Comprehensive Plan Moves Forward

Despite a clear desire by the Supervisor to derail the completion of the Comprehensive Plan and the all volunteer Committee’s work, the effort is moving forward and a timetable for completion appears to include a draft document for adoption by year’s end. A meeting is noticed on the town web site for Tuesday, October 23rd from 6 to 9 PM which will allow the public to discuss future land use opportunities for the town. The Town Board has also scheduled a Public Hearing November 8th at 6PM in which a draft document would be presented and discussed.

The effort to produce a Comprehensive Plan for North Greenbush was a key component of the political campaign of 2005 in which Evers, Michaels and Kern won in part by pledging to support the creation of a committee to produce such a vision for North Greenbush which had been for too long considered a tool of developers.

Now it is clear that Evers and Kern are being driven by the same development community they ran against in 2005 and that Evers has tried to sabotage the Committee and its work. First he tried to stack it with political supporters without town board votes of appointment. While he lists these folks as members on the town web site, none have recognition by the town board as a body since under the law, this is a town board constituted committee. Translated, if the committee is covered by the State’s Open Meetings Law, it must have its members appointed by the town board. Since the Committee is covered by the Open Meetings Law, none of the unilaterally appointed members have any status on the committee. The Supervisor seems ignorant of this fact, but that’s not anything new.

Evers also tried to force the cancellation of a meeting on grounds it was not adequately noticed, a tacit recognition his appointments are invalid. He misled the attorney for the developer of 4 and 43 by telling him a Public Hearing was being held and not a simple public information meeting. At last week’s town board meeting, Evers showed his ignorance of the work and process of the Committee by trying to attack the planning firm representative by asking a series of attack dog questions such has, have you met with the business community, the school districts, fire services, etc. Had Evers bothered to attend any of the meetings in 2006 or kept abreast of the minutes, he would have known that the Committee met with all of these groups and more.

Evers also had to be dragged back to a Board meeting to sign the contracts with the County IDA that would give the town $80,000 in a grant to complete the plan and to sign the contracts with the firm retained by the Board to complete the plan. Last but not least, the Supervisor is now with holding payment to the firm, which most likely will result in another showdown with the Town Board as he recklessly does anything he wants to get his way.

A comprehensive plan works because of community input and support from the town’s elected board. It is a guide created with community input and support which is why the Supervisor is literally picking a fight with voters who clearly expect a result after two years of work and too long being used by developers who see North Greenbush as little more than an opportunity to make money. It is the community that lives with the consequences of unwise development. That’s something Mr. Evers cares very little about.

Late Financial Disclosure Reports
Kyran Devery
Today is Day 95 for the North Greenbush Democratic Committee violation of State Election Law requiring the on line filing of a Financial Disclosure Report due July 15, 2007. They are also 12 days late on a 32 Day Pre General filing due October 5th.Laws apparently don’t apply to the “reformed” democrats under Jeff Spain and his Treasurer, Tax Collector Kyran Devery.Also the Casale Conservative's have filed their 32 Day Pre General Report.