AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM JUDY GRUNBERG-- Dear friends and colleagues in the Town of Chatham: I hadn’t actually planned to publicly weigh in with my opinion on this year’s Chatham Town election, but a large ad in the current Chatham Courier pushed me over the edge. Too late to make the Letters to the Editors sections in local papers, I’m writing to those of you still undecided, or unaware of some past history, or in need of a range of views on the issues facing us in order to make--as they say--an informed decision. A little recent history: During 2009, with input from a huge number of local citizens and a bi-partisan effort by the Board, the new Comprehensive Plan was passed. It may not have been perfect but it was way better than what we had and it promised to bring Chatham’s thinking about land use and development out of the dark ages. I recently came upon my letter published in the Chatham Courier in October 2009, endorsing the Democratic candidates for Town Board because of their commitment to the recently adopted Comprehensive Plan. My late husband, Paul, fought hard during his 20-year service on the Chatham ZBA for a plan to replace the outdated one on which the (then) current zoning was based. As a longtime resident of Chatham, my hopes rose when so many in our community seemed to “get” that what had come to be known as “smart growth” was important for Chatham’s future health. But, as is not uncommon these days, it was one step forward, 2 steps back. The 2 progressive voices on the Board were defeated by 2 very conservative ones (one, the chair of the CC Board of Realtors!) The Comprehensive Plan, which originally stood a good chance of being implemented, was relegated to less than urgent business. In fact, Supervisor de Groodt -- former Democrat, turned Republican endorsee, a known critic of the Plan, appointed the most vocal opponent of the Plan as the Chair of the Zoning Implementation Committee! (I’m not making this up.) But wait! A half step forward: midterm election (2011) saw Bob Balcomb (BRING BOB BACK!) returned to the Board! However, as the sole forward-looking member (imho), Bob has had an increasingly difficult time maintaining his position against the stonewalling of the other Board members. If I thought that the majority represented the actual will of most Town residents, I would keep my mouth shut (or my fingers off the keyboard.). But, honestly, I don’t. In fact, I don’t think most folks will realize quite how reactive the current Board is until we see what a united, 21st Century-thinking Board can accomplish. Five years have passed since 2009, and the Comp Plan Zoning Implementation Committee (familiarly known as the ZIC) still has not produced a single word of “zoning implementation” for our Town or at least made their work public. This statement in the current ad, signed by chairpersons of the CC Independence, Conservative & Republican parties, once again completely misrepresents the Comprehensive Plan, which does NOT contain the alleged “parade of horribles” they claim: “When the previous Town Board passed a Comprehensive Plan back in 2009, it contained some very onerous and restrictive proposed zoning regulations that included restricting the sizes of people’s homes in the hamlets; mandated septic and well inspections at the owner’s expense; new fees to use Town Parks; an arts fee to be paid by residents who subdivide their property; and many other expensive and unnecessary regulations. The bi-partisan Zoning Implementation Committe (ZIC) has worked digilently for the past 3 years to rewrite the Town’s 40 year-old Zoning Code in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan. In 2014 the ZIC will present their recommendations to the Town Board for a new Zoning Code. The new Zoning Code must be free of new regulations, fees and taxes that would adversely affect property values and restrict property rights.” In other words, elect the Republican candidates if you want the Comprehensive Plan to die a slow death in a Republican-dominated Town Board. They probably figure most of us won’t bother to actually read the Plan to see whether their interpretation is accurate. We should all be tired of listening to these ideological, right wing fears coming from the local Republican Party. I remember the day when I thought party affiliation ought to be irrelevant to local politics. And to some extent I still cling to that hope. But until things change, we need to elect Democrats to the Town Board to ensure that all of the hard work of our entire community on comprehensive planning does not go to waste. And, by the way, the Republican-dominated Town Board has completely IGNORED other important parts of the Comp Plan, like economic development, natural resource conservation, housing for people of all economic backgrounds, infrastructure improvement and historic preservation. In addition, the Republican dominated Town Board has failed to engage in multi-year budgeting, a keystone of good government. So, our Town lurches from one fiscal year to the next, and our taxes are not stable or predictable. Why did taxes go up 14% in one year? In a nutshell, bad fiscal planning. The Republican dominated Town Board seems to believe in crisis management as a budgeting strategy. We cannot afford to continue to do this. We need a Town Board that not only engages in multi-year budgeting, but communicates the budget and its fiscal priorities to us, the public. And, this should be done in terms that all of us mortals can understand, like a simple pie chart. OK, I’m almost done! If you want some positive results from your Town Board I urge you to vote for Landra Haber and Kandace Eaton. I know Landra and Kandace: these women are smart, experienced, civic-minded, pragmatic and committed to proper fiscal management, communication with the public, and sensible comprehensive planning. They have both raised their families in Chatham. And as recent retirees, they have time to devote to our Town government. This is a crucial Town Board election. By electing Landra and Kandace, we can fundamentally change the composition of the Town Board. As advocates of good planning and smart growth, they will act in the best interests of our kids & grandkids. Please, please, please get out there and vote for Landra and Kandace this Tuesday, November 5th. In a local election, more than any other, each individual vote counts. Poll location information is below, should you need it. Sincerely & hopefully, Judy Grunberg POLLING LOCATIONS: ( If you are unsure of your Election District, call the Columbia County Bd. of Elections at 518-828-3115.) ED 1: Chatham Town Hall, 488 Rte. 295 ED 2: Mary E. Dardess Elem. School, 50 Woodbridge Ave. ED 3: Tri-Village Fire Dept, 111 County Rte. 13, Old Chatham (near Chatham Ctr.) ADDENDUM: remember what Adlai Stevenson said: If the Republicans will stop telling lies about us, we will stop telling the truth about them.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 04:13:14 +0000
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