For those who thought woman driver jokes faded out many years ago, they made a comeback at the April 25 Yardley Borough Zoning Hearing Board meeting, much to the chagrin of some borough council members.
Inappropriate, unprofessional and sexist are the ways they are characterizing Zoning Hearing Board Solicitor Joseph Caracappa’s brief reference to the old stereotype about women being inferior drivers as compared to men.
During a discussion about a proposed project at the meeting, the talk turned to the difficulty of maneuvering in and out of a parking space and Caracappa quipped “well, if the driver was a woman...(but) his tenants are all male.”
The remark drew laughter from several in the meeting room, but borough Council President Caroline Thompson and some other council members aren’t amused.
“I am writing to you to express my immense disappointment in your conduct at the Zoning Hearing Board meeting last night,” Thompson emailed Caracappa after watching a recording of the meeting.
“As a representative of Yardley Borough and our quasi-judicial Zoning Hearing Board, we expect and depend that you will conduct yourself in a professional and impartial manner. We all have inherent biases, but those biases should never be spoken while representing the borough and I sincerely hope they are not factored into your legal counsel of our ZHB.”
Thompson added that Caracappa has since made matters worse by – instead of offering a full and sincere apology – “digging in” on his remark.
“Sexism is not a joke,” Thompson continued in her email. “Your statement was not funny and does not represent the government that we have all worked so hard to build in Yardley.”
Caracappa responded: “I don’t have an ounce of sexism in me. I’ve represented the board and the borough for 38 years honorably and capably. No more jokes about ladies’ parking, I promise.”
He described the remark in an email to ZHB members as an “obviously tongue-in-cheek quip.”
None of that constitutes a real apology, Thompson retorted.
Council member Chirs Campellone, the council’s liaison to the ZHB and former chairman of the borough’s Human Relations Commission, stressed that all borough officials and professionals need to be careful about what they say at public meetings so there is no risk of their fairness and impartiality being called into question.
“I was disturbed by Mr. Caracappa’s comments and brought that to the attention of our council president,” Campellone wrote as part of an email exchange among borough officials. “While I understand that Mr. Caracappa may have felt comfortable making a comment like that in front of people he feels he knows well, it is important to understand that there are still other residents both in the room and viewing at home that may not feel the same level of familiarity with Mr. Caracappa and would likely take exception to those types of comments.”
Campellone continued: “I appreciate Mr. Caracappa’s service to our community and I would never form judgment of a person based around one comment. But I would request that this matter be taken more seriously and with the understanding that all of us on this email chain have a duty to the people of Yardley Borough to represent our community at the highest possible standards.”
Fellow council member David Bria agreed.
“There’s no place or room for that (Caracappa’s remark) in our community,” Bria said in a telephone conversation. “I respect the fact that the Zoning Hearing Board picks its own solicitor, and we have to keep our roles separate. But I would hope (ZHB) members would think carefully about having someone representing them who reflects the values of the community.”
Caracappa wrote in an email to The Herald: “I made a joke. All the (ZHB) board members know me well. They know the person I am and what was behind the attempt at humor. They were not offended in the slightest.”
The Herald was unsuccessful in attempts to reach ZHB members for comment.
“I do have a reputation in Bucks County built over 45 years as an honest, community-minded, conscientious lawyer, a man of faith and a family man,” Caracappa added in his email to The Herald.
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