Millerton political candidates face off in June 20th election

MILLERTON —  The candidates for village mayor and trustees have clear ideas about what Millerton needs to move into the future.

There are three people running for seats on the Village Board of Trustees, and two candidates for mayor of Millerton. The village election will be held Tuesday, June 20, from noon to 9 p.m. at the Village Hall, 5933 N. Elm Ave. (Route 22).

Absentee ballots may be requested from the village clerk until Tuesday, June 13, and completed ballots must be submitted by Friday, June 16.

LISA ERDNER

Lisa Erdner is running for one of the two open seats on the village board of trustees. She has attended village board meetings regularly as a citizen for the past three years. She and her husband, who were recently married, have lived in and owned a home in Millerton, which previously belonged to his grandfather,  since 2020.

A Democrat, Erdner serves on the village’s zoning board of appeals and is the vice president of Townscape, though she will be taking over the presidency in July. She has a degree in marketing from Kent State University and works out of her home office as a senior customer success manager for Intellitix.

“I grew up in the age of technology,” said Erdner, “and that kind of stuff is second nature to me, so it’s easy for me to implement, maybe, a more active Facebook page or website updates, text alerts, email campaigns, newsletters, things like that. That’s all stuff I deal with regularly. I think that’s a place I can really help because all of that comes easily to me.

“In doing this campaign, the most frequent concern I’ve heard from the community is the grocery store. What I don’t think a lot of people realize is that is really dependent on wastewater. [North East Town Supervisor] Chris Kennan has said that we have someone interested in taking that complex [on Route 44] and putting a grocery store in there; however, they refuse to do so until there’s a wastewater system because it’s not feasible right now.

“I’m not trying to overdevelop Millerton or anything, just to be able to support a basic system. There’s a lot of people whose septics are failing, and having a wastewater system instead can help with that, as well.”

Erdner is part of the Eddie Collins Park Events Committee, and noted that grants and money from private donors have funded the park improvements. “It’s something we can accomplish without impacting the taxpayers,” she said. “As somebody who plans to start my family here, I want to have a place like that for my kids to play. Being outdoors was a really big part of my childhood and I think it’s really important for kids to have that place.

“I’m hoping that this position, if elected, is a way that I can expand the way I’ve been helping,” said Erdner. “Customer service is my background … so I think that this is a good way to bring that back to the community.”

KELLY KILMER

Republican Kelly Kilmer secured enough signatures to be on the independent Working Together line and is running against incumbent Jenn Najdek for the position of mayor. Born and raised in Millerton, Kilmer is a married mother of four who works full-time as district treasurer for the Webutuck Central School District and co-owns the Outsiders Entertainment DJ service. Kilmer spent six years as the village clerk and then worked as the board’s clerk treasurer.

“I love this village, and we have gone many election cycles where the mayor has run unopposed. … I believe the village residents deserve a choice,” said Kilmer.

Kilmer sees attracting a grocery store as an important step forward. “The grocery store might be based in the town, but it’s got a trickle-down effect to us village residents because we also need it,” she said.

“I am looking forward to hopefully being part of that process in getting a grocery store, and the wastewater [system] is a big part of getting that grocery store in here, and other businesses, too, for the growth of the village.”

Kilmer has many memories of utilizing Eddie Collins Park when she was growing up. “I really am proud of the park progress and would like to see it continue” without being a burden for taxpayers. “It hasn’t been,” she said, “but I don’t want to build it up so big that my grandchildren have to worry about how they’re going to maintain it.”

Kilmer is very supportive of the Millerton Police Department. She said she has spoken with new police Chief Joseph Olenik and “I look forward to working with him. He’s got some great ideas and I am very hopeful that he does bring some new life to the police department and recruit some additional officers to revitalize the department and show everyone why we need them in our community.”

MAYOR JENN NAJDEK

Mayor Jenn Najdek is running for her second term in office. Before becoming mayor, she spent four years as a trustee on the village board and was deputy mayor. Having grown up in Millerton, Najdek has worked for EcoBuilders for over 10 years.

