Village of New Paltz trustees took the first step to divest themselves of the responsibility of running village elections at their January 13 meeting, by passing a resolution to move the date from May to November, starting in 2023.

David Brownstein will not seek a second term on the New Paltz Town Board in November. During the campaign in 2017, Brownstein expressed the desire to bring “a different level of civility” to the twice-monthly town meetings, which had been characterized by tension and sharp language directed by elected officials to each other and to members of the public.

Town of New Paltz voters approved the collection of a real-estate transfer tax in November with the money to be used to support a community preservation plan.