Notes From Town Supervisor Rene' Merrihew.

The Town Board will hold a public hearing on August 12 at 7PM at the Duanesburg Volunteer Ambulance Corps. building on the corner of Route #7 and Cole Road. The purpose of the public hearing is to hear your comments concerning a change in the office of the Highway Superintendent from an elected position to an appointed one.

THE ISSUE

For the last several years there have been concerns expressed by Town residents about the service to residents who live on and utilize town roads. A town road can be distinguished, in part, as those that do NOT have lines painted on them; any roads with lines are county or state roads. More recently, the Town Board has expressed concerns about the way in which budgeted Highway funds have been spent…a decision left to the Highway Superintendent. I have had hundreds of phone calls from residents who are very angry because I can’t help them when they have a problem with their road. People assume since I am the Town Supervisor I have supervisory capacity over the Highway Supt. and that is simply not the case. While that is a fair assumption, neither I, nor the Town Board, can direct the Highway Supt. Various state agencies have advised that because the position is elected, it is totally independent of any direction from us. Our only task is to provide funds to the department through the budget.

As residents, you elect the Supervisor and the Town Board to provide you with certain services and entrust us to spend your tax dollars for those services wisely. We accomplish that very successfully in every area of spending within our control. In a nutshell you elect the Town Board to oversee your hard earned tax dollars. The Highway tax is a separate item, however, and although we approve the highway budget which contains general line items, we are required to hand over total control of the budgeted funds to one person…the Highway Superintendent. The Town Board simply has no control over the day to day operations of the Highway Department.

The days of having anyone who is elected in the position of Highway Superintendent, regardless of background or experience, are waning. We need an administrator in every sense of the word. We need someone who can supervise the crew, has knowledge of road work, can manage a budget and someone who can work well with outside agencies and the residents of our Town.

THE PROPOSAL

The Town Board has proposed a local law, subject to approval by the voters in November, to change the position of Highway Superintendent from one elected by the public to one appointed by the Town Board, to serve at the pleasure of the Town Board. If approved by the voters of our Town, the Town Board, and all future Town Boards, would be responsible for hiring a qualified person, and if that person does not perform, to replace him or her. This will be a civil service position that will offer some protection from termination provided he or she is performing their duties responsibly. The appointed Superintendent would otherwise have exactly the same powers as a an elected one, except the Highway Superintendent would answer to the Town Board on a regular basis instead of answering to the voters every four years. In the end, it is up to the voters to decide whether to maintain the status quo, or to change the position form elected to appointed.