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Democratic Candidates for Town Board Pledge to Appoint Only Qualified Candidates to Zoning and Planning Boards

Reprinted from saugertiesdems.org website 2001

The Democratic candidates for Town Board, Pamela Pentony, Supervisor, and Tom Macarille and Phil Tucker, Town Council, when elected to office will appoint only qualified members to the Zoning and Planning Boards

In 1989, the Town enacted its Zoning Law, which was designed to promote the public welfare, encourage responsible growth and preserve the historic, suburban and rural settings in our community. According to Supervisor candidate Pamela Pentony, zoning and planning only work when responsible, dedicated and qualified people are appointed to serve as zoning or planning board members. "these are the people empowered to make very important decisions concerning the implementation and interpretation of our zoning and planning laws," she said. "If an individual is appointed to one of the boards who does not believe in zoning or planning, the system breaks down."

Town Council candidate Tom Macarille is emphatic about the need to properly screen all candidates who wish to serve on the zoning or planning board. "We need to re-institute the interview process for all persons who are interested in serving," he said. "This will help ensure only qualified individuals receive appointments to these critical boards."

"Our Town has seen the effect of making the wrong choice," Town Council candidate Phil Tucker stated. "When the Town gave away its right to be lead agency in the large scale mining project which recently came before the planning board, without a vote by the members, clearly someone does not know what they are doing."

The comprehensive plan recently adopted by the Town and Village of Saugerties notes the importance of encouraging leadership training for all local leaders of our community. In this regard, the Democratic Town Board candidates strongly believe we should be mandating that all members of the zoning and planning boards be required to receive proper training. This training is often offered at little or no charge to the community by the Association of Towns or by not for profit planning organizations.

"We must take advantage of these opportunities, if Saugerties is to grow gracefully," said Tom Macarille. Phil Tucker agreed and noted that if the lofty goals of our comprehensive plan are realized, such as maintaining the historic and small town character of our community and providing a variety of business, industrial and recreational choices, then we must do much better when it comes time to make appointments to our zoning and planning boards. "You can count on me and the rest of the Democratic team to appoint the right people to the zoning and planning boards," Tucker pledged. "We will make the right choices, and we must make the right choices for our future and for our families."