Just two days after being reelected unopposed, Town of Ulster Supervisor James E. Quigley, 3rd has announced his resignation, effective January 1, 2026. It isn’t the first time he’s stepped away, but according to a letter to the town board, it will be his last.
“In accordance with Section 31(4) of the Public Officers Law, this resignation is submitted as irrevocable and may not be withdrawn or revoked after it is filed with your office,” Quigley wrote.
In a separate letter, Quigley designated councilman Clayton VanKleeck as deputy supervisor, returning him to a role he held two years ago. Quigley was not in attendance at the town board meeting on Thursday, November 6 and Van Kleeck steered the ship.
Councilwoman Anna Hayner, who lost her reelection bid on Tuesday, was most recently the town’s deputy supervisor, and remains so on the Town of Ulster website as of press time.
It was unclear whether Quigley intends to serve as supervisor until the end of the year, though council members approved a motion to immediately give Van Kleeck sole account access to the official supervisor’s email account, citing security reasons.
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In April 2015, Quigley announced — then quickly rescinded — his resignation. That summer, 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.
In March 2024, Quigley said that he was ready to step away after around a decade-and-a-half at the helm of Ulster’s municipal government. He changed his mind that June, citing improvements to his health and stress management.
Van Kleeck, for years seen as Quigley’s heir apparent, had been overseeing the day-to-day operations of the town since April 2024 and was not happy with Quigley’s decision to return. 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 at the time. “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 a 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, where he believed Quigley questioned his ability to be impartial due to his business and personal relationships in the town.
At that time, councilwoman Maryann DeGroodt said she believed Quigley was ready to retire.
“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.”
Five months later, that time has come.
On Thursday, Van Kleeck spoke about his sudden ascent to serve as de facto supervisor.
“There’s been some dramatic changes that came upon us within the last 24 hours, some things that we never anticipated,” he said. “I didn’t anticipate sitting here in this chair today. But I grew up in this town. I’ve always wanted to be part of this town. And I am glad to be here right now.”
Van Kleeck added that since learning of Quigley’s intention to resign, he’s worked quickly to minimize the potential for the town’s momentum to slow down.
“I’m thankful that we have these people that we get to work with,” he said. I can tell you that we’re happy to work with the staff of the town. I can tell you since 10 o’clock this morning we’ve had ongoing meetings. Not with everybody yet, but with different people within the town. And there’s been a resounding support. We respect the work of the previous administration. There’s many, many things we’re thankful for. And we wish them well. But we have to move on. Tomorrow is another day. And we have to continue.”
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