During a mysterious executive session, town board members finally fill the vacancy left by Dan Torres

After nearly seven months, town council members in New Paltz have filled the vacancy left when Dan Torres left that board in August, 2023. The unanimous vote appointed Amanda Gotto to serve until the November election. 

Torres signaled the intention to resign months earlier, and last summer there were a number of public interviews with potential replacements. The weeks ticked by without any decision, and each of those individuals eventually withdrew themselves from consideration — as did at least one more, who was encouraged to withdraw before being interviewed. The first person who was questioned at a town council meeting, Kitty Brown, went on to best Alex Baer in the Democratic primary, and had no opposition in the general election last year. 

In January, Supervisor Neil Bettez appointed Baer to the position of deputy supervisor, and floated Baer’s name for the council seat as well. Brown, in turn, nominated Amanda Gotto, who had served a seven-year term on the planning board and was also an active participant in the town’s climate-smart task force. Both were interviewed, but no vote was forthcoming — despite lengthy executive sessions at board meetings. 

Finally, a mysterious executive session was called on March 7. According to section 105 of the public officers law, “Upon a majority vote of its total membership, taken in an open meeting pursuant to a motion identifying the general area or areas of the subject or subjects to be considered, a public body may conduct an executive session” regarding one of eight specific reasons. Asked why the “general area or areas” were not included in that motion, the supervisor advised via text message, “There are about 4,” but at no point were those reasons publicly disclosed in accordance with the law. Upon return, Brown nominated Gotto for the position, and Gotto joined the other members after the unanimous vote. 

Reached later, Brown said that the decision was made after Baer chose to withdraw from consideration for the job, and expressed excitement for the coming months. “We now have six people” to work on town issues, including the five council members and Baer, who remains deputy supervisor. “We only meet for a couple of hours twice a month, but there’s plenty of work to do” between those meetings, Brown added.