As we enter this election season it might be a good time for a brief overview of our town government and its boards, departments, and committees.
There are three governing Boards in Gardiner—one elected (the Town Board), and two whose volunteer members the Town Board appoints (the Zoning Board of Appeals, commonly known as the ZBA, and the Planning Board). The only other elected officials in Gardiner are the Town Clerk, Highway Superintendant and our two Town Justices (more on these later).
The Town Board’s five elected members each serve a two-year term. We’re about to go to the polls to fill the expiring terms of the Town Supervisor position, as well as that of two Town Board members. In addition to being a member of the Board, the Town Supervisor is also Chief Fiscal Officer, Chief Executive Officer and, as you can well imagine in a town as small as Gardiner, Chief Cook and Bottle Washer. The Supervisor runs all Town Board meetings and is responsible for compiling the town’s annual operating budget and overseeing the Town’s accounting and payroll functions. When the Board votes on various issues though, the Supervisor is on equal footing with other Town Board members and has one vote.
We should all be aware that many of our elected and appointed officials, including the Town Supervisor, also have “day jobs.” That’s an amazing fact, considering the amount of work they do for the town.
The Town Board also supervises and is responsible for the operations of the Highway Department, the Building Department, the Assessor, Justice Court, Parks and Recreation, and the Transfer Station. Gardiner’s Town Clerk (Michele Mosher) and Highway Superintendent (Brian Stiscia) are also elected officials, but have been running uncontested for long enough that we might well forget that fact. Michele Mosher has been our Town Clerk since 1996 and had an opponent once in those 21 years, while Brian Stiscia has been uncontested since 2013.
As most of us know, the Building Inspector is the one who gives us a building permit for that garage we want to build, or that new house we’ve just had plans drawn up for. He also serves as the Code Enforcement Officer, making sure that whatever gets built in Gardiner conforms to the provisions of the town Zoning Code.
The Zoning Board of Appeals is attuned to the fine detail, and steps in when someone’s building plans do not conform to our zoning code. It’s the ZBA, for example, that decides whether to give you a variance to build that garage a few feet closer to your property line than the code says it should be.
The Planning Board is more, “big picture.” It is responsible for overseeing subdivision applications and larger development projects, reviewing these projects and issuing site plan approval and special use permits if appropriate. It is a complex and, sometimes, touchy process. It involves developers presenting detailed plans of proposed projects, input from Gardiner residents at public meetings, and the Planning Board’s review of potential impacts on the environment, traffic and other aspects of community character.
Finally, we have a Library Board of Trustees appointed by the Town Board to oversee our town library, a Board of Ethics, and an Environmental Conservation Commission that reviews and reports to the Boards about the environmental impacts of projects or issues before those Boards.
And that is only a very brief synopsis of what it takes to run a small town in the Hudson Valley. One of the reasons Gardiner is such a great place is because of the people who commit themselves to public service.
As we head to the polls let’s all remember that we owe them a great deal of gratitude; none of this would work without them.