October 2009
PINE PLAINS UNITED
On October 15th at 7:30, the Town Board will meet and vote to adopt the new zoning law (there will be a special workshop meeting before that, on October 6th at 7PM, but that will not be a public hearing). By all indications it will pass unanimously. On the one hand we're very pleased, Pine Plains will finally have zoning and there is much in this law to admire. But, as we've made clear in our recent emails, it is also deeply flawed and we're sorely disappointed that the Town Board chose to ignore your many letters asking that they drop, or at least amend, the NND. Allowing Durst to build at inappropriately high densities, bowing to the developers of Village Green's wish to be zoned commercial, these directly contradict the goals of the Comprehensive Plan, which are to maintain the town's rural character and focus commercial growth at its center.
Time for a change.
Having spent the last few years working to achieve our goals by working with and giving our support to the Town Board (at one point even campaigning for two of its members), we have reached the conclusion that it is time for the composition of that board to change.
Accordingly, we are supporting Rosemary Lyons-Chase and Sandra David for Town Board and we urge you to come out to the polls and vote for them on November 3rd. Rosey, you may already know, is a member of our steering committee. She has already served once on the Town Board, as well as the Pine Plains School Board and the Library Board. Sandra, a former teacher, has also given much time and energy to the community, including serving as Chair of the Comprehensive Plan Committee. They will both make excellent additions to the Town Board.
Though Rosemary and Sandra will appear on the Democratic line, Pine Plains United endorses people, not parties. We support candidates who share our vision for Pine Plains, regardless of party affiliation. In fact, in the last election the candidates we supported were all Republicans (we're not too happy with them at the moment but then their opponents were opposed to zoning altogether). Nor are we running against the present Town Board. Despite our recent disappointment, we respect the long hours and hard work our elected officials have put in. We just think it's time for a change and Rosemary and Sandra will bring some needed new ideas and energy to the board.
Are you registered here?
You may remember the emails we sent out before the last election urging those of you who weren't registered here to do so. Elections in towns like ours are won and lost by a handful of votes. As if to prove the point, one of the candidates we urged you to vote for won by just 7 votes, far fewer than the number of you who changed your registrations. It happens all the time.
Changing your registration from the city or anywhere else to Pine Plains is easy and entirely legal (according to New York State law you may choose to vote anywhere you have a residence, even if it's not your primary residence, as long as you don't vote in more than one of them). For complete information about changing your registration, including answers to questions about taxes (no, they won't increase) and jury duty (no, you won't have to do it upstate) visit www.countryvote.org.
To make things even easier, here's a link to a Voter Registration Form. Just download it, fill it out, and mail it to the address specified (for future reference, the address for the Dutchess County Board of Elections is 47 Cannon Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. If you want to register in a nearby Columbia County town the BOE's address is 401 State Street, Hudson, NY 12534). Be sure to check the box requesting an Absentee Ballot application in case you're not in Town on Election Day. If you're already registered upstate and think you'll be out of town on November 3rd you can download an Absentee Ballot Application here (if you live in Columbia County click here).
IMPORTANT: Your registration form must be postmarked NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 9th. So get yours in as soon as you can.
Will it do any good?
Will electing Rosemary and Sandra prevent the present, flawed law from being adopted? No, that will happen regardless, on October 15th. But there is still much work ahead for Pine Plains and changing the culture of the board is our best insurance that our town will grow in a manner appropriate to its rural character.
Please register to vote in Pine Plains if you haven't already (even if you live in a surrounding town like Ancram, Milan, or Stanfordville, towns that are facing similar development pressure, your vote can make all the difference). And please come out and vote for Rosemary Lyons-Chase and Sandra David on November 3rd. Thank you.
The Steering Committee |
