What is chapter 34? A lesson in how progress is reversed when transparency is put in the hands of special interests.
August 4th 2025
The Environmentalist
I was reading the last post on Town Councilmember attendance. Although I’m an actively engaged resident of New Paltz,the discussions and implications of “Chapter 34” had passed me by. The very name is evasive and designed to deceive… it sounds innocuous right? Just a chapter of our town code? I heard the phrase in Town meetings but unless you’d been following closely (which no-one is) you probably, like me, had no idea what it really is.
After a little digging around, I want to share my summary. Now I may have got some of this wrong and I’m open to correcting any misstatements and inaccuracies. But this is a result of unclear and vague communications that has made it really, really difficult to understand exactly what has been going on.
So what is Chapter 34?
Technically “Chapter 34” refers to a chapter of the town code that refers to a “citizen police commission”.
Go back in time, remember the moment.
If you think back to the George Floyd protests that took place nationwide in May 2020. The response to these events included significant amendments to law enforcement oversight. In NY State, Executive Law 75(5) went into effect April 2021. Not long after this, On Nov 18, 2021, New Paltz Town adopted a change to our local laws that were referred to as “Chapter 34” that established a citizen-led Police Commission.
What is a Citizen-led Police Commission?
The intention of Chapter 34 was to citizens (represented by the people who sit on the town’s Police commission) oversight and transparency into the operations of the New Paltz Police department. This included:
Power to interview and recommend police hires (not just comment)
Authority to evaluate the Police Chief and develop performance plans
Role in reviewing complaints, disciplinary decisions, and policies
Access to police records, within confidentiality limits
Public meetings and minutes, Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)compliance, and transparency rules
Authority to participate in union negotiations and grievance handling
Mandate to represent public concerns, especially communities of color
Sounds good, right?
Early 2025 something changed
Among other things, Randall Leverette (a Republican) was added to the Town Board in February 2025. No election just put in the position by the Town Supervisor Amanda Gotto after a surprise resignation by Julie Seyfert-Lillis. Randall Leverette had previously sat on the “Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative” that was established in July 2020 as a direct response to the “George Floyd Murder”.
The recommendations of the “Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative” resulted in this report that pushed for a ‘public safety model’ and the creation of a “civilian police commission” to “fulfill the role of civilian oversight for police accountability”. Although Randall had been part of that recommendation, he did not currently sit on the Civilian Police Commission but he had previously been the chair of a Volunteer Police Commission that thad been dissolved in 2014.
So, Randall clearly has a strong interest in police oversight but has chosen not to sit on the commission that requires listening to other voices and serving the needs and interests of other residents.
Randall arrived in February and by April things were changing.
In the April 8th Police Commission Meeting the committee initiated a comprehensive revision of Chapter 34. Esi Lewis and Edgar Rodrigues who also sit on the Town Board led the suggestions for changes and evolution of the law to be more workable. In the next meeting (May 13th) the Police Commissioner (Tara Fitzpatrick) attended and reported an “unexpected termination letter from the Town Board from her position as a Police Commissioner”. Nobody seemed to know that this was happening and more importantly this was not reported in any of the Town Board meeting minutes.
Surprise, special Town Board meeting July 8th 2025
All that the minute state is:
“Based on the grievance received by the Town Board and on the advice of the Town Attorney, a motion was made by Supervisor Gotto to abolish the Police Commission. Seconded by Councilman Leverette. Councilwoman Lewis indicated that there has not been enough discussion and the form and manner in which this took place is not timely or appropriate. She feels there needs to be better communication. Supervisor Gotto, Deputy Supervisor Brown and Councilman Leverette voted aye. Councilwoman Lewis and Councilman Rodriguez abstained. Motion carried. “
This is one of those occasions where the small number of board members and ‘special interest’ groups like the two Police Commission focused Councilmembers and the three in the “Gotto/Leverette” alliance creates a division that allows a small number of people to push things through. This special meeting was called with little notices and so there was very little public attendance. As Councilmember Lewis stated this was neither “timely nor appropriate”…but the agenda was pushed through. If you want to read more, here’s the Hudson Valley One new report:
Isn’t this just small town politics? Does it even matter?
Actually, it does.
The reforms being discussed by the Civilian Police Commission which was abolished, included:
Increase hiring transparency (and diversity)
Oversight of officer conduct & promotions
Enhance public visibility & feedback
As a result of the abolition, all authority reverted back to Town Board. Essentially giving power to the Gotto/Leverette alliance (which will now be expected to push a Republican agenda) and eliminated all civilian oversight of the police in New Paltz.
What this means is:
Everyday residents and taxpayers have had an important mechanism for governing our New Paltz police force taken from us — with no input nor explanation. This is a coup.
The power to hold police officers and chiefs accountable now lies exclusively in the hands of a very small group of individuals on the Town Board with Republican leanings.
Police operations can now be handled in executive session of the Town Board without obligation to be reported publicly. Residents and taxpayers have lost visibility into the New Paltz Police departmental practices, personnel decisions, complaint outcomes, and policy formation.
These individuals have already shown that they do not value transparency (the process by which this was done was underhand at best) and arrogantly feel they have no accountability to the public that elected them (at least not until the next Town Board elections in November 2025).