Hello Mr Al what’s going on man buddy how was your triping FL wonderful to short war you got a little tan little bit you got1 121 well s good afternoon everyone thank you for attending today’s special meeting uh this meeting was called or requested I should say on behalf of uh councilman
Warner councilman Ricky uh as such it is within my responsibility and within my purview to schedule a special meeting at their request or any board members request when it’s two or more uh that’s what I did uh the reason that it is so late in the year is because of timing so
All right folks um as I have tried to conduct every one of my meetings for the last two years I will do so with this one on the back of the list of what we’re talking about today today’s agenda which is to discuss the vacancy of John Hartzel there’s a
List that’s on there for everyone to read which is uh how we will conduct ourselves during the meeting uh as I have never excuse me sir please we can print it out we can print out the rules there are the rules for every meeting and you didn’t put one of those out and
One of the rules is not to yell out um there’s a public comment period and everyone who wants to speak there will be please folks no it say no public hearing so you’re all ready violating the rules so please we’re going to have a meeting uh the board is going to run
The meeting we can review the rules if we need to but um this is a sole individual item the agenda and it was published and put out um and it’s due to the resignation of John Hartzel that occurred on December 21st a special meeting uh was requested by two of the
Board members in um under the town law the supervisor must schedule a meeting within 10 days in order to have a meeting um you need to have a quorum which requires three board members to be present and that’s the purpose in the the reason for the scheduling of this
Special hearing today so the clerk is going to print out the uh rules for the town of Malta I will read them into the record and ask that everyone follow them today which generally means to be respectful to um wait your turn to speak and allow the board to conduct its
Business so the ground rules and pledge of conduct for Town board meetings are as follows I’m a good citizen who cherishes our town and the responsibilities of our government I pledge to be courteous and respectful of others their opinions and their values I will not clap or boo when others voice
Their opinions number three I will address my comments to the town board not to individuals number four I will comment on the problem not the people or their personalities number five I will allow others to speak without interruptions or side conversation number six I recognize that those who
Have not spoken will be recognized first number seven I commit to obtaining all facts information and opinions on issues number eight I will participate with intent to identify areas of agreement clarify differences and search for common understanding and solutions number nine I will focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed
Solutions and number 10 I will listen be fair and consider the persuasive reasoning of others those are the ground rules for the town of Malta um board meetings and on behalf of the board I request that uh everyone follow those so we can have an orderly and productive
Meeting I’ll turn it back over to supervisor Hammond thank you thank you Steve for the clarification on that um sometimes it’s difficult for folks who adhere to all the laws all the guidelines that are in place and not just the ones that they chose to adhere
To so with all that being said as Steve pointed out this meeting is to discuss uh the vacancy created by John harzel uh for the record I had had no knowledge of when the vacancy was going to occur a lot of us had heard rumor throughout the
Last several months there was going to be a vacancy I had no idea when that vacancy was going to occur it occurred late in the year for that I had no control over it with that being said as the our County attorney just pointed out
Time has it so we have it today this is the only time that we could get in within the 10 days councilman Dunn is not here although for the record like to stay that he is opposed to this meeting but please enter that in and despite what folks believe and have already
Quite uh voiceful stated uh that there’s not going to be public comment um sometimes social media can be wrong I know that’s might be difficult for some people to accept and acknowledge but I can tell you forthright uh as an example Jen Holmes is not my Deputy super supervisor um so
That along with many other things that were posted because I’ve seen them are inaccurate people I implore everyone not just here those listening those watching please get your facts from factual sources not from somebody next door okay with that being said we will talk about the vacancy there have been people that
Have come forward from all different factions all different entities wanting their candidate to be considered for this position throughout my two years I have chose to act with honesty and integrity for that I am proud of and for that I will argue with anybody that that was
Anything but that this is no different today this meeting was held because this is how town government works there’s a vacancy we will fill it that’s what we’re going to do I don’t care if people aren’t happy with the timing this is how it fell this is what it
Is whether it be pressure from political entities from folks with their own agenda over the last two years or mob mentality at times I have not will not and I’m not going to waver to pressure from any of the afor mentioned I have not and I’m certainly not going to do it
