City of Beacon's Workshop Agenda for 3/10/2025 Posted: Legalizing ADUs (aka sheds as houses), 248 Tioronda Update, etc.

The City of Beacon’s Workshop Agenda for the March 10, 2025 Meeting has been posted. At the meeting, the Council listened to a presentation from Dutchess County Department of Health on how people can access social benefits like SNAP, that the office is right in Beacon in the DMV building, and how emergency shelter housing works. As the Council continues to try to prioritized affordable housing as an issue, they had requested a presentation from the county. There continues to not be an overnight warming center in Beacon for the cold temperatures, and no one on City Council brought this up during the meeting. A Little Beacon Blog wrote about it earlier this season here.

The Council received an update from the owners of 248 Tioronda Avenue. At the owner’s continued request to open their residential units before building their required commercial office space that the City of Beacon mandated that they do years prior, the Council had reluctantly granted special permission for 248 Tioronda to open their residential units to be rented by the public before their proposed office space is built.

While the City of Beacon demanded that 248 Tioronda build and open the commercial space before their residential space, the owners of the development insisted that they tried and could not fill the commercial space. But that they had strong demand for their residential units. In a compromise, the City Council required that 248 Tioronda add a couple more Below Market Rate (BMR) apartment units to rent, and then report back.

This appearance by the owners was that required report. To which they said they rented all of the Below Market Rate apartments to people mainly from Beacon, and still had no deal or other interested parties except one that fell through on the commercial space.

The City of Beacon is reversing is decades long position on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU). For a long time, the older generation of Beacon snubbed the idea of ADUs, not wanting to let people rent their back houses and sheds to other people. Now that the older generation needs places to live if they want to stay in Beacon, and now that New York Governor Hochul is encouraging the legality of ADUs and incentivizing them with grants, this City Council is spearheading the about face on ADUs to legalize them.

Monday's City Council Meeting Topics: 3/3/2025

This week’s Agenda for the City Council meeting was posted, and includes a Community Segment for the Proposed Beacon-Hopewell Rail Trail Project from the Dutchess County Transportation Council Presentation.

Resolutions to be put to vote include:

Appointing a new Building Inspector II Bryan Murphy.

Approving 2024 Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP) Contributions

Referring a Proposed Local Law Amending the Zoning Map Concerning East Main Street to the City of Beacon and the Dutchess County Planning Board. The proposed sale of the commercial condo at 1 East Main that houses Trax triggered a zoning flag, in that Trax was operating a coffeehouse in a zone, LI (Light Industrial) that did not permit that use. It permitted roasting of coffee, but not all of the offered seating. The subject of 7 East Main (Hudson Valley Brewery) was also raised as to the type of distillery they were in order to operate within the current LI zoning.

Therefore, the Council is considering rezoning all of East Main to be CMS (Central Main Street) where a coffee house with the number of seating needed is permitted.

City Of Beacon's Building Inspector Bruce Flower Resigns; A Look At 2 Questionable Situations He Was Involved In

City of Beacon’s Building Inspector to leave position for Town of Poughkeepsie.

The City of Beacon’s Building Inspector, Bruce Flower, is leaving Beacon for his former area of employment in the Town of Poughkeepsie, as was announced during the City Council Workshop Meeting on 1/27/2025.

There are at least two questionable incidents in Beacon that Bruce is connected to:

• Community Re-Development: Bruce was responsible for recommending that an intentionally burned down boarding house be rebuilt to accomodate one family instead of 9 apartments, as it was slated to do before the arson during an affordable housing crisis. Neighbors of the boarding house at 925 Wolcott Avenue demanded that the boarding house be rezoned to a single-family home because they didn’t like the renters or the owner, as evidenced in their letters to Beacon’s Zoning Board. ALBB has not looked into how many of the opposing neighbors also run AirBnBs or are in favor of short-term rentals in single-family homes. Bruce’s interpretation of the law did strip the zoning from the boarding house. This interpretation potentially incentives arson or destruction of a property by 50% or more in order to nullify its current zoning status, should an owner or third party want to do that.

• Personal Persecution: Bruce encouraged Sun River Health management to file a Misdemeanor Complaint against the chalk artist Ryan Manzi who chalked “Free Palestine” onto the back of their building on Main Street (which faces Main Street), as per the Misdemeanor Complaint that ALBB has seen.

