NPT: What’s your position on consolidation or a town-village merger?
SZ: I’ve always believed that we are one community – that the village is the heart of New Paltz and the town is the soul. My position on consolidation is that I would like to determine what will help the taxpayers of New Paltz the most – while maintaining the community character and quality of life that we presently have. I think the question of whether or not to consolidate should be put on a referendum and voted on during a general election. The people of this community deserve to determine their destiny and they deserve to make their decision based on facts. It is unfortunate that those who are against consolidation did everything they could to malign the work of those of us who are dedicating the time and energy to simply find out what consolidation would entail.
I am very excited that the town and village boards have agreed to move forward on joint comprehensive master plan. While consolidation is really a matter of the nuts and bolts of how local government and infrastructure work, a joint comprehensive master plan lays out the vision and strategic plan of how to create the New Paltz of our dreams. If we work together to achieve this, it will be one of the greatest gifts we can give to New Paltz.
NPT: What are your ideas for long-term infrastructure repairs to water and sewer?
SZ: During my most recent term, I have worked collaboratively to bring new water and sewer infrastructure to the town. Currently, we are in the process of finalizing proposals and we are very confident that the costs of this infrastructure will be paid for almost entirely from available sources of federal funding. These infrastructure improvements have been discussed by our elected officials for the past 50 years and I will work to complete them in this next term.
We applied for upgrades that would loop North Putt, South Putt and Route 32 water lines and upgrades to Cherry Hill. And finally, we may solve the Sewer 6 problems, including funds to repay the community for the money lent to Sewer 6. We just received great news that we are a part of a select group that was invited to submit an application for about $5 million in funding for water and sewer upgrades.
We recently engaged our town engineer to plan a town water supply. We reached out to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and within two months we are working cooperatively with the village and the DEP to create a community-wide water system, which is expected to be paid for by the DEP.
NPT: How do you feel about a shift of town police costs to the village? Are you for or against that? Why?
SZ: Town police costs cannot be shifted to the village in any manner inconsistent with Town Law, which states that any town that offers police services must offer those services to any village within the town.
The issues that need to be addressed are equity in assessments, so those businesses that receive the services are paying their fair share of the police costs. Additionally there is a real disparity in the fact that the campus police force has a larger paid police force, yet they cannot come off of campus to help the students when they are in the town. We must explore better ways of making our police forces more efficient and will be working on this with another term.
NPT: What are the top three challenges facing the Town of New Paltz right now?
SZ: The three greatest challenges that the town faces right now in my opinion are:
1) Taxes. New Paltz taxes are high and we need to continue to bring taxes down. In my first term, I was able to bring taxes down 4.4 percent and save taxpayer $1.5 million. I will continue to vigilantly manage town spending and hold taxes down.
2) Climate change. New Paltz has felt the effects of climate change firsthand with hurricanes Irene and Sandy. We are working to revise the emergency plan to assure the safety of all our residents. And the Town of New Paltz must position itself to become a leader in renewable energy and solutions to the environmental crisis facing us.
3) Community discourse. Since I’ve been supervisor, there have been a small group of people who are very negative and have a hard time communicating in respectful civil discourse. I hope that we can all find ways to better respect everyone in our community – even if we don’t agree with their ideas – and engage in respectful civil discourse. In order to meet the challenges of the day, we need to work in a more positive way for the sake of everyone in our community.
NPT: If re-elected, what are your top three priorities?
SZ: If given the honor to serve the community for another term as your New Paltz town supervisor, the focus will be on the following initiatives:
1) I will work to continue to help people stay in their homes by vigilantly managing town spending and keeping taxes down.
I would like to work with fiscal experts to find an innovative new ways of lowering taxes in the Town of New Paltz. I would also like to implement policies that assure that businesses that want to come be a part of our community pay their fair share of taxes. I will work to attract and invite new businesses to become part of our community.
2) I will work to find new ways to achieve sustainability and renewable energy while protecting our precious natural resources.
I will work collaboratively with the community to update a joint comprehensive master plan for the village and town of New Paltz that can promote urban development, rural preservation and implement true sustainability. I will work to continue to oppose destructive forms of energy production including hydrofracking and Indian Point. I will work to uphold the town’s wetlands law and protect our open spaces.
3) I will work to increase recreational opportunities and improve the quality of life for all of our residents.
I will work to make New Paltz a more bicycle-pedestrian-friendly place to live, upgrade our recreational facilities including at the Field of Dreams, and provide more opportunities for our seniors.
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