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Southern Ulster Times, Wednesday, December 26, 2018
IN THIS ISSUE
Calendar..........................................12
Classifieds......................................22
Crossword...................................... 24
Dining Guide....................................15
Highland..........................................19
Letters to the Editor........................8
Marlboro.........................................18
Obituaries......................................20
Opinion.............................................8
School News................................... 29
Service Directory........................... 27
Sports............................................ 32
PUBLIC AGENDA
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27
Town of Plattekill ZBA, 8 p.m. Town
Hall, 1915 Route 44/55, Modena.
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 2
Lloyd Town Board workshop meet-
ing, 4 p.m. Town Hall meeting room, 12
Church St., Highland.
Plattekill Town Board, 7 p.m. Town
Hall, 1915 Route 44/55, Modena.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 3
Marlboro School Board, 7:30 p.m.
Marlborough Town Hall, 21 Milton Tpke,
Milton.
HOLIDAY DEADLINE
The office of the Southern Ulster Times
will be closed on Tuesday, January 1,
2019 in observance of New Year’s Day..
Deadline for the January 2 edition is
Friday, December 28 at 4 p.m.
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The Southern Ulster Times (USPS 022-586) is a weekly
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Lloyd supervisor will not seek re-election in 2019
Continued from page 1
Early on, Hansut and the board
appointed Daniel Waage and James Janso
to the positions of Chief and Police and
Lieutenant, respectively. Because of his
own background in Law Enforcement,
Hansut said they understood his desire to
make the agency a community-oriented
police department.
“I think we’ve accomplished that
[and] the positive things they do in the
community, whether it be helping the
seniors, helping families in need or our
youth, they’ve done a great job. I am very
proud that I was part of putting that in
place.”
Hansut began his career as a patrolman
in the Town of Lloyd in 1991 as part of
the Juvenile Aid Bureau. In May 1994 he
transferred to the City of Poughkeepsie,
again as a patrolman but moving up
to community policing, and into the
narcotics division. He finished his service
as a Detective in the Gang Unit in 2012. He
said he retired because it is apparent that
running the town is a full time job.
“Whoever takes over needs to be
available during business hours, 8 a.m. to
4 p.m., and then some; there’s nights and
there’s weekends and I’ve always tried to
make sure that I’m available for events,”
he said.
Hansut said a Supervisor must be able
to clearly communicate, be a problem
solver and be able to work across party
lines. He believes Town Board members
must also be willing to do the necessary
research on issues, understand laws, “and
put a lot of commitment into decisions
they’ve made.”
Hansut pointed out that his passion
is often misunderstood as anger and
bemoaned the fact that in recent years
communication has broken down on the
Town Board, “it’s just not there anymore.”
“I try to look at things of what’s right
or wrong; now it seems we’ve become a
society of social media and emails and
nobody talks anymore, you don’t sit down
and have a conversation,” he said.
Hansut said much was accomplished in
the first four years of his administration
but forward motion in his second term
ground to a near halt. He said it started
with trying to revise the town’s towing
law.
“We spent $20,000 of the taxpayers
money [and] the law we had then is the
law we have now; nothing has changed.
The only difference is friendships and
acquaintances
have
disintegrated
and political relationships have
disintegrated,” he said. “We moved into
Lloyd Supervisor Paul Hansut is choosing to retire at the end of 2019.
this year and I’ve got to say a lot of people
were looking for battles between certain
board members and myself and I think
we’ve worked pretty well together but
now, communication has broken down.”
Hansut said part of his reasoning to
retire has to do with the deaths of his
parents and a brother, “and I never really
had time to let that sink in and process
it all.” He said there is not a single issue
or a person that caused him to consider
exiting the political stage.
“I’m at the point that I’m just tired. I’m
tired of fighting with people. I’m tired of
trying to defend my stances and I think
the town will be better served with some
fresh ideas and fresh leadership,” he said.
Hansut said he has been fiscally
responsible to the taxpayers with the
budgets he has helped to craft and pass,
giving a special nod for the assistance
of his secretary Kate Jonietz and his
bookkeeper Karen McPeck in this effort,
calling them, “exceptional employees.”
Before leaving office Hansut hopes to
fix the sidewalks in the hamlet and the
water problems on Highland Avenue. He
said the town’s debt is low and though
the board tapped the fund balance this
year more than he would have liked, it is
basically “healthy.” He is pleased to have
successfully negotiated three contracts
each with the CSEA and the PBA, adding,
“I believe they’ve all been fair.”
Hansut
said
building
key
partnerships while he was in office was
important.
“On many occasions, for many projects
we worked together in a bi-partisan
manner, which had a great result for
the residents for the Town of Lloyd,”
he said, pointing the successes of
finishing Phase III of the Rail Trail with
County Executive Mike Hein; installing
a water line to the Welcome Center
at the Walkway, working with Scenic
Hudson in procuring a $100,000 donation
for the rail trail, securing money for
the Highland Landing Park through
the late Assemblyman Frank Skartados
and acquiring money for the new town
library with Skartados and Sen. George
Amedore.
On the legislative side, Hansut said the
Town Board’s passage of a sex offender
law has resulted in a significant drop in
the number of these individuals residing
in town. Lloyd is the second town in the
state that has such a local law.
Hansut urged the public to come to
board meetings and voice their concerns.
“It seems like nobody participates until
it’s in their backyard and then all of a
sudden it generates a lot of interest,” he
observed.
Hansut said in January he will suggest
initiating a five-year plan as a way for
the town to define what they want to
accomplish and how they will get there.
He said consideration should be given to
hiring a financial planner to help in this
effort.
Hansut concluded the interview by
thanking the residents of Lloyd.
“I truly appreciate the support of the
voters and the chance that they gave me
to serve as the Supervisor. I will always
be indebted to those who have supported
me over the years and I appreciate so
much the privilege of being able to be the
face of the Town of Lloyd,” he said.