact me on my non-obama (sic) cell phone that I have to pay for every month. Serious inquiries only.”
Underneath this post came a response from the Facebook account of Tom Corbia which read, “You are the f******* best and whoever doesn’t like that post, well they know what they can do.”
The special meeting to remove Corbia took less than 10 minutes, with BOE Trustees Chrissie Onofrio, Luigi Russo and Christopher Wolff voted yes to remove, while BOE Vice President Anne Capeci voted no.
Capeci briefly commented, explaining her vote by saying, “I don’t disagree with everything in the findings, but it certainly doesn’t warrant removal from this board. When you compare Mr. Corbia’s past record in the district as a teacher, as coach, as a community activist and member working with children, I cannot vote for this resolution”
There was no other comment by Board members regarding Corbia’s removal, only a statement from the Board attorneys. “This was a difficult process for the Board of Education and the Port Chester community. The board appreciates your patience. We understand that not everyone in the community will agree with their decision and be happy with the outcome. However, the board determined based upon the evidence presented that this decision was the right outcome.”
The meeting was held remotely, and Corbia did not attend his removal proceeding. His removal as Board President was effective immediately after the vote on April 14.
Tom Corbia had served for the Port Chester Board of Education for 40 years, as a teacher and sports coach, before retiring in 2011. He was elected to the School Board in 2012 and then served as President.
One Port Chester resident that has been involved in trying to remove Corbia said that in the end, it was his defiant behavior, and not his social media posts, that resulted in a majority on the school board calling for his removal. Several hearings held to discuss the matter were held in March, and not yet released to the public. But sources tell us that Corbia did not attend and refused to cooperate, as he always had, with the investigation. Eventually, the hearing officer recommended his removal.
Corbia was also said to be surprised by his removal because he was preparing for another school budget and vote in the weeks ahead.
Corbia responded to questions about the post by claiming that his account was hacked and that he would clear his name and his reputation by welcoming an investigation. But Corbia’s promised cooperation never came, as he refused to hand over his devices to an IT investigations company hired by the district.
Students at Port Chester High School, joined with residents, taxpayers and concerned citizens to keep the pressure on the school board to remove its President. During school board meetings held over the past 6 months, Corbia has sat silent as dozens of speakers called for his removal.
More than 80% of the student body in Port Chester is Latino. Another post found in Corbia’s social media account from 2018 read,“Illegal immigrants sent $56 billion in pure cash to their home countries last year alone. That’s after their kids enjoyed free education, free lunches and free medical care all paid for by you!”
Most Port Chester residents were relieved that Corbia was removed. Former School Board Trustee Carolee Brakewood posted, “For those who may have missed it, the Port Chester Board of Education voted 3-1 to remove PC Board of Education President Thomas Corbia from his BOE seat earlier this evening. This action came on the heels of racist comments discovered on Corbia’s Facebook account in September 2020, widespread public outrage, and a lengthy legal process to hold him accountable for his actions. Corbia claimed “he was hacked” but then refused to cooperate with the district investigation, costing our high needs school district well over $80,000 in investigator and legal fees. Thank you to three BOE members (Russo/Wolff/Onofrio) who saw the process through, followed the recommendation of the hired objective hearing officer, and removed Mr. Corbia from the BOE. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Others were saddened that this type of controversy would happen anywhere in Westchester County in 2021. “So … was speaking with a friend last night about the BOE meeting last night and results…the inevitable question came up ….”you must be happy?
I responded “no , not really “ Why ? Because this should have never have happed. The district spent well over 80k. We wasted valuable time during Covid 19 that should have been spent on the student body . The consistent reminder over the last 7 months had seeded divisions within the community that continued to grow are now rooted. Distrust among supporters and non supporters of the process has made permanent wounds that I don’t think will heal.
“So …in short and to sum up …”no I’m not happy” it shouldn’t have happened and it could have ended quickly with very little damage .. No …..I’m not happy.” posted Port Chester resident Phllip Morlin.
Corbia’s claim that he was hacked, can only be viewed as untrue, because of his reluctance in cooperating in the same investigation that he voted for. This newspaper spoke to Roger Grimes, a computer security expert, who has worked for 30 years as a consultant, witness, author. “It’s a very common defense response to say I was hacked. And while I don’t know about the innocence or guilt of these specific cases, 99.9% of the time the claims of being hacked are false and hacking is being used as an excuse.”
“I’ve seen a real hack when it is alleged maybe 3 or 4 times in 20 years, while people claim it as an excuse thousands of times a day. It’s also difficult to hide your activity, you have to replace your hard drive.”
Corbia also has a job with Westchester County as a “Community Work Assistant” for Westchester County Department of Community Mental Health, at a part-time salary of $59,200. Calls to call for Corbia to be fired from his job were met with calls from within county government to wait for the Port Chester Scholl Board to take action, and that the decision on firing Corbia was an internal County government personnel matter.
Now that the school board removed Corbia, renewed calls are being made for the County Board of Legislators, County Executive George Latimer, or someone in county government to remove Corbia from receiving another dollar from the Westchester taxpayer.
Those same calls are being made to remove Corbia from his post at the Port Chester Municipal Housing Authority.
