fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Submit Your Event
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Send Letter to the Editor
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

New Paltz Town Board members defend their decision to not reappoint Tim Rogers to the Planning Board

by Terence P. Ward
April 14, 2016
in Politics & Government
2
The New Paltz Town Board (L-R): Dan Torres, Jean  Gallucci, Susan Zimet, Jeff Logan and Kevin Barry. (file photos by Lauren Thomas)
The New Paltz Town Board (L-R): Dan Torres, Jean Gallucci, Susan Zimet, Jeff Logan and Kevin Barry. (file photos by Lauren Thomas)

He wasn’t in the room, and elected officials tried to avoid even using his name, but Tim Rogers drove a lot of the discussion at Monday’s reorganizational meeting of the New Paltz Town Board. Rogers, a member of the New Paltz Central School District Board of Education, was not reappointed to a full term on the town’s Planning Board at the last Town Board meeting of 2014, over concerns about conflict of interest. The fact that a discussion about the issues surrounding that decision — including the possible siting of a sewage treatment plant adjacent to New Paltz High School — is scheduled for January 15 wasn’t enough to keep board members from bringing him up.

Tim Rogers.
Tim Rogers.

Town Board member Kevin Barry did so during the public input portion of the reorg meeting, in response to a letter that fellow council member Dan Torres wrote to the New Paltz Times regarding the failure to reappoint Rogers to the Planning Board. In that letter, Torres wrote, “The notion that Tim’s role on the School Board posed a conflict is not based on legal opinion but a dubious argument asserted by councilman Kevin Barry.”

Barry responded by quoting State law on conflict of interest, which he said has “broad application regarding divided loyalties.” Rogers could have recused himself from voting on a School Board resolution denouncing the proposed sewage plant, but because he “did not ask if recusal was prudent under the circumstances,” he placed his loyalty to the school district over his loyalty for the town.

Also in his letter to the editor, Torres stated, “Councilman Jeff Logan said he would not go against the wishes of the Planning Board chair when it comes to appointments. Therefore, I found it especially troubling when I subsequently learned from Planning Board chair Mike Calimano that this was not an accurate representation of his views.”

On this point, Torres apologized to Logan, because Logan had since provided Torres with e-mails indicating that Calimano had not supported Rogers’ appointment to a new term. Torres explained that he’d written the letter based on what Calimano had told him, and later learned that the Planning Board chairman had contradicted himself.

In that e-mail conversation, obtained by the New Paltz Times, Calimano discussed his position on Rogers’ reappointment, which Logan characterized as not being in support when the issue had come up at the prior meeting. In an e-mail to Torres, he wrote, “In the case on Tim’s reappointment, there was no ‘executive session’ with the Town Board. In fact, I did not realize that the Town Board was considering appointments at last week’s meeting and only found out about it on Friday. I believe that the Planning Board should reflect the diversity of the town, which generally lead to good dialogue at the Planning Board meetings. I certainly had disagreements with Tim at the Planning Board meetings — most times on procedures and sometime on policies, as expected with any new member of the Planning Board — but Tim did his homework and did ask insightful questions.”

To former Town Board member Kitty Brown, he explained, “I agree that I had disagreements with Tim on planning issues, but it was Jeff who informed me that the Town Board was against the reappointment of Tim.”

Page 1 of 2
12Next
Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher

Terence P. Ward

Terence P Ward resides in New Paltz, where he reports on local events, writes books about religious minorities, tends a wild garden and communes with cats.

Related Posts

Politics & Government

Citing safety concerns, three Woodstock town board members won’t be attending Thursday’s meeting

July 29, 2025
Stormy Woodstock meeting questions the town supervisor’s original appointment
Politics & Government

Woodstock officials find plentiful fault with each other

July 29, 2025
False boil-water alarm
Politics & Government

False boil-water alarm

July 28, 2025
Woodstock police chief wasn’t told about town hiring of Level 3 sex offender
Politics & Government

Woodstock police chief wasn’t told about town hiring of Level 3 sex offender

July 24, 2025
Stormy Woodstock meeting questions the town supervisor’s original appointment
Politics & Government

Stormy Woodstock meeting questions the town supervisor’s original appointment

July 22, 2025
Is the New Paltz supervisor race finished?
Politics & Government

Gotto will oppose Rogers again

July 25, 2025
Next Post

Village trash pickup too early, say trustees

Please login to join discussion

Weather

Kingston, NY
73°
Clear
5:46 am8:18 pm EDT
Feels like: 73°F
Wind: 0mph SSE
Humidity: 87%
Pressure: 29.98"Hg
UV index: 0
ThuFriSat
75°F / 59°F
73°F / 55°F
79°F / 54°F
powered by Weather Atlas

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Art
    • Books
    • Kids
    • Lifestyle & Wellness
    • Food & Drink
    • Music
    • Nature
    • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing