One New Paltz: Time to get rid of the entire village government?

New Paltz Mayor Tim Rogers is making the case that it may be time to get rid of the job of mayor altogether — along with the entire village government. That’s what was shared at the joint meeting of the town and village boards held on November 21. Rogers believes that the delays in exploring local government consolidation are evidence that it should be done, one way or another. Dissolving the village could be the easiest path toward relieving New Paltz residents of the burden of two overlapping governments. 

Talks about finding a way to unify New Paltz began again in January. Rogers has spearheaded the effort because the financial benefits could be large. While the consultant bills for developing all the necessary plans could climb into the high five figures, successfully transforming two governments into one would ensure that the remaining New Paltz government gets a million dollars in direct state aid every year from here on out. 

Village and town governments are based on different sections of state law, and any process to merge those will require careful planning. Local leaders have considered different ways to consolidate the two, and village officials have already been awarded a grant from the department of state for this process. Town and village board members agreed on a consultant firm, but those on the town council then suggested a number of changes to the contract. Concerned about having the entire process driven by two masters, leaders of the Laberge Group decided not to work under those conditions. 

Since the grant to pay Laberge was awarded to the village, Rogers has decided to move ahead anyway. Just as the contract for a village-focused approach would only require one group of board members to approve, any plan for change by dissolving the village would be voted on solely by village residents. However, Rogers brought this to a joint meeting out of a belief that working closely together is the best way to ensure that the vote succeeds. The plan that would be considered would lay out how to dissolve the village, including the fate of village employees, assets, and debts. 

Esi Lewis and Edgar Rodriguez expressed misgivings about continuing to work with a consultant after being told, in their view, that it was no fun working with town officials at all. However, with there no longer being any financial stake at the town level, the decision to stick with Laberge Group is out of their hands. 

Rogers is passionate, saying, “Personally, I believe in this so much that I’m essentially talking myself out of a job.” A tremendous amount of time is spent with members of both governments figuring out the legal requirements of working together on their many joint projects, and Rogers feels that this would be better spent focusing on planning for growth, and ensuring that the infrastructure exists to accommodate any growth that is agreed to in a master plan. Historically, the two boards have cycled through periods of working well together and not, but the challenges the mayor described invariably are part of the challenge governing in New Paltz. 

It is likely that future joint meetings will be focused on the plan proposed to integrate village services into the town government, should a vote to dissolve be taken and successful.