Today or any other time while I’m still supervisor for that reason there have been discussions about those names that were put forth to be considered as candidates to fill councilman hartel’s position I have spoken with folks about it people that I know people that I trust and yes I’ve even spoken with it
About the incoming supervisor who actually was in agreement with what I had suggested so for anyone one that thinks this is a political maneuvering job that this is all fixed well that was never relayed to me during our conversations between Cynthia young and myself it is for that reason that I will
Put forth the resol resolution supervisor H yes before you do that our typical processes to uh have yes I’m Sor to the flag absolutely thank you very much Su to the flag please I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one
Nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you Steve um and yes I will open up the uh the floor floor to public comment uh for those that will have anything to say again as Steve our attorney pointed out please uh adhere to our rules that we
Have in place let’s be civil and let’s please keep our comments to two to three minutes I’m not going to cut anybody short at two or three minute timeline I don’t have a timer up here but if there’s a number of people that want to say things please uh respect
That they also would like to speak as well and uh with that um I will open up the floor any board members have anything that they would like to say first and foremost not at this time I’m going to hold off at this time but um thank you for everybody that had an
Interest in uh filling the spot um something has to be done it is lost aul and we’re handling it that way so roll with the comments I guess thank you Craig mat I’m I’m sorry Nan good afternoon I’m mat mclaughin I live at 19 Callahan Boulevard um I asked supervisor Hammond
And a Tom board to consider me to fill the vacancy currently um by John harzel resignation I’d like to thank the incoming supervisor Cynthia young for the several conversations we had this past week and for your support and endorsement um for consideration for the town board member thank
You if appointed to the town board I do look forward working with you and with you Barbara Connor again and with Al and Craig working towards the continued success the town has um has always had having worked closely with supervisor Hamming and the town board these past two years I have
Institutional knowledge over the many projects that the town is currently working on and I believe that if I am appointed to the position of the Town board that I will be able to offer additional continuity between the incoming and outgoing supervisors and the town board to see these pending projects to their um
Fruition to my fellow citizens of Malta if I’m appointed at as a member of your town board I will make myself accessible to you I will take the time out to listen to your needs and any recommendations you may have to make the town better I fully understand that if
I’m appointed by the town board to the town board it is not the same as being elected by you directly and I will not take that position for granted and I look forward to a special election where we’ll stand in front of you and seek your endorsement to continue on as a
Councilman should I be a appointed today finally I’d like to thank you supervisor Hammond for all the hard work you’ve had done in these past two years I thank you for the many initiatives that you have started and have supervised over being in the background I have seen
That all the decisions that supervisor Hammond has made these past two years has been through the lens of selfless service and integrity and always seeking for the betterment of the town it’s been an honor working for you these past two years with the town board and with the town employees of Malta thank
You thank you Matt good morning everybody happy New Year so board and Matt that that was wonderful could you please state your name and address Nancy Denio I’m 54 wineberry Luther Forest so a lot of us have like considered the election as being a prominent piece of democracy in our
Town and not to say anything less about Matt Matthew um I took a lot of time looking at the results of the election so the people of Malta spoke on Election Day Cynthia young was elected from a choice of 300 3,56 voters 33 abstained um she won the election
1852 votes so welcome Cynthia to the board and the supervisor position Barbara Connor she was also elected with 3,56 potential voters 1414 people abstained from voting that’s an approximate she received the same 1852 votes from our town in contrast Craig Warner our council person incumbent elected he received 1953 votes from our
Town and welcome back to the board what I’m bringing to this meeting for everybody to listen listen to and hear and not to negate what Matthews put into the board but Murray izman he ran a really fair election he went out door Todo and yes
He did lose the election but out of the 3,56 people that voted 1749 of our town actually showed up and and put his name into the potential pool of people to sit on this board that’s only 103 less votes than Barbara Connor and with that I would like to suggest in my
Own way of looking at things and this is not my decision of course that Mr icman who ran the El ran for the election ran for the seat actually put in a fair chance to be sitting on that board right now Monday morning or Tuesday morning or whenever
