Saugerties town budget increases spending 3%
The Saugerties Town Board has approved a budget for 2020 that will increase spending by 3.06 percent, a total of $393,322, from this year’s $13.2 million dollar plan.
Saugerties Times | Politics & Government
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Tally continues in Ulster DA’s race
Last week, election officials completed their count of absentee and affidavit ballots, leaving Democrat Dave Clegg with a 45-vote lead over Republican Mike Kavanagh. On Wednesday, Dec. 4, both sides appeared in court to begin the process of counting or dismissing 289 ballots that have been subject to challenges.
Notes from the Saugerties Village Board
Topics include: Village to borrow $300,000 for sewer repair; Police department participates in No Shave November; praise for firefighters; fire trucks may play music instead of sirens on Christmas morning; building permits mean village is growing; bluestone sidewalk work on Main St. nearly complete.
Clegg up by 45 votes, but almost 300 disputed ballots not yet counted
A count of absentee and affidavit ballots has left Democrat Dave Clegg clinging to a miniscule 45-vote lead over Republican Mike Kavanagh in the closely watched race for Ulster County district attorney. But with hundreds of ballot challenges awaiting a judge’s ruling — and a county law that will likely trigger an automatic recount of every vote cast — a final decision in the contest could still be weeks away.
Ryan vetoes ‘Dan Torres Law’
The Ulster County Legislature passed a measure forbidding county appointees from holding elected office 12-11. But County Executive Pat Ryan said this week that he will veto the measure, which has — intentionally or not — been taken as an attack on Deputy County Executive Dan Torres, who’s also a New Paltz town councilman.
Ulster County Legislature censures Hector Rodriguez
For the first time in its history, the Ulster County Legislature voted to condemn one of its own, New Paltz Democrat Hector Rodriguez, for sexual harassment and predatory behavior. Rodriguez’s expressionless face loomed over the room, projected onto a wall by a too-close webcam that he used to Skype into the meeting, while legislators voted 17-5 for his censure. His screen went black during the voting; Rodriguez abstained from the vote and made no comment.
Democrats keep control of Ulster County Legislature; DA’s race still too close to call
Democrats appeared poised to maintain their single-vote majority in the Ulster County Legislature after a count of absentee ballots failed to upend election night results.
Ex-legislator appears on criminal trespass charge; asks for public defender
Former county legislator Chris Allen, who is facing a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespass, appeared in village court Monday evening and asked for a public defender in the case.
Judge overturns county ethics board’s findings against Saugerties legislator
In a 10-page ruling, Judge Richard Mott annulled the Ulster County Ethics Board’s finding that by voting twice on matters connected to the county’s contract with the CSEA — which affected his wife, a county employee — County Legislator Joe Maloney violated ethics laws.
Ulster considers public financing for elections
The county’s proposed campaign finance reform law, which would allow candidates for countywide office or county legislature to tap into a $75,000 fund per year in county money for their campaigns prompted more than a dozen speakers, over half of whom were in opposition and emphatic about their positions, and about 50 onlookers at the county legislature’s public hearing on the proposed law on Tuesday, Nov. 12.