The Town of New Paltz supervisor race pits the incumbent, running on a different party line, against the longtime village mayor, who would like to see the latter job eliminated entirely. Whether the village is outright dissolved or otherwise consolidated into a single New Paltz government would itself be subject to a voter referendum, but that won’t be this year. As only one candidate is championing that cause, the outcome of this election could determine whether that initiative even gets to the ballot.
A debate between those two candidates, hosted by the staff of the New Paltz Oracle, will be held October 24 at 7 p.m. in the Coykendall Science Building auditorium on campus.
Other elections in New Paltz have few actual contests. Christopher Marx has no opponent for highway superintendent. Three candidates are aiming for two town council seats: Sean O’Sullivan and Kate Ryan on the Democratic line and incumbent Randall Leverette on the Republican. Three candidates face no competition for village trustee positions: Lauren McPadden, Richard Suoto and Allen Ross, all names to be found on the Democratic line.
Election workers will also be encouraging voters to flip over their ballots to answer the following question: “Shall the annual contribution of the Town of New Paltz provided in its budget for the Elting Memorial Library, a free association library, located at New Paltz, New York, be increased by seventy-five thousand ($75,000) dollars annually to eight-hundred forty-four thousand ($844,000) dollars annually?”
Candidates for supervisor
Following are the responses to questions posed to the two candidates for supervisor. Except where noted, the only editing was for formatting and to comply with standards of capitalization and abbreviation.
Amanda Gotto
Amanda Gotto is the incumbent in the town supervisor position, and is running on the Republican line. Gotto is registered in the Democratic.
What have the voters you’ve talked to this year told you are their biggest concerns in New Paltz?
I heard the pain and saw the anger at a public hearing for tax breaks to a developer and I decided then and there, there would be no rise in New Paltz property taxes in 2026. This is the first time in a decade in New Paltz there will be zero property tax increase.
People are more than concerned. They are frustrated and angry. The rising cost of living is hitting all of us hard but especially seniors and families — rent, property and school taxes, food and other necessities. Central Hudson’s increase in the price of gas and electricity is making utilities a burden and these are necessities.
I’ve also heard loud and clear some folks in New Paltz really resent paying higher fees for parking. Especially folks wanting to quickly pop in to pick up their take-out dinner and moms with young children wanting to go to the playground every day. These higher fees, and the need in some cases for an app, are a constant aggravation and also hurts folks’ wallets.
And I have heard a number of complaints and concerns about the large apartment buildings going up on Route 32. The urbanization; the impact on traffic, bus access and getting in and out of those parking lots will be dangerous; the looming closeness over the street; the lack of visual and spatial character and consistency with the adjacent neighborhood. People are unhappy.
Based on your understanding of the town’s comprehensive plan, what do you believe is the best way to continue adding housing?
The comprehensive plan criteria for adding housing is clear and addresses the diversity of needs in New Paltz. Here is a top line:
“Accommodate present and future population by encouraging the development of an appropriate variety and quantity of sound housing which will serve various income levels and age groups, including low and moderate income housing.”
There are many ways to pursue housing options within the comprehensive plan framework and its direction that there is no one-size fits all. We’ve had ADUs, previously accessory apartments, on the books for quite some time, but that alone is not enough. With a working group I formed a few months ago, we have adopted an affordable housing law for the Town of New Paltz — a first for us and a step in the right direction. And we need more.
As we continue to work on this important need, we are looking at
•    additional affordability options — 100% affordable, 80/20% affordable
•    better utilizing our current zoning tools — residential variable, planned development unit, plus researching other options
•    residential design options — duplexes, quad townhouses
We will continue to work on creating housing modes to meet the needs of our entire community. We will concurrently carefully plan for the infrastructure and services necessary to support expanded housing.
And we will heed the very first point in the comprehensive plan’s executive summary:
“Preserve and enhance the natural beauty and rural quality of the community and protect the small-town atmosphere of the village core.” We recognize our community’s strong aesthetic and emotional sensitivity towards protection of the rural quality and small town atmosphere of New Paltz and will keep it a focus as we plan. Many people, including me, worry that the quaint and quirky atmosphere of our village is threatened.