Both of these topics are explored in this article. To gain context, this article includes a look at the history of Building Inspectors in Beacon since 2018, when Tim Dexter abruptly retired as Building Inspector in 2018.

Bruce Flower joined the City of Beacon as Building Inspector II in October 2022, leaving his job of 18 years as Deputy Building Inspector for the Town of Poughkeepsie, according to Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White at the 1/27/2025 Workshop Meeting. While the numeral II is in the title, it does not mean that there are 2 Building Inspectors, as City Administrator Chris explained when a Councilmember asked him at the 2/3/2025 City Council Meeting.

Dave Buckley was Beacon’s Building Inspector when Bruce came in. Dave started as Acting Building Inspector in January 2019 when Tim Dexter retired at the end of 2018. While Dave was to be “Acting,” his temporary position as Building Inspector lasted for 2 years. After Tim Dexter retired in November 2018, Mayor Randy Casale’s appointee, George Kolb Jr., ended up declining the job in January 2019 after accepting it in November 2018. That contributed to Dave Buckley being in his position 2 years longer as Acting Building Inspector.

One of the issues Tim Dexter was most known for in Beacon was his handling of proposed legalization of AirBnB apartments. He stuck to his interpretation of zoning requirements to require an egress window or sprinkler system be in residential units that were to be officially recognized as permitted AirBnB units in Beacon. These fire-safety installations can be an expensive fire-safety investment for homeowners who are trying to offer short term rentals for additional income. This was widely pushed back on by Beacon homeowners seeking legal recognition of their AirBnB short-term rentals.

The egress window or sprinkler system requirement was later reversed by the next Acting Building Inspector, Dave Buckley, who had been the Deputy Building Inspector at the time. As Acting Building Inspector, Dave interpreted the law differently, saying that short-term rentals could be designated as “accessory use,” which would not require homeowners to have egress windows or sprinkler systems in order to acquire their short-term rental permit.

In 2022, Mayor Lee and City Administrator Chris White tried to bring Tim Dexter back onto the City of Beacon’s payroll as a consultant for the construction of the multi-million dollar new firehouse. This was briefly discussed publicly, but never brought to an official appointment after information about Tim Dexter was submitted to the then new City Council, according to Jason Hughes, a Beacon business owner of The Yard. Therefore, Dave Buckley remained on as Acting Building Inspector until Cory Wirthmann was appointed in July 2023.

Enter Cory Wirthmann

Beacon hired Cory Wirthmann as Deputy Building Inspector, in July 2023. Cory also co-owns the olive oil shop on Main Street, Scarborough Fare, producers of delicious infused olive oils and other culinary items. Cory is also the fire chief in New Palz. Now that Bruce is leaving, Beacon’s City Administrator Chris is recommending that Cory Wirthmann be appointed to Acting Building Inspector when Bruce leaves while they search the civil service list for an applicant match.

What Does The Building Inspector Do?

The Building Inspector interprets zoning laws along with the City Attorney and at times, with the City Council. The Building Inspector interacts with the Beacon community when he or she speaks with business owners or homeowners about any zoning or safety issues that may arise.

While Cory has been in Beacon since July 2023, it seems as though Beacon’s City Council has never met Cory before. During the 1/27/2025 City Council Workshop Meeting, Councilmember Molly Rhodes asked City Administrator Chris if the Council could meet Cory. “If he does become Acting Head or Head, if we're able to meet him either as a public session or Executive Session just to kind of get to know him as we did with Bruce. Kind of like, have the ability for the Council to kind of get to know him.”

City Administrator Chris didn’t think that necessary or possible: “I think I would need to check his availability. He’s also a fire chief and has a lot of commitments,” City Administrator Chris said. As a fire chief with a lot of commitments, it is unclear how Cory will perform his duties as Acting Building Inspector for the City of Beacon, if he can’t go down to Town Hall on a Monday night at 7pm to meet City Council. However, Cory did not speak for himself. City Administrator Chris made assumptions for him to block his schedule when Councilmember Molly requested to meet Corry.

Councilmember Molly pressed on: “To be clear, I'm just thinking for, because we did get a chance to meet other Heads of departments.”

City Administrator Chris responded: “I would just say probably the permanent person we would bring into to me of course.” Councilmember Molly pointed out that the Acting status may last a long time: “I'll defer to you once you learn more about how long he might be Acting for and that might also dictate what seems appropriate both from a practical and from a legal perspective.” In the case of the Acting appointment with Dave Buckley, that appointment lasted 2 years before Bruce Flower was hired.

