Considering Four-Year Terms For Town Officials
By Thaddeus Flint
If the saying “no news is good news” holds true, then New Lebanon is off to a great start in 2019. Which isn’t to say there was no news at all at the first monthly Town Board meeting of the year last Tuesday.
The foremost announcement of the January 8 meeting was that the Town is considering lengthening the terms of Town officials who are currently serving 2 year terms to 4 years. This could bring the Town Supervisor, Town Clerk, Tax Collector and Highway Superintendent all to 4 years. The actual decisions in the end would be made by the residents. According to Councilman Mark Baumli, the idea was brought up before but nothing came of it before a deadline was missed to have the term limits placed on the November 2018 ballot.
Town Supervisor Colleen Teal noted that New Lebanon was the only Town left in Columbia County that still has a 2 year term for the Town Clerk, and one of just a few left with a 2 year term for the Supervisor. It was observed that this made it difficult, as far as the Supervisor position was concerned, to really show constituents what it is the Town’s current leader is working toward. An incoming Supervisor is saddled with the budget of the previous Supervisor (and Board), and thus only has the second year to implement a budget that highlights their ideas before appearing on the ballot again. A four year term would allow them a better chance to get started, especially since pretty much everything in government operates at super-slo-mo to begin with. On the other hand, someone could really make a mess of things in 4 years. Residents would have to decide which was the better, or the least-worst, of those options.
Councilman Kevin Smith said it was “a great idea” to move forward this year so it would appear on the November 2019 ballot. However, Councilman Jesse Newton noted that this was tried a few years back, and while it did make it on to the ballots, the measure failed. His belief was that residents might have been confused as to what they were voting for. And perhaps they might have wanted to approve one 4 year term and not another. The Board seemed inclined to have the voting reflect a per-position type of ballot that would this time allow residents to vote on each term separately. Supervisor Teal said she would now discuss the matter with the Town’s attorney to see what must be done to go forward. Previous discussions disclosed that the process would need to begin in January to make it onto the following November’s ballots.
Much of the rest of the meeting was just housekeeping and some new appointments for 2019. The Board voted with all in favor of changing the current lighting around the Town Hall parking lot and the basketball courts to cobra style fixtures. These would be cheaper to operate and present less glare to neighbors. Also voted on with all in favor was a decision to increase the Conservation Advisory Council to 6 members (and 2 student members). Paul Rix, Steve Powers and Robert Gilson were then appointed to the CAC for 2 year terms. A motion to appoint Tegan Joy Cook to the Recreation Commission was similarly approved by all.
The night began with the presentation of a Certificate of Appreciation for Planning Board Chairman Ray Herrmann. After 23 years (last month this was erroneously reported as “over 30 years,” but 23 is just as good) Herrmann is retiring from that Board, which he began serving on in September 1995. “It is only with the volunteers that give so much of their time that we are able to fulfill the obligations of the town,” said Supervisor Teal. “We wish to express our tremendous appreciation and gratitude to Ray for his 23 years of dedicated and distinguished service to the Town of New Lebanon.”
At 30 minutes the Board meeting concluded to the astonishment of pretty much everyone. These meetings often go on for hours. You plan your night around them. What to do now? “The President will be on the television,” announced resident Johanna Johnson-Smith. There was still time to catch him. But nobody leaped on to tables and threw hats into the air at that suggestion. Another long cold night in New Lebanon.