Everybody gets sworn in and the people spoke to that choice not that Matthews any less of a choice but Mr eisan put in some effort effort and if there were to be somebody put into the position maybe mrman should be considered thank you thank you Nancy anyone else wish to
Speak see a hand in the back there yes sir all right uh my name is Steve Young I’m really bad at public speaking so you have to pardon me uh um we won’t judge you for that uh one of the questions I have is
Um the I think Town law says that the uh notification has to be written and provided to all Town members of a special meeting what form of um message was given to Tim Dunn who is not here and was how was it provided and did he receive it Steve would you like
To answer that um well I can answer it in two ways um Mr Dunn was notified of the special meeting directly um as well as uh the town clerk has posted it on the website and the uh Town bulletin board as required um so with respect to Mr Dunn
Um he’ll have to answer uh you further to confirm that he’s received notice but uh he has re received written notice of the meeting uh as has the public I guess the other question I have is just to the board why have it now I mean I know you
Guys requested it but why not actually have you know a public heing about the C all the candidates you know give them a chance to talk in person those who are not here uh it’s apparently there’s one person someone suggested the uh uh other person who ran for Town
Council and did not was not uh elected I mean why not give them an opportunity to speak in front of the full board uh from Tex year I mean I’m not sure why there was a rush um I mean if you can explain that why it was urgently needed to have someone
In sooner than later that would probably help alleviate the suspicion um also although you said that um public comments are allowed I will point out that the um the actual town website says that this is not a public hearing it’s not a public hearing right but we don’t as me
You know as members of the community we don’t exactly know what that means it seems to imply when you say it’s not a public hearing that there will not be comments allowed uh typically we’ll put that in a lot of of our postings for meetings uh again I’ve said this before
I’ve been vilified for it but people have to take a little responsibility when it comes to knowing what’s going on in your town government if you attend one or two meetings a year that probably won’t cut it um I know I got up and I went to meetings for several years in a
Row without an agenda because I wanted to know what was going on in the town and you learn a lot by going to the meetings and not necessarily Zoom meetings uh or watching them on YouTube but actually participating in the meetings and I’m not saying that in a
Manner to be disrespectful but what I’m saying is there are things that people can find out today very easily if they really choose to find out the answers um attending the meeting you’ll like today you showed up today thank you for attending you found out when you got
Here there is a difference between a public hearing and public comment I I don’t know more what can be said to that other than uh I stand by what I say supervisor Hammond if I could add the reason for that in the notice is that a public hearing is a legally
Distinct uh hearing versus a regular board meeting the public has greater rights of participation in a public hearing and there are different requirements for publication and notice of a public hearing so there’s a real valid reason to indic at that it’s not a public hearing it’s a typical board
Meeting and that’s the purpose of the language in there all right um I think that’s about all I have to thank you very much so I am Cynthia young the incoming supervisor um I do want to clarify a few things first of all I would prefer that
Uh this board defers the decision until after the new board takes office um I you know I I don’t know I just would prefer I think that the 11th hour here decision- making is a little bit too tight um I did speak with both Matt and
Mark over the past couple of days um and I will say that Matt is on my short list of names because of the experience and and you know and you know he seems like an honest decent man but there were other people and I think the process
Should be that we as a board get together and take the pool of names together and um and and talk to everybody that’s interested in the um process but again if this board makes the decision to today to uh appoint Matt I will welcome you and um be the first
To congratulate you and look forward to working with you but if you decide not to then you know we’ll we’ll have another process starting sometime next week it is important that we have a full board we have a lot of work to do um there’s a lot of things like Matt said
That were started in the previous administration that that we need to go through now so thank you thank you cynthy and I would just like to clarify that yes I agree with most of what you said however I think what should be added for the record is that we’ve had
Discussions more prior to just a few days ago about this names were discussed uh I repeatedly asked you as the incoming supervisor who you would prefer who you think you could work with uh I was never given a list of your top contenders or even who you would choose
To have uh to date I still have not receive that whether it be verbal or in writing uh so the opportunity was in fact handed to you to say I would like this one that one or someone else so I just want to clarify that that that was