Some business people in Beacon have told ALBB that interacting with Cory for permits and related matters has been a positive experience.

After Bruce Flower Leaves

Councilperson Paloma Wake was interested in information provided from Bruce’s Exit Interview. “This is a request I guess for any person who's leaving us. I assume that if anything relevant comes up in Bruce's exit interview, if it's relevant to hiring the next person, that that would be incorporated by Sara.” Sara Morris is Beacon’s HR Director. The City of Beacon never had an HR Director until around the time they put up their first Diversity Statement in 2020. Gina Bisale was the first HR Director, but she left shortly thereafter and Sara replaced her.

City Administrator Chris responded "I will leave that up to Sara,"

Councilperson Paloma presented an assumption: "It sounds like Bruce is leaving just because there's a bigger opportunity in a bigger city. Still, if there is anything relevant."

City Administrator Chris pressed that Bruce was moving into more of a Building role in the Town of Poughkeepsie, not that of a Zoning influence, stating: “He was in that position for 18 years and then the person above him retired. So we basically borrowed him for 2.5 years from the Town of Poughkeepsie. He also will focus more on the Building aspect and less on Zoning and Planning. They break that down between multiple staff. So they have a person who oversees Planning and Zoning. He will do Building then they have a Code Enforcement person. He's kind of all three of those here. “

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How Bruce Flower Was Involved In Nixing 9 Renovated Apartments For People With Low Income During An Affordable Housing Crisis

The old boarding house that had 16 small SRO apartments in it at 925 Wolcott Avenue, with the gorgeous wrap-around porch, that had been a home to people with low income for decades in Beacon, burned down in January 2023. It was arson. A male tenant who was living in it was scheduled for eviction that day. He decided instead to douse it in gasoline, torch it, turn himself in, and plead guilty. No one was hurt. No one was inside. Neighboring houses were endangered by the flames and heat of the blaze.

The boarding house was undergoing renovations by new owner Yeshia Berger of 925 Wolcott Ave LLC, who bought it in July 2022, to scale down the number of apartments from 16 to 9 units, and keep them as SRO rentals (Single Room Occupancy in apartments or residential hotels in which low-income or welfare tenants live in single rooms). Yeshia began to fix the front porch before a permit was issued to him, neighbors told ALBB. Porch work in Beacon is often flagged by Building Inspectors for not being properly permitted first.

However, the neighbors weren’t mad that the old boarding house was gone. They were mad that the owner hadn’t cleaned the burned site quick enough, as reported in the Highlands Current. According to the newspaper, insurance payments were delayed, as happens when fires burn down properties. The neighbors then pursued a media campaign and Change.org petition in June 2023 titled “NO Zoning Variance to allow 'market rate' 9 unit building for 925 Wolcott, Beacon NY” to make sure an apartment building of any kind was rebuilt. The odd thing about including “market rate” in their Change.org petition title is that the apartments were slated to continue to be SRO units, which are reserved for people with low income.

The media campaign included letters from neighbors submitted to Beacon’s Zoning Board of Appeals in the neighbors’ pursuit to get the boarding house re-zoned to be a single-family home after more than 50% of it was destroyed by the fire. They wanted Beacon’s Zoning Board stop the already-in-progress renovation of the property so that low income people could not live there anymore.

The Highlands Current presented it this way: “The owner of a Beacon boardinghouse that was destroyed by fire in January wants to rebuild, although the surrounding neighborhood is zoned for single-family homes.” The boarding house had been there long before some of the people opposing its use lived in that neighborhood.

In fact, ALBB’s own co-host of our podcast, “Wait, What Is That?” Brandon Lillard, had looked at it with his mother 30 years ago when they were moving to Beacon from Brooklyn, before he attended high school at the Old Beacon High School when it was actually a school, not commercial studio spaces like it is now.

The new property owner, Yeshia Berger, wanted to rebuild his building and continue with the 9 SRO apartments as planned and previously approved in December 2022, just one month before the arson.

According to reporting, Yeshia bought the boarding house for $650,000 and was estimated to be making $20,000/month from the SRO rentals.

