Tensions were high at the first Ulster Town Board meeting since Supervisor James E. Quigley, III announced he was no longer retiring before the end of his current term, with both council members and the public weighing in.
To set the stage, Quigley’s current term runs through 2025, but in March of this year he announced that he was ready to step away after around a decade-and-a-half at the helm of Ulster’s municipal government. Quigley changed his mind earlier this month, citing improvements to his health and stress management.
Though he’s never left office after earning his first two-year term in 2009, Quigley has flirted with the idea of stepping down before. In 2013, he ran for county comptroller, then dropped out of the race that summer claiming he planned to leave politics entirely. A few months later he was re-elected to a third term as supervisor.
In April 2015, Quigley announced — then quickly rescinded — his resignation. A few months later he decided to not seek re-election, then changed his mind and defeated former supervisor Fred Wadnola in a Republican primary. More recently, Quigley ran an unsuccessful campaign for Ulster County Executive in 2022.
Quigley’s heir apparent, deputy superintendent Clayton Van Kleeck, who had been overseeing the day-to-day operations of the town since April, was not happy with Quigley’s decision, sharing his frustration at the town board meeting held on Thursday, June 20.
Van Kleeck said that he flirted with the idea of running for supervisor in 2018, but decided not to when Quigley assured him that he was not going to quit. Van Kleeck said, with Quigley’s encouragement, he changed his mind the following year when late councilman Joel Brink announced he would not seek reelection.
“He said that if I won the seat, he would work with me on learning the supervisor’s job, then not run in 2021 so I could run for supervisor, giving me a good opportunity to learn the ropes,” Van Kleeck said. “I ran for election as a councilman and won.”
Van Kleeck said he first became wary of Quigley’s intentions in the spring of 2021.
“Jim told me that he had reconsidered his offer and wanted to run for reelection as the supervisor,” Van Kleeck said. “He said he had plans to run for the county executive position in 2022 and thought continuing on as the supervisor would help him in his campaign. He offered to make me deputy supervisor. Win or lose, he would resign as supervisor after the county executive campaign. After the loss in the campaign for executive, he decided he wanted to stay on as supervisor. I should have learned.”
Van Kleeck said he was convinced by Quigley and town GOP chairman Corey Halwick to run for reelection as a councilman last fall “with the promise that Jim (Quigley) would resign or retire by September 1, 2024, this year, allowing me the potential opportunity, if appointed by this board, to fill out the remainder of Jim’s term as interim supervisor. I would then run for election supervisor in a fall of 2025.It was supposed to be a binding handshake agreement.”
Van Kleeck said he’d met with Quigley numerous times since the unanimous approval of a resolution authorizing him to take on the day-to-day town operations, and while he said there were occasional hurdles, things were moving forward. That all changed, Van Kleeck said, in a meeting with Quigley on Monday, June 3.
“At that meeting, you began questioning my intentions and integrity in making impartial decisions due to my business and personal relations within this community,” Van Kleeck said. “I was offended by your accusations of potential and unfounded problems. I saw this as a selfish attempt by you to disqualify me as an ex-supervisor. As I told you then, and I have been told by many people that they did not believe you were actually going to resign and that I should watch out. It is clearly apparent to me that since the time you announced your intention to resign, you have been having second thoughts, but you were unwilling to say that.”
Neither Quigley nor Van Kleeck have said publicly whether they will run for the supervisor position next year. Both are Republicans, and could face off before the general election. And even if one gains the endorsement of the GOP, the other could run with the support of another party.
“I am confident that next fall, one way or the other, the voting citizens of this town will select the leadership they want for this town,” said Van Kleeck.
In another sign of the tension at town hall, a resolution proposed by Van Kleeck to have authority of the day-to-day operations of the town returned to Quigley failed by a 3-2 vote. Van Kleeck and Councilwoman Anna Hayner voted in favor, while Quigley, councilwoman Maryann DeGroodt and Councilman Rocco Secreto voted against, the latter two seemingly motivated by keeping the deputy supervisor in charge.
“Repeated threats of resignation might be a telltale sign that this position no longer holds the challenge it once did,” DeGroodt said. “When the day comes and you find out you don’t like your job, you don’t like your co-workers, you don’t like your department heads and yes, your constituents, it might be a good time to consider that resignation.”
Secreto was even more direct, saying he was “embarrassed” by Quigley’s interviews with the media about rescinding his resignation, particularly as he felt it cast doubt on Van Kleeck’s abilities.
“Jim, for you to do that in the paper, that was a slap in the face, and totally uncalled for,” Secreto said. “And you’re the one that made the motion to delegate him the authority to take over the everyday operations of the town.”
Quigley declined to address any of Van Kleeck’s allegations during the meeting.
“I’d just like to remind everybody, there are two sides to every story,” he said. “And at this point, I’m not going to dignify what misstatements were said there with any response.”
Three members of the public also spoke on the matter during the meeting, describing the tone between the town board and local residents as being more civil since Van Kleeck took on day-to-day operations.
“We are all communicating much better and we feel that someone is listening to us and cares about what we have to say,” said Laura Hartmann, chairwoman of the Town of Ulster Democratic Committee. “He doesn’t see the town as Republicans and Democrats: We are all fellow residents and neighbors.”
Hartmann said that in addition to publicly disparaging Van Kleeck, Quigley’s indecision about whether he wants to be the town’s supervisor is a red flag.
“We have been down this path before with past threats of resigning or not running again and then taking it back,” she said. “How can we trust anything Mr. Quigley does or says? He thinks it’s fine to toy with the residents of this town and disrespect every one of us. The situation is embarrassing for the town and the drama is just unbecoming. We are not to be toyed with and we deserve a town supervisor who we can count on, who we can trust and one that behaves in a professional manner and respects its residents.”
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