Drive for affordable housing: shocking
I wrote to this newspaper prior to the village of Millerton election last month warning about the inadvisability of electing David Sherman as a trustee and predicting that if he won, he would immediately resume his efforts to bring affordable housing projects to Millerton. I stand corrected. I was wrong. Sherman did not even wait to (narrowly) win his seat to begin his efforts.
Sherman and Sam Busselle have been holding meetings for months with members from our Village and Town boards, as well as those from other towns. These meetings were by invitation and the public was unaware of them. No more than two members of any one board were invited, so the open meetings law did not apply. Attendees at the meetings have now confirmed that Sherman and Busselle took a leadership role and that affordable housing was heavily pushed.
The first public announcement I heard about this came from town of Amenia Councilwoman Vicki Doyle, who stumbled all over herself at the March 27 Amenia Town Board Meeting trying to explain this fiasco (). Doyle begins speaking just after 1:26:00 on the counter. She claims the group is only local people collaborating, but she let slip that the name they have now adopted — Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI), was chosen “to reflect some of John Nolon’s observations.”
John Nolon is the Pace University Law School professor who attended the series of housing meetings that Berkshire Taconic sponsored at Amenia Town Hall last year.
Doyle also claims the group was about the housing but now it isn’t. I would like to note that Doyle was on the Amenia Affordable Housing Committee as far back as 2005. (https://ameniany.gov/docs/cat_view/31-affordable-housing-committee/32-200...) Click on the first file.
I questioned Millerton and North East officials about this at their April meetings. The mayor and some village trustees were receptive to questions and the board has refrained from jumping into this ill-begotten scheme. The supervisor and Town Board, however (minus Steve Merwin who wasn’t at the April 10 meeting) ignored my request for a public hearing on how this group came about and why we should join it. They are maintaining Doyle’s assertion that the group is not allied with any outside entities, and that even though it started out to be about housing, it now isn’t. They have voted to continue forward with it.
I’ve just learned that Michael Hagerty, recently hired as town of North East grant writer, was the coordinator for the housing meetings at the Amenia Town Hall mentioned above. A flyer from that series gives an email address for Hagerty at Housing-US, which is part of Berkshire Taconic. Our tax dollars are paying Hagerty to get a grant for hiring a consultant to help update our comprehensive plan and zoning. Guess who offered at last week’s joint village/town meeting to suggest someone for the consultant’s job? Dave Sherman. The likely intention is to permanently enshrine smart growth in our zoning including affordable housing and the .5 mile radius growth boundary.
Pamela Michaud
Millerton
Generous
The FRIENDS of the Pine Plains Free Library thank and acknowledge The Stissing House, Chaseholm Farm and Megan Hines of eat.PAINT.love for their help and generosity at our recent event celebrating Women’s History Month and the work of Georgia O’Keeffe.
It was a pleasure working with these groups and their help was invaluable. Thanks also to all those who attended and the FRIENDS volunteers.
The program was well-received and a fun afternoon.
Janet Fitzgerald
President
FRIENDS of the Pine Plains Free Library
Pine Plains