Neighbors pushed fervently to prevent the boarding house from rising again, which had been housing people of varying backgrounds for decades. In their letters submitted to Beacon’s Zoning Board, they used the income to present a case of unjustified profits as part of their justification to nix the apartments.

Some neighbors alluded to fights or gunshots that would happen at or near the boarding house. Others said in their letters to the Zoning Board: “What we need is affordable housing, not this extreme demonstration of wealth.” Ironic, that the apartments provided in this boarding house, and the apartments that the developer Yeshia Berger was going to rebuild, were zoned as affordable housing.

925 Wolcott Avenue after arson destroyed the decades old, multi-apartment boarding house located there. This is the new Single Family home that was constructed by Faust, with encouragement from the neighborhood who petitioned for the former property owner Yeshia Berger to be stripped of his right to re-build the SRO apartments during an Affordable Housing Crisis, with the Encouragement of then Building Inspector Bruce Flower.

The anti-apartment rhetoric from the neighbors questions if they really want affordable housing after all. Especially when the boarding house property later sold for half the price for which Yeshia had purchased it.

After the re-zoning and the sale, the luxury designers and builders Faust Interiors began building a single-family home on the property, as they confirmed to ALBB.

The rezoning resulted in profits going to a different group of people perhaps more approved of by the neighbors, resulting in a comfortable home for one family instead of nine.

Building Inspector Bruce Flower denied Yeshia the right to rebuild the apartments, citing 3 reasons, as reported here by the Highlands Current.

Bruce supplied his 3 recommendations, but the Beacon Zoning board reversed 2 of them, according to the Highlands Current. “Had they reversed all of them, the 9 apartments would be able to be re-built,” the newspaper reported. Neighbors, however, through the petition, were intent on stopping the income from the apartments, with possibly no regard for new renters who needed to occupy the apartments.

James Case-Leal, the creator of the petition, stated reasons in an Update to the petition to encourage people to turn out to reject the building of the apartments when Yeshia continued his legal appeals to be able to rebuild, which included encouragement to come out to the Zoning Board Meeting to:

• prevent “another attempt to persuade the Zoning Board to bend the law for them to make a huge profit off of our community,” and

• “express your support of Beacon zoning and opposition to the developer’s appeal to build another SRO.” The building was already an SRO, being renovated to serve 9 units instead of 16 units for different people to move into in order to stay in Beacon.

Through his attorney, Taylor Palmer of Cuddy and Feder, Yeshia said he would appeal the decision. But he ended up withdrawing his application in January 2024 according to a Zoning Board agenda and listed his charred property for $279.000, and sold it for $315,000 according to Zillow.

In its reporting of the zoning change, the Highlands Current quoted the Zoning Board’s conclusive direction as: “In its resolution denying Berger’s request, the ZBA said it was not ‘deciding the merits of the applicant’s proposed use and/or any opposition’ but was only making decisions on the building inspector’s determinations.” The one Zoning Board dissenter on the vote wanted to hire a consultant to test the boarding house owner’s presentation of findings. Circles were going to continue until Yeshia was out.

The newspaper reported: “Berger would only have been allowed to proceed with his December plans if the ZBA had reversed all three of Flower’s determinations.”

Also inconsistent with the City of Beacon’s pattern of going to great lengths to preserve historic buildings and architectural details is the loss of the boarding house that was going to be rebuilt after the fire. Beacon lost not only 9 apartments available to people with low incomes, but it lost an architectural gem, something for which it says it prides itself on.

Pictured below is the boarding house at 925 Wolcott before it was burned down in arson in January 2023:

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Articles used in 925 Wolcott research to aid in timeline:

4/7/2023
”Beacon Wants Burned Home Cleared Out"

7/21/2023
"Beacon Boardinghouse Denied But Appeal Expected"
This article included a brief history of why the boarding house may have been created in the first lace, to help the community, from Denise Doring VanBuren, president of the Beacon Historical Society, and Diane Lapis, a society trustee.

8/18/2023
"Boardinghouse Owner Asks for Variance"

The attorneys for Yeshia, stated in a letter of appeal to Beacon’s Zoning Board: “A plain reading of Zoning Code section 223.20.D does not terminate a legal existing non-oncoming use that was destroyed more than 50% and any ambiguity regarding this damaged building regulation must be read in favor of the property owner.”