“I work in the village,” said Najdek, “so it makes it much easier to handle anything whenever it comes up.

“I think the most important thing for the village to move forward on is wastewater,” Najdek said. “Everybody talks about housing being an issue. Well, without a central sewer system, most properties can’t put an accessory dwelling unit, even if they have the space, on it. … Even with a wastewater system, we have to be really smart about planning and growing. But we can’t do much more now with the systems we have.”

Najdek feels that there is misunderstanding about where the funding came from for Eddie Collins Park. She said that half of the $2.2 million spent for Phase 1 came from grants and the remainder from matching funds from private donors. The Friends of Eddie Collins Park have set up an endowment fund for park maintenance, said Najdek, and a $500,000 grant has already been received from the state for Phase 2, which she hopes will be a new bathhouse with a community room and a swimming pool.

“The fundraising committee also has people that have pledged over a five-year period, so there’s expected funds coming from that, too,” said Najdek. “It’s really about building something great for everyone that doesn’t burden the residents of the village.”

Regarding the Millerton Police Department, Najdek said: “There’s a lot of speculation around the police department only being a pilot program since we hired our chief, and that is 100% false. We believe that he will make our department stronger and better. He believes in the importance of community policing, and we have funded our police department. The police department is going nowhere.”

RAY NELSON

Republican Ray Nelson is also seeking a seat on the village board of trustees. Nelson moved to Millerton from New York City with his wife and two children in 2000. Nelson is the principal of Earthwise Architecture, where he specializes in low-energy buildings. He spent four years as chair of the town’s housing committee and seven years on the planning board, and also formerly served as a village trustee.

“The reason I’m running now is because I’m concerned about the village being fiscally responsible and I see a trend away from that,” said Nelson.

Nelson said he is being objective about the proposed wastewater system but worries about a possible increase in taxes because of it. “I think, long-range, you could make an argument that the sewer system is a positive thing. I think there’s a huge negative in that it adds to the cost of living in the village.”

Nelson described the Eddie Collins Park plan as “a debacle. I find it very frustrating when people on the board are telling us, ‘No tax dollars were spent, it was just grant money.’ What do you think grant money is? Grant money is tax dollars.”

He thinks the park “is beautiful” but that there are flaws in its design. “My real big gripe on it is just that they spent $2 million to give us what? I know there was some private money donated and I think that’s terrific, still, tax dollars went into it and I’m not sure what we gained. And now they want to go for the next step … people buy pools all the time and they don’t spend $4 million.”

“The last time I served, I was really green to the community,” said Nelson. “This time, I’ve been around the block a little longer and I know a few more of the players.”

DAVID SHERMAN

Village board incumbent Republican David Sherman, also on the Common Ground line on the ballot, has held various other positions in local government, including stints on the North East Planning Board and town board, and 18 years as North East town supervisor. He served a short fill-in term on the Dutchess County Legislature and two previous terms as a village trustee.

A lifelong Millerton resident, Sherman is concerned about public access to village meetings, believing the meetings should be viewable via Zoom or another accessible medium, and thinks the town and village boards should have occasional joint meetings to discuss ideas and resolutions to shared problems.

“I am keenly interested in seeing the community improve, but in a manner that’s going to be affordable to our residents,” said Sherman. During his tenure as North East town supervisor, one of the major projects Sherman managed was the formation of the water district, and his concerns include portions of the water system being upgraded as well as deteriorating roadways and crosswalk construction.

Regarding Eddie Collins Park, Sherman hopes “the improvements that are being made there will start to show usage … to be able to see more of our residents and our youth start being able to use the site.” He’d like to see a special meeting take place regarding the proposed pool “because you don’t want fear to arise out of a lack of knowledge or information.”

“I can’t see us taking on anything more project-wise that’s major, village-wide or anything else, until we resolve where we are and where we will be with the wastewater.” The village is starting to think about water rates, he said, and he wants to “continue working with the village board to help in that analysis and determine how the rates should be shaped.”

  

Lisa Erdner Photo submitted