New Paltz Mayor Tim Rogers anticipates several large projects will move closer to completion in the coming year. Sitting bundled up against the cold outside a coffee shop with thick snow banks all around, he offered his insights.
Neil Bettez, supervisor of New Paltz’s town government, has like everyone else spent a lot more time in masks this year, and like many others has spent a lot of time avoiding letting children and cats disrupt the governmental work that is almost entirely conducted via video conference of late. In years past, Bettez has been interviewed about the year ahead in person, but in pandemic mode these questions and answers were exchanged entirely via email.
“2020 was a lost year,” Supervisor James E. Quigley, III said. “And by that I mean when you start out going down the road in one direction and then constantly get pulled to go in a different direction …. And looking at the press headlines and everything, I don’t know if we come out of this next May or June. And this is me being realistic, not pessimistic. I’m not certain that 2021 may not be a lost year too.”
Despite the challenging year that 2020 was, Kingston Mayor Steve Noble says he is ready to tackle the new year by continuing to combat the virus, meeting residents’ needs, and investing in a number of different areas including essential services, parks and trails, infrastructure and housing.
The onset of the coronavirus pandemic caught Gardiner in the midst of an ambitious multiyear initiative to bring the zoning code, comprehensive plan and other planning documents into better alignment, and to hone their language to be more reflective of development and land-use issues that confront rural municipalities. Despite the necessity of conducting meetings virtually, work on those fronts has not abated. And Town Supervisor Marybeth Majestic says that recent experience has reinforced her belief that volunteerism and hands-on citizenship are key to the success of the process as it continues post-Covid.
The margins separated victory and defeat in two local state senate contests were so slim as to defy clear analysis about the electorate. Looking forward, New York Democrats could be planning ways to redraw the district maps to increase their chances.
The town and village governments of Saugerties are working together to deal with problems, and town supervisor Fred Costello and village mayor Bill Murphy see a strong cooperative relationship building over time.
Having steered the Town of Woodstock through a year marred by the Covid-19 pandemic, Supervisor Bill McKenna is looking forward to a 2021 that hopefully sees it out of this situation and into better times.
With just days to go before the state’s moratorium on evictions was set to expire, the legislature on Monday said it planned to extend it to May 1. Meanwhile, affordable housing continues to be a frequent topic of discussion in Kingston, where the mayor recently signed an executive order requiring 10 percent of the units in virtually all new housing developments to be affordable and the common council plans to take on the issue in the coming months.
A survey is intended to identify people who have a home and the questions will help them consider if opening their home to a renter is appropriate for them, Goldman explained. Rental income could help with bills and the renter could help with chores or provide companionship in exchange for a below-market rent.