The Zoning Code section 223.20.D reads:

If any nonconforming building shall be destroyed by any means to an extent of more than 50%, no repairs or reconstruction shall be made unless every portion of such building is made to conform to all the regulations of this chapter for the district in which it is located.

Where the destruction of such nonconforming building is less than 50%, it may be restored and the nonconforming use continued, provided that the total cost of such restoration does not exceed the replacement value of the destroyed portion of the building at the time if its destruction and future provided that such restoration is started within a period of 6 months of such destruction and is diligently prosecuted to completion. Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the strengthening or restoring to a safe condition of any wall declared unsafe by the Building Inspector.

The Attorney's Conclusion:

“Any interpretation that Section 223-10.(D) of the Zoning Code allows a non-conforming use to be extinguished when more than 50% of a structure is destroyed would create a dangerous precedent incentivizing the future destruction of similar structures. A plain reading of the applicable section of the regulations regarding a building that is destroyed more than 50% clearly does not regulate the use.”

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How Bruce Flower Was Involved In Adding An Additional Misdemeanor Complaint That Contributed To The Imprisoning Of The “Free Palestine” Chalk Artist Ryan Manzi

Back in March 2024, a series of events rolled together, landing one well known Beacon resident and artist, Ryan Manzi, in jail for 4 months after he chalked “Free Palestine” onto the long brick wall that is the back of the Sun River Health Facility on Henry Street. The back of their building faces Main Street at 341 Main Street.

White paint dripping down the wall after someone applied it over the chalk of the Free Palestine message.

White paint spread over the chalk of the Palestinian flag.

At 3:40pm on March 25, 2024, Ryan visited the wall where he had previously chalked “Free Palestine” and various other designs around March 17, 2024, including Scooby-Doo, the word BEACON in large print, and a lucky shamrock for the annual St. Paddy’s Parade in Beacon. Known for his chalk art around town in front of the Towne Cryer, the Post Office, Smoker’s Mecca and other spots, seeing him here was part of a normal day in Beacon.

Not normal, however, was when someone poured white paint over the words “Free Palestine” and the Palestinian flag Ryan chalked onto the building. That person has never been identified. No other markings had paint on them. This act of paint throwing could be viewed as a hate crime or antisemetic crime, since it desecrated a semetic Palestinian symbol, and permanently damaged a building.

Ryan inspected the paint to see what could be learned from the application, and then re-chalked the “Free Palestine” message and flag. A Little Beacon Blog videoed it, and published an article about it. Many people walked by as Ryan chalked, saying hello to Ryan, and cheering him on, as can be heard in the video republished at the bottom of this article.

The Misdemeanor Complaint From Sun River Health

According to a deposition from Sun River Health Management that ALBB has seen as published in this article, Bruce Flower contacted Sun River Health about the chalk art and graffiti. The deposition complaint which led to a Misdemeanor Complaint was filed by the Regional Director of Facilities for Sun River, Marco P. Faustino.

In the complaint, Marco acknowledged that the paint and the chalk were done by different people, but told Bruce that graffiti had been an “ongoing issue” at the building, without identifying who did that graffiti.

Editorial Note: As a local who walks past the front and back of Sun River Health on a daily basis, I have never seen graffiti on it. When other buildings in town get media coverage for when their buildings are tagged by anonymous graffiti makers, Sun River Health’s building has not been among them. Please write in to ALBB if you know of and have visible proof of something different. A picture of Sun River Health’s facade on Henry Street is published below, and shows no markings of covered graffiti.

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According to a deposition given by Marco to the Beacon Police on March 28, 2024 that ALBB has seen as has been published here, Bruce recommended that Marco file a report with the Beacon Police, which he did. Notable, however, is that it is unknown at this time if Bruce had called Sun River about this other graffiti that Marco mentioned, or if it was over the “Free Palestine” marking, with separate paint splattered on top of it by a different person.

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Chris White, City Administrator for the City of Beacon.

Soon after Bruce contacted Sun River, Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White had an interaction with Ryan while Ryan was crossing Wolcott Avenue on April 4, 2024, walking to the train station. The interaction led to the arrest of Ryan.

City Administrator Chris alleged in his Police Report, that ALBB has seen and has been published in this article, that as Ryan was crossing the street, “Ryan stopped in the roadway and began to give me the finger. I gave him the finger in return and drove past him as he proceeded to move off toward the sidewalk and descend the staircase toward Beacon Police Station.

