by Erin Quinn and Mike Townshend
New Paltz Board of Education president Don Kerr has resigned from the school board three days after he was arrested by the New Paltz Police Department (NPPD) when he signed for a package delivered by the US Postal Service, which, according to the NPPD, contained approximately eight pounds of high-grade marijuana with a street value of $32,000. The arrest came at approximately 6 p.m. last Friday. Kerr, 52, of Millrock Road, was charged with second-degree criminal possession of marijuana, a Class D felony. The NPPD said that it made the arrest as part of a joint investigation with the US Postal Inspection Service to ferret out pot delivered by mail.
According to the police, Kerr accepted a package at his office on 183 Main Street, within 1,000 feet of the New Paltz Middle School, which is a “Drug-Free Zone.” The New Paltz Police Department’s K-9 Unit also played a role in the arrest, since police dog Rex identified the package as containing weed, allowing the cops to ask for a warrant.
Kerr was arraigned by Town of New Paltz justice Jonathan Katz and released to return for a Nov. 9 court date in New Paltz, where his attorney Andrew Kossover says that he will plead “not guilty.” Kossover says that Kerr was a “victim of circumstance,” and that “not only is there not enough evidence to obtain a conviction, I don’t believe there was enough evidence to make an arrest.”
According to Kossover, Kerr was returning to his workplace when a US Postal Service truck pulled into the parking lot and the driver said that he had a package for someone in the building. “Don cheerfully signed for it, believing it was for one of the three residential tenants, and was arrested,” said Kossover. “There are four commercial tenants, three residential tenants; and if Don hadn’t been walking back to work at that moment, any number of people related to the building could have signed for the package.”
According to New Paltz Police chief Joe Snyder, a Class D Felony carries “at least a minimum of one year in prison, up to 12 years in prison,” but that any sentencing is “up to the judicial system, the suspect’s past history.”
The chief said that the “investigation is ongoing,” in conjunction with the Ulster County district attorney’s office, as well as the US Postal Inspection Service. “We are reviewing the case now, continuing our joint investigation, and there may be additional charges pending,” he said.
As for whether or not the NPPD believed that Kerr had an “intent to sell” a portion of the eight pounds of marijuana, the chief reiterated that “our investigation is ongoing, but an allegation of that nature at this time is not proper.”
For the NPPD, the drug bust is the second big payoff for its weed-through-the-mail sting operation with the Postal Service. In late October, police arrested Jarred Spindel, 29, in a similar sting and charged him with criminal possession of marijuana. During the earlier drug bust, $50,000 worth of weed was confiscated by the police.
Asked how the police were able to trace the drug trafficking through the US Postal Service, the chief said that he could not “release much information on that, as it could jeopardize current, ongoing and future investigations.” He did say that the NPPD works very “closely with the US Postal Inspection Service,” and that there “are numerous things that trigger suspicion” about certain packages.
At this point, the chief said that, while the two marijuana busts were traced through the US Postal Service, they “do not know yet if they’re related, or are two separate drug deliveries that happened close together.”
On Monday morning, superintendent of schools Maria Rice said that she could not comment on the drug charges against Kerr because she was unaware of them. However, the chief of police said that he had informed the superintendent of the arrest shortly after it happened as a courtesy, because “of his [Kerr’s] position within the school district.”
Late Monday afternoon, Superintendent Rice said that the district office had received the official resignation letter. Board of Education members were scheduled to meet on Wednesday in executive session to discuss the matter.
According to Rice, Kerr’s resignation letter maintains his innocence, but explained that the he’d decided to resign because “recent events will cause a distraction to the work of the school board.”
Vice president Tobin also said that she had no comment, but later did confirm that Kerr would step down. “He’s resigning today, effective immediately,” Tobin said.
This is not the first nor the second time that school board president Kerr has had a brush with the law in regard to marijuana use and possession. He had two drug charges before, stemming from a 2008 arrest and a 1999 arrest for driving under the influence of marijuana and speeding (DUI) and misdemeanor marijuana possession charges. However, Kerr ultimately accepted a plea deal that dropped the DUI and marijuana possession charges if he pled guilty to reckless driving.
In 2010, when the case went to court, angry parents flocked to Board of Education meetings to ask that he resign. Supporters of Kerr’s presidency also showed up, praising his work and acknowledging the ruling of the court. Certain school board members at that time said that they had no power to remove Kerr from office because the courts had not found him guilty of a drug charge.
Ed Burke, a father of three children who had voiced his opinion during the last Kerr drug allegations that he should step down as president, reiterated his position after the news of the arrest hit the local media. “It’s amazing,” he said. “Our school board president signs for a package that contains eight pounds of marijuana with a high street value, directly across from our middle school?”
After learning that Kerr had tendered his resignation — something that Burke had called for more than a year ago in response to the DUI charges — Burke said, “In light of the recent events surrounding our school board president, now is as good a time as any for us as a community to address drug use in our schools and in our town. It is time for us to stop pretending drug use is not an issue. We have kids within the district already this year who have been caught with drugs in school, as well as out of school. The school board 16 months ago said they were going to address the zero-drug tolerance policy; where are they on this? It’s time for new leadership on the school board whose thought processes are not clouded.”
School board members will officially acknowledge the receipt of Kerr’s resignation letter during their next regular meeting on Nov. 16. According to the superintendent, Tobin will become the board’s new acting president until a president can be elected.
Board members have some decisions to make regarding how they’ll fill Kerr’s vacant seat. “They can do an appointment with a quorum vote,” Rice explained, “or there can be a special election.” It’s unclear if a special election would take place, since that would cost the district money. Kerr’s term expires in 2012.
Phone calls to Kerr seeking comment for the story were not returned. ++
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