If a referendum is proposed that would in some way reduce New Paltz municipal governments to one functional entity, how would that change the job of supervisor and would a pay raise be warranted?
Reducing the New Paltz municipal governments from two to one would have minimal impact on the day-to-day administrative functions of the supervisor. Why? Because so many of our town and village functions have already been combined — police, EMS, justice court, assessor, clerk, community center, youth program, pool, sports teams, summer camp, recycle and reuse center, library animal control — and I am responsible for them all. I already manage 80 employees in three unions, am already the CFO responsible for all town government finances and am already in regular communication with our volunteer boards, commissions, committees and task forces. I work closely with and rely on with my staff and department heads. They know their job and do them very well. Presumably that is true of the village staff as well. Adding 27 more experienced competent folks from the village, doing the jobs they already do, is not a big administrative lift. And yes, we need all the staff to do all the work — we have no fat in our staffing. Regardless of the government structure, the number of roads, bridges, culverts that must be plowed and paved and maintained stay the same. The miles of water and sewer mains that must be operated and maintained stay the same. The number of fire inspections and building inspections stay the same. All billing and payments still have to be made. All contracts and grants still have to be managed. The buildings and parks still have to be maintained. Creating one larger combined annual budget would be a change but basically would just involve more lines of expenditures and revenues, with the state-mandated process remaining the same.
So no, any combination of government responsibilities would not warrant a pay raise. Most people may not know that, by law, the primary job of the supervisor is to protect the financial interest and stability of the town. We are a small municipality without many high-paying jobs and the supervisor’s should not be one of those. This is a job of service not financial gain. And if a bunch of paid managers are hired to do portions of the supervisor’s responsibilities, then a reduction in supervisor pay would definitely be warranted.
Tim Rogers
Tim Rogers is presently mayor of the village and is running for supervisor on the Democratic and Working Families party lines. Rogers is registered in the Democratic party. The response to the first question was provided as sentence fragments, and Rogers authorized paraphrasing, but to ensure accuracy of intent this was kept to the minimum necessary to ensure full sentences. All of the candidate’s actual words in response to that question are in double quote marks.
What have the voters you’ve talked to this year told you are their biggest concerns in New Paltz?
Rogers said that six concerns frequently crop up. The first is the complicated way that local affordable housing laws are worded. “Affordable housing options for residents at different percentage levels of area median income (AMI) and the village’s ‘60% of AMI affordable housing law’ which includes, ‘to qualify for rental housing, family income must be at or below 60% of the Ulster County median income adjusted for family size. To qualify for purchased housing, family income must be at or below 100% of the Ulster County median income adjusted for family size.'”
Other concerns Rogers is hearing include, “whether market-rate housing in New Paltz is actually accessible and affordable for most people,” the fact that “we need more sidewalk repairs” but it’s unclear “how to pay for them,” “traffic, congestion and road conditions from water and sewer repair and replacement work and” how much longer all of that work this year will take, and, when “the new pickle and basketball courts [in Hasbrouck Park]” will be completed, and, “when will we no longer have episodes of brown drinking water from old pipes?”
Based on your understanding of the town’s comprehensive plan, what do you believe is the best way to continue adding housing?
The most responsible way for New Paltz to add housing, while simultaneously protecting our community’s character, would be to focus on adding units in the core because it is accessible to municipal water, sewer, trails and promotes greener living, e.g. walking and biking. This approach allows us to protect and enjoy open space and recreation areas like the Mill Brook Preserve, River-to-Ridge trail, Field of Dreams, Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, Mohonk Preserve and Minnewaska State Park.
If a referendum is proposed that would in some way reduce New Paltz municipal governments to one functional entity, how would that change the job of supervisor and would a pay raise be warranted?
There should be no material difference in the near term. But future boards will need to take a harder look. They may consider a chief elected official + a municipal manager who would handle the more administrative tasks. However, only one of those two positions would need to be paid a full-time salary with full-time benefits.
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