Was put out to you okay I don’t want to do it back and forth no I don’t either and I won’t but we when was this meeting scheduled I mean when when John stepped down I kind of assumed it was going to be up to the next board to make that
Decision in which case you know we’d wait and and see about candidates um you know so it’s only been a couple of days since this meeting has been scheduled and you know had you reached out I probably would have given the other names but we only talked about one
Candidate between us so again like I said I I definitely short list I like Matt a lot he you know he may have been appointed even with the new board thank you Cynthia yes sir thank you Mr Hamond my name is Jen lob I’m a eight-year resident of the uh
Town of Catskill I’m an attorney retired attorney retired New York state trooper had a number of years of service as a town attorney Journey for the town of Catskill practiced privately for a number of years I’m currently on the town’s uh Board of assessment review been appointed uh by your predecessor
And as well as by you Mr Hammond uh I offer and I emailed you I don’t know if you received my email and I left a message on your phone I’m not as well versed in social media so I don’t deal with that but I did notice the opening
And I uh called uh left a message on your phone here I I was south for a little while so that I don’t know if you received that I did not receive your email no um I tried will check your my spam but I did not
Receive it I tried to reach out for Miss Young uh just didn’t know how to get in touch with her uh I would offer to the uh uh both the Democrats and Republicans let me say and I’m a registered Republican uh my candidacy for this position for As a caretaker be a
Position until the next election pledge not to run do the best I could for the town of uh Malta that’s all I have to say certainly respect this young gentlemen I’m pleased that younger Generations are are here to serve and I just offer this as an alternative and uh
Uh frankly would not uh serve unless I had the full support of this board as well as the incoming uh two members thank you very much thank you very much sir I appreciate it I see a hand yes sir all my name is Lawrence liberman uh one may app away um I’m very concerned that this meeting is occurring today at the 11th hour to appoint someone when a new board is coming in after a democratic decision to make some changes here so I just wanted
To state that thank you very much anyone else and this woman right here is standing up I assume she wants to talk yes yes excuse me I got go I’m not drunk that’s like me with my new glasses again we won’t judge you for that thank you my name is Linda Noble I
Live in uh Luther Forest um I’ve just noticed all the stuff that’s been going on this year and I know uh everybody that’s been up there has been you know of one party instead of another um I’ve seen in different places different places I’ve lived and everything that
Everything goes better if it’s decided by a b bipartisan election or decision or whatever and I really think that this should be put off until I mean it wouldn’t be a problem if the candidates were all you know um put out there now but to put it off until the next board
Comes in because there’s a possibility with bipson that people would be less upset by it that’s all I had to say thank you was someone over here that wanted to get up and talk um my name is Susan N I live on my apple way I just have a quick question and if
You did answer this previously I just must have missed the answer so I’m just wondering if you could answer it again for me what exactly was the rush I believe somebody asked that question was the question um but I wasn’t sure that it was answered and if it was if you
Could repeat it and if not like what was the question I couldn’t hear you um why it was so rush to do this all of a sudden today I understand the 10day thing I don’t know I guess I’m just I’ll answer that I’ll answer go ahead this uh
This whole situation arose by no master plan or anything like that we kind of knew that we heard that John was going to be leaving and you know initially we all heard that John was leaving in February on his birthday and it was going to be on the next board’s you know
Watch to have a caretaker for six months until a special election maybe uh and get more candidates and stuff like that but uh it happened when it did happen and uh it’s been filled by a republican seat for 12 years and I thought we should also fill a republican seat right
Now because it could wait till February if John left then or we could be sitting at two two votes for a full year and probably less would get done I’m confident I’m going to be able to work and Matt will be able to work with Barbara and Cynthia that we have our
Goals of this town uh Forefront you know uh for what has s gone by for the last two years uh we are we had worked towards common goals for the betterment of the town uh we’ve seen some candidates come up in my in you know in my emails Murray’s got
Very impressive resume you know Matt Matt does too being the deputy supervisor very logical of knowing all the issues and stuff and the opportunity arose so uh I was in favor of sitting making sure we had five people on the board at the beginning of the year and
Not possibly stal made at 22 for a bunch of months just for whatever reason of vetting people and agreeing and disagreeing and being distracted uh towards getting things done for the I’m sure Cynthia’s got an agenda that’s probably I’m sure close to Mark and close to mine which is what’s