“As I reached the red light at the intersection, I decided to look back in my rear-view mirror and saw Ryan charging at my car. I heard a loud thump on the back car and thought Ryan had just damaged my vehicle with a bottle. I then saw a plastic bottle full of liquid in his hand. I began to cross the intersection where I turned right on South Ave and parked my vehicle near Polhill Park. I then contacted the Beacon Police Department to file a report. As I talked to the dispatcher, Ryan again approached my vehicle and began recording me from the driver’s side window. At this time, Beacon Police arrived at my location, where Ryan began to argue and resist with Police. Ryan’s actions made me feel fearful at the time of our engagement.”

Ryan told ALBB that he did not “give the finger,” and told ALBB that he thought he heard Chris shout “terrorist” to him from his car window. When ALBB asked City Administrator Chris if that was true, he responded “No.”

Ryan told ALBB that as he was descending the stairs to continue walking to the train station, Sgt. James Serrine came out of the police station to approach Ryan, telling Ryan that he was under arrest, after City Administrator Chris had made his call to the police. Ryan told ALBB: “Thirty seconds after an incident, there is no way you can justify arresting someone. You can detain someone, but stating arrest requires an investigation. That’s when I backed away up the stairs and ran towards Polhill Park. Rule #1 when it comes to Beacon Police: make sure there’s witnesses.”

Ryan continued: “I never filmed White. I was on the phone calling the police to report harassment. He revved his engine at me and that’s when he called me a terrorist. So that’s when I came up to the car.”

The Misdemeanor Complaint for the Free Palestine chalk art was filed before this incident, but was added to Ryan’s charges after he was incarcerated for the Chris White incident, keeping Ryan in jail for 4 months, Ryan told ALBB. “Apparently the chalk was filed the week before the incident with Mr. White. He didn’t leave his car, called the cops by Polhill Park (showing he wasn’t fearful for his safety if he remained in the area as I continued walking down to the train station passing the Police Station). I was then in jail on $10,000 bail that violated penal law. I didn’t get the chalk charges until I was already incarcerated.”

Ryan was released 4 months later on a plea agreement to probation, he told ALBB.

In a separate incident, City Administrator Chris did have an altercation with pro-Palestinian demonstrators at a City Council Swearing-In Ceremony that the NYCLU said violated the Open Meetings Law, as City Administrator Chris blocked signage and called for the arrest of peaceful citizens.

In City Administrator Chris’ deposition of the April 4th incident, he stated: “I have never had any personal interactions with Ryan before today. I’ve learned of Ryan’s identity from a recent Beacon Blog where he was observed to be chalking a brick wall on Main Street.” The report goes on to detail more of their interaction.

Ryan Manzi is the nephew of Michael Manzi, the Superintendent of Streets for the City of Beacon. Ryan and his mother, who is Michael’s sister, told ALBB that Michael and Ryan do not speak currently, but used to be close years ago.

This story is ongoing and will be explored in other articles.

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There is more to this story, which will be printed in a future article series.

Items To Be Discussed and Voted On, Plus 3 Public Hearings For The 2/3/2025 City Council Meeting

Beacon’s 2/3/2025 City Council Agenda has been published to ALBB’s Easy Access Local Government section. Tonight includes 3 Public Hearings. These are official hearings to get feedback on the public before City Council votes or denies them into law.

Public Hearings:

The City of Beacon’s Tax Assessor Kathy Martin is recommending to widen the access based on income bracket of the city property tax exemption for Senior Citizens age 65 and older, as well as disabled people with limited income. The income cap for both groups has not been updated for a number of years.

Public Hearing for a Proposed Local Law Concerning Property Tax Exemptions for Senior Citizens

Public Hearing for a Proposed Local Law Concerning Property Tax Exemptions for Disabled Persons with Limited Income

The Community Development Block Grant Program is what gives the City of Beacon funding for certain upgrades like sidewalk replacements in income-based property areas.

Public Hearing for the 2025 Community Development Block Grant Program

Beacon Remains In A Stage 1 Drought; Reservoirs Need To Recharge

Photo Credit: Posted at Wikipedia; Photographer Unknown at this time.

During the 1/6/2025 City Council Meeting, Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White announced that the City of Beacon continues to be in a Stage 1 Drought. He said: “We still are in a Stage 1 Drought, even though we've had quite a bit of precipitation. We're still recharging the reservoirs, and that's why we haven't declared an end to that.” When the reservoirs dip below 60% full, Beacon’s Stage 1 Drought declaration is triggered.

