At its September 24 meeting, Village of New Paltz trustees opened a public hearing on establishing the possibility of hiring a village manager to oversee much of the administrative work that is now the mayor’s responsibility. Should such a manager be hired, that individual would report to the trustees and mayor, and their decisions would generally be subject to the approval of those elected officials.
During the hearing, Michael Zierler suggested that the county residency requirement might be limited to living within the town. Zierler also asked about the potential salary range and asked how hiring a manager might be reflected in a reduction to the mayor’s annual pay. Additionally, the village resident raised the specter that the list of powers and duties might be a transfer that would trigger a referendum for approval.
Rogers found that some of the commentary about the manager position crossed the line into being inappropriate, specifically a letter from the town’s deputy supervisor, Kitty Brown, which was published in the last issue of Hudson Valley One. Without identifying Brown by name, the mayor criticized the targeting of a village employee in that letter, and appeared to be disapproving of it having been published at all. Brown, whose letter was signed with the title of an elected town official, called out planning director Mike Baden as being “present” at industrial development agency hearings regarding village projects, and correctly noted that Baden is not a resident of New Paltz. Like Zierler, Brown is in favor of limiting eligibility based on community residency. Historically, the elected officials of the village have been opposing payment-in-lieu-of-taxes schemes at least as long as Rogers has been mayor.
In Baden’s defense, Rogers said that in situations when “someone feels it’s appropriate to write letters to the newspaper and defame an employed individual, and be perfectly okay with misinformation and incorrect facts . . . as an elected official, folks can go after us all day. I’m a big first-amendment person. I don’t enjoy it, but it’s a reality that we have to deal with. It’s really troubling, and I just want to be officially on record as being troubled with the idea of taking shots at employed individuals” in village government.
Brown reiterated the concern about residency during the hearing, framing it as a form of accountability.
According to the mayor, the purpose of the village manager, should one be hired, would be to focus on the myriad tasks necessary to consolidate the two governments and wind down village operations. Hiring someone has advantages over electing a mayor with that task in mind, assuming Rogers wins the race to become supervisor in November and voters agree to the consolidation. That vote may come next year. Rogers noted that there are two unopposed races for village board this year, and that it’s hard to find enough candidates to create contested elections for any local position.
Residency is being limited to the county only in order to “cast a wide net for candidates” who are qualified. “We are having trouble finding staff already,” even without limiting residency in New Paltz. That’s also due to Rogers’ desire to control spending; the mayor earns $65,000 a year, which is “way below the median” for this area; Baden earns $80,000, according to the mayor’s comments.
Many village employees do not live in New Paltz, yet have demonstrated a deep commitment to ensuring that local government is as efficient as responsive as it possibly can be.
Alex Wojcik, the deputy mayor, noted that creating the position doesn’t guarantee it will be filled. That’s been the case in Ellenville, which has had a manager law for decades but sometimes no manager on the payroll at all.
Trustees left the hearing open for additional public testimony.
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