Good for the town you know uh so that’s the answer is that I uh I signed off on holding this meeting or request requesting the meeting as when I found out that John was officially retiring and that’s what I did okay so on just make sure I’m understanding what
You said oh first of all I had a question the opportunity arose and I took it okay did my answer mlin did you retire did you um what’s the word did you withdraw from did were you Deputy supervisor or are you still I am Deputy supervisor until midnight tonight okay
So I misunderstood that I thought somebody had said that you had uh withdrawn or something so I apologize for that um that from social media post I don’t know where I saw it probably cuz that’s you know that’s the only way I seem to be able SP I’m happy to answer
That also um after the elections happened here I was disappointed from the fact that um our our other candidate who hurt tirelessly going door to door he and I work together as a team and when the results came out I was rather shocked and I’ve had a lot of
Mind searching that I’ve had to do what I am going to do is to do what’s best for the town not what’s best for the party at this point in time Mark has got a lot go going forward now I hope that the transition works out good but I sincerely say say
That I have to do what’s best for the town in the next 6 months going forward and that’s my decision okay I don’t agree with your decision but obviously you’re the one who gets asked for it and be honest if Cynthia was in our spot she would have
Done the same thing I’m I don’t know that well I don’t know that you can speak speculate I guess she appreciates that okay thank you very much for your comments yes ma’am down on the end here you can sure um my name is Linda Valente and I
I’m at 24 May up away um based on my work experience in government state government where I worked with Democrats and Republican Governors and knowing that what I think is pretty much a um a conclusion at this that there will be an appointment today could there not be with us local
Law passed that there be a special election earlier than the next general election because I believe it’s position um that they’re appointed until uh the calendar year next exceeding the general next election so that instead that there could be another election special election the spring febr March
Perhaps in which the voters can then decide and the opportunity be given for any candidate that wishes to run and and the community will know more about them Steve would you like to address that and I don’t think there’s a special uh law right now but I’m
Just there forth well I in the town of Malta there is no local law regarding filling vacancies Town law section 645 authorizes a town board to act as this board is acting um as far as an incoming board passing local law uh yeah there are um you can pass a local law to
Supersede um Town law 645 I don’t haven’t researched the um parameters of what the election cycle would be in that event um but otherwise you are correct that there there is some towns have passed local laws the town of M has not so they’re operating under um New York
State law called Town law section 64 I’m aware of that I’m aware of that I looked into to holding a meeting on a weekend so I’m aware of an advisory opinion issued by the Department of State that many years so you know that this is completely authorized by law and the
Town board is acting accordingly abely and there is pending uh local law for them to act under right that’s why I’m suggesting that they be a local law considered for that purpose because I believe politics is the art of compromise in many ways that’s how I was able to get legislation
Through as uh as a council to a state agency thank you very much thank you Linda I saw another hand in the back Michael Funk 810 multi Avenue Extension um I think doing this today is at a minimum really bad Optics because it feeds into the narrative that politics is a back room
Process I do not there’s nothing that’s been said so far that I regard as so critical that we couldn’t have held off this meeting until the new Administration was sworn in I believe that it would have been better for the town of Malta had we waited because in this era of very
Significant political division wouldn’t it have been nice if we had two Republicans and two two Democrats making a decision together and probably electing or appointing Matthew perhaps not but probably and I think we would have gone forward feeling like we were together as a town in this decision so I’m asking this Quorum
Today to entertain candidates but delay their vote until next week or sometime when the new Administration can schedule a meeting for such a time uh to make that appointment thank you thank you anyone else wish to speak okay so with that being uh the end of
Public comment I see no other hand so I’m assuming no one else has anything to say at least right now anyway so um before we actually get into this resolution i’ just like to say I listen to everyone uh as I have had for the last two years despite what people like
To paint what people like to say and we’ll continue to do so um I can’t say and I won’t say that I don’t care because I do care but that’s not to say that it’s not very troubling for someone of my character uh many of the folks in fact
All of them that have chosen to throw darts at me over certain issues have no idea who I am you’re assuming that you do I can tell you right now you are way off base for anyone that believes that I am about to make a decision based on
