Election is over: New Supervisor, New Town Board, New Village Board Council…what next?
The Student
The results are in — and the winner was almost unanimous.
Tim Rogers, the current Mayor of the Village of New Paltz, will become the new Town Supervisor.
It wasn’t even close. With roughly 75% of the vote, Rogers managed to bridge years of divisions and walk away with near-universal support — a rare thing around here.
Chris Marx (Highway Supervisor) ran uncontested, as did our two County Legislators, Megan Sperry and Bill Murray.
Also elected last week were three new Town Board members — Sean O’Sullivan, Kate Ryan, and Lauren McPadden — and two new Village trustees, Rich Suoto and Allen Ross.
So what does all that mean for New Paltz?
Well, that’s where it gets interesting.
Town Board is starting almost from scratch.
With the exception of longtime member Kitty Brown, the Town Board will be entirely new and led by a new Supervisor.
Kitty has been a close ally of outgoing Supervisor Amanda Gotto — who lost both the Democratic primary and the general election after losing party and community support. Kitty publicly campaigned for Gotto in both races and hasn’t hidden her disagreements with the incoming Supervisor. Whether she’ll remain in her current position is an open question.
Meanwhile, the Village Board will also experience a shake-up. Rogers’s move to the Town leaves the mayor’s seat open, and Deputy Mayor Alex Wojcik has already said she isn’t interested in stepping up. Former trustees Stana Weisburd and Bill Murray have also moved on — Weisburd leaving the board, and Murray successfully winning his County Legislature seat.
Current/future Positions:
Town:
Supervisor: Amanda Gotto Tim Rogers (new)
Deputy Supervisor: Kitty Brown
Council members: Esi Lewis, Edgar Rodrigues, Randall Leverette Sean O’Sullivan, Kate Ryan and Lauren McPadden (all new)
Village:
Mayor: TBD
Deputy Mayor: Alex Wojcik
Council members: Bill Murray, Stana Weisburd Stevie Susta (existing), Rich Suoto and Allen Ross (both new).
New Blood or New Chaos?
Depending on how you see it, this is either the best thing that’s happened in years — or a setup for months of confusion while everyone figures out how to work together.
Either way, this is a rare reset moment. The voters have handed power to new people with new ideas. Now it’s on all of us to stay engaged and hold them accountable. That’s the whole point of newpaltz.works — to keep track, keep score, and keep the process transparent. Sign up for our emails and we’ll keep you in the loop.
What about Consolidation?
Rogers ran on a clear promise — Town–Village consolidation — but that process won’t happen overnight.
He’s pledged to let residents decide, and that vote won’t come before the November 2026 midterms. Even if it passes, consolidation would take another two years to implement. So realistically, we’re talking 2028 before anything is finalized.
That’s three years of planning, meetings, and public hearings before the two governments could officially become one.
Big challenges and a steep learning curves.
The Gotto administration will also be leaving the new supervisor with a few big issues that will need serious attention.
Challenge #1: Police Oversight
In 2024, the Town Board quietly disbanded the civilian Police Commission and handed oversight power back to itself — behind closed doors, with almost no public explanation. It was done in executive session, which means no minutes, no transparency, and no accountability. What is clear is that the Chief of Police is resistant to oversight from the community the police are meant to serve.
Now, as Supervisor, Rogers inherits that decision and it’s not an abstract issue. In recent months, Black and Brown residents have reported racist incidents (including racist graffiti on the home of one of our board members). And while the Town Board has condemned such behavior and given over an entire Town Board meeting to community comments there are some in the community who are concerned that the new Town leadership, that claims to “represent” the whole town, has never looked less diverse.
One of the new board members, Kate Ryan, comes with deep experience as a public interest lawyer focused on prison and law reform. If anyone can help rebuild trust between the community and law enforcement, it might be her. But it’ll take time, transparency, and a real willingness to listen.
Challenge #2: The Realities of Consolidation
Everyone likes to say “just merge the two governments” — but anyone who’s ever tried knows it’s complicated.
The previous attempt at collaboration between the Town and Village boards fell apart when consultants and Village leaders walked away from joint talks. Even with Rogers now leading the Town, that tension doesn’t vanish overnight.
There are more than 100 committee and board positions that would need to be reconciled, and while many essential services — like police, fire, EMS, library, and schools — are already integrated, other areas like housing, zoning, and environmental planning remain split.
If this new leadership team can start with informal collaboration — combining advisory boards, hosting joint sessions, or aligning committee goals — it could make the formal process much smoother later.
Town and Village committee positions: Over 100 positions to be consolidated.
Challenge #3: Housing and Development
Assuming the current litigation over the New Paltz Apartments development fades under Rogers’s leadership, that project would join Zero Place and the Baxter Buildings as another major housing build.
Like the others, it’s focused on studio and one-bedroom units — great for students, less so for families. The town’s code requires that 15% of new units be “affordable,” but how those units are chosen, managed, and kept affordable remains unclear.
This will test whether New Paltz’s commitment to equity can survive contact with its housing market.
Challenge #4: The $2 Million Preservation Fund
Back in 2019, New Paltz adopted a 1.5% real estate transfer tax to fund land preservation. Thanks to post-pandemic property booms, that fund has ballooned to more than $2 million.
But so far, very little of it has been spent — just one small land purchase from the Thruway Authority. Residents are beginning to ask why.
Twelve people currently sit on the boards that oversee this money, including Cara Lee and John Gotto (Amanda Gotto’s husband), both serving on multiple committees. If the new Town Board doesn’t start moving projects forward, frustration will grow. People didn’t vote to hoard that money; they voted to protect land — responsibly. If this new Town Board doesn’t start using the Community Preservation Fund to deliver tangible benefits to the community, people will start asking whether “preservation” is just code for protecting privilege.
A Final Thought
From the outside, all these changes look a little chaotic. But maybe this is what change looks like when it finally arrives.
Democracy only works when the people it serves are paying attention. Local government might not feel exciting, but it shapes the cost of housing, the safety of our neighbors, and the way this community defines “progress.”
Keep watching. Keep asking questions. Keep showing up.