Beacon’s drinking water comes from different sources:
3 reservoirs: Cargill, Mount Beacon, and Melzingah
3 wells: City of Beacon Wells 1 & 2 and Village of Fishkill Well 8

According to a Water Inspection Report from 2020, the reservoirs hold the following amounts:

Mount Beacon: 124 million gallons
Melzingah: 38 million gallons
Cargill: 152 million gallons

The water is then pumped into 3 water tanks: Howland/Grandview, Mount Beacon and Fairview.

According to Beacon’s 2023 Water Report, Beacon's water system serviced about 14,370 people, not including Downstate Correctional and Fishkill Correctional Facilities. There were about 6,280 services connections in the City of Beacon. The price for 1 unit of water (748 gallons) was $4.61, and the price for water out of town was $9.22.

The water is treated at Beacon’s Water Filtration Plant at 470 Liberty Street, where the current capacity of the plant water production is 4 million gallons. According to Beacon’s 2023 Water Report, the average flow was 2.134 million gallons per day. The maximum withdrawal that year was 2.713

From the 2023 Water Report, usage numbers broke down as follows:

• Residential and Commercial: 298,228,348 gallons

• Town of Fishkill: 125,041,664 gallons

• Department of Corrections: 210,807,000 gallons

• Unaccounted water: 144,661,998 gallons

According to the Beacon's Water Report: "Unaccounted for water is water lost due to system leaks, water used during plant operations, water main breaks, use in municipal buildings and operations, system flushing, fire department uses, meter error, and theft of service."

Highway Department Employee Steve Bechtold Gently "Pushed" Into Retirement - Alleged Gun Incident May Have Influenced Firearms Policy

Retiring Head Mechanic, Steve Bechtold (Left) with Superintendent Michael Manzi (Right).

When Steve Bechtold was at the podium at City Council for his retirement announcement, it did not seem like a moment that had a lot of former planning around it. During the speech honoring him, Highway Superintendent of Streets, Superintendent Michael Manzi expressed that they were just discussing before the meeting who was going to do all of the ordering of shirts, since Steve was the one who had handled that during his 29 years of service in the Highway Department for the City of Beacon. Said City Administrator Chris White: “We're going to be lost." Superintendent Manzi agreed: "We will be lost. We're going to be shirtless I guess.”

The Unsanctioned Union Petition

In September 2020, at the time of his promotion to Head Mechanic, Steve was named in a harassment complaint as lead organizer of an unsanctioned union petition circulated during work hours against Reuben Simmons filed in March 2019. Reuben is a fellow employee and former Highway Superintendent, before Superintendent Manzi was appointed to the position. The complaint focused on the process in which the petition was handled, that the “signature collection was conducted on city time and caused an uncomfortable work environment,” according to the filed complaint that ALBB has seen.

Additionally, the harassment complaint was allegedly not shown to Black employees (Reuben is Black) until after the then union president, Paula Becker (who was also an employee of the City of Beacon at the time), was informed about it. It was circulated with the alleged intent to try to prevent Reuben from being on a negotiating committee of the CSEA union for the department’s new contract at the time. However, Reuben was not on the negotiating committee. Only later, Reuben told ALBB, after the union president Paula was informed about the petition by Reuben, did Steve show it to two other Black employees in the department: Ed McNair and Troy Swain, who declined to sign it.

Ed later resigned from his position in the Highway Department in March 2021, citing unresolved racial tensions and retaliations, making working in the Highway Department “pretty rough to say the least,” according to his resignation letter that ALBB has seen. At the time, there was one other Black employee in the Water and Sewer Department, Lew Swain, and an employee who is Dominican, Christian Cuello.

After Reuben learned about the alleged petition, he went to the department’s union president, Paula about it, who said she did not know about the petition. Reuben told ALBB: “My issue was that if you're going to petition, show it to everybody so that it's fair.”