Politics is very wrong I don’t care and I’ll say it I don’t care if you don’t agree with that I’m telling you because that’s the way that it is that’s who I am for two years I have fought against political entities people with their own agendas everyone wants to take a bite
Out of the bait that I hold in my hand and I push back against that for two years as I said earlier why would I why would I wave to that now why would I wave to pressure from people saying gez you’re doing something nefarious Mark you’re all about politics this is so
Unpolitical to me and again I don’t care if you believe it for the for the naysayers this is not a political decision this is about what I’ve set out to do two years ago maintain honesty and integrity in keeping the best interests of this town in my decision-making process and I’m not
Changing after tomorrow I won’t have that ability for many of you you’ll be thankful for that probably but right now I do have the ability and I’m going to continue to do and make a decision based on what I believe is best for this town we’ve talked about bipartisanship people
Love to throw that term around the people that usually throw bipartisanship around are the ones that really don’t want bipartisanship they want things their way they see things not going in their Direction they scream that they want bipartisanship I gave every every attempt and opportunity to the incoming supervisor to have a discussion
About this decision I was never once told this is who I would like Mark I gave up everything I have nothing to hide I told Cynthia young exactly who I thought would be great for this position and the reasons for that and Cynthia young agreed with me
Again verbal not in writing but I’m telling you what happened with all that being said that bipartisanship that we love to throw out there it was there on my part if Cynthia young had a name that she wanted instead of who I was suggesting I would have
Loved to heard it and I’ve asked for it to date I have not heard that name and let’s make no mistake everyone has their own political agenda for everyone that wants to throw darts at the sitting board and myself saying this is political I suspect you’ve probably got
Your own political narrative as well and your agenda what we’re doing today and we will do doesn’t fit your agenda I’m sorry but I’m not sorry this is for the town of Malta not for this board and not for a party I’ll go out the same way I
Came in making decisions based on what I felt was right and with that I will introduce the resolution to have Matt mcglaughlin fill the position vacated by John Hartzel and I respectfully asked for a second second second discussion among the board members yeah um we were submitted three people as far as I
Know um Matt I worked with him for two years he’s dedicated people in the back if you want to have discussions please go outside in the other room or in the hallway thank you he’s knowledgeable he knows what’s going on and I’m sure he will carry that forward Murray on the other
Hand he and I worked for months going door too we conveyed everything that we know people confronted us with certain questions I answered him honestly and I’m sure Murray’s the type of guy he’d he would do the same and he did he worked tiously he wore his Red Sneakers
Out I wore mine out I can I canell things to go door too I’ve always believed in being conversive with the public the other candidate I don’t know too much about I see him in town I see his wife in town my decision today as I said earlier is what’s best
For the town what’s going to be the transition between the past and the future that’s my statement thank you Craig can I have a vote please all in favor I I I motion is passed thank you very much this motion is now adjourned wait if I can just one L
Comment yes Cynthia go I want to be the first to congratulate and Welcome Matt to the town board look forward to working with you um it is going to be nice to have someone who probably knows more about the ongoing projects than I do so I look forward to your counsil on
That um while I would have done things differently I’m not unhappy with the with the outcome um it will be nice to start with a full board it frankly takes one thing off my plate um so welcome uh we’re having a swearing in tomorrow here
Um at 1:00 I think there’s also one over at the courthouse but at one um we’ll have a swearing in and everyone is invited and there will be cake [Applause] oh and Jen if you would please we should probably read the resolution um or the record of course with Matt’s name in the
The Blank Spot whereas John Hartzel submitted a written letter of resignation as Town board member effective December 21st 2023 to the town clerk leaving a vacancy on the town board whereas pursuant to New York State Town law article 4 section 645 whether a vacancy shall occur or exist in any town office the
Town board or a majority of the members thereof May appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy as set forth in the above referenced New York State Town law resolve that the town board excuse me hereby appoints Matt mclin as Town board member of the town of the town of Malta
Pursuant to town law section 645 to fill the vacancy created by the aformentioned resignation for a term to fire on December 31st 2024 thank you Jen with no other business today Steve unless there’s something we’ve forgotten to do no you’ve uh passed the resolution um unless you want to open it the public
Comment again you’re you can get a motion to adjourn the meeting I got a motion to adjourn I’ll second that all in favor I I thank you folks Happy New Year