The Alleged Gun In The Locker Room

Months later, Reuben said he saw Steve with a gun in the employee locker room. After a morning safety meeting at work, Reuben emailed his boss, Superintendent Manzi, about the gun. According to the email ALBB has seen, Reuben said: “I feel obliged to tell inform you about a situation I encountered. The week of September 23, 2019 I witnessed a firearms in the possession of Steve Bechtold in our locker room. From that moment I have taken precautionary measure to ensure my own safety at work in the event something were to take place at the workplace involving such threat. I refrained myself from reporting it to you sooner as you have been vocal in protecting this employee whenever issues are raised and the level of retaliation that I feel could transpire makes me uncomfortable and a threat to my safety.”

Superintendent Manzi emailed back: “I was and have not been previously aware of this situation but the matter has been addressed with the individual without issue and he was understanding of the matter. Please do not refrain from reporting if any other issues persist.”

Reuben requested to have Superintendent Manzi’s email about the gun included in Reuben’s personnel file, but then City Administrator Anthony Ruggiero declined his request, Reuben told ALBB.

During The Head Mechanic Promotion

Promoted to Head Mechanic of the Highway Department on what was supposed to be September 21, 2020 but was postponed due to push-back from members of the community who highlighted that the majority of the Water Department was white at the time, Steve’s promotion then was delayed for the night so that Councilmembers could feel that they had all of the information on all of the employees positioned for promotions. Peter Delfico was up for appointment to Highway Department Auto Mechanic II and Nicholas Durso for Auto Mechanic I.

Reuben never filed a formal complaint about the gun, because, he told ALBB: “After I saw how the complaint went about harassment with the petition, I didn’t even try regarding the gun, even though it made some of us uncomfortable.”

At one point, Reuben was both Steve and Superintendent Manzi’s bosses, but through another process initiated by department employees, which included Superintendent Manzi who wrote his own anonymous letter discrediting and dismissing Reuben to Beacon Councilmembers that ALBB has seen. The result of that anonymous letter campaign was that Reuben was stripped of his Superintendent position, and Michael Manzi replaced him.

That Michael Manzi was one of the anonymous letter writers pushing for Reuben’s Superintendent position to end was discovered during the City of Beacon vs Reuben Simmons employment termination hearings initiated by City Administrator Chris White, who spent over $110,000 in legal fees at one point trying to fire Reuben, but lost the case.

ALBB reached out to Ed McNair to ask how the alleged gun and response made him feel. Ed responded: “If it had been Reuben with a gun in the locker room, the discipline would have been harsh and made public.”

Months after Steve’s 2020 promotion to Highway Department Head Mechanic, the City of Beacon’s then new HR Director, Gina Basile (she has since left), introduced a new firearms policy regulating personal guns in the workplace in December 2020, as reported by ALBB at the time.

The Honoring of Steve Bechtold

The honoring of Steve Bechtold was kicked off by Mayor Lee Kyriacou: “The first thing we're going to do is we're going to honor Steve Bechtold. And you know, we begged him to come and he let us do that. Mickey, will you bring him up and talk a little bit about him. Then I got a little thing for him."

City Administrator Chris White added: "And Mickey wrote a limerick for the occasion."

Superintendent Mickey responded: "Am I supposed to speak only good?"

Councilperson Amber Grant responded through laughter: "Be honest."

City Administrator Chris encouraged: "Roast. Roast."

Superintendent Manzi continued: "I'm standing here tonight with Steve Bechtold to announce a retirement effective 1-4-2025. Steve started his career with the City of Beacon in May 22nd of 1995 and after almost 30 years of service to the City as a Mechanic, most recently our Head Mechanic, Steve has decided to retire."

Superintendent Manzi turned to Steve and said: "About time."

Steve replied: "With little pushing from you."

Superintendent Manzi replied: "A little pushing. I want you to enjoy yourself. I've had the pleasure of working with Steve for the last 20 years. Became friends on a personal level as well, as we both enjoy the sport of snowmobiling. During Steve's career, he was instrumental in keeping the City's fleet up and going, including but not limited to our Highway, Water and Police vehicles. As well as all Park, small equipment, and anything else we needed. And, he even - we just talked about it - we're trying to figure out who's going to take the ordering of City shirts and stuff like that. He's done that since I've been here."

"We're going to be lost," City Administrator Chris White said.

Superintendent Manzi agreed: "We will be lost. We're going to be shirtless I guess. Throughout his long career here, Steve has been reliable, dependable, and most importantly, committed to the City. He'll be missed by all, and I'd like to say congratulations and wish him health and happiness in his retirement.”

Mayor Lee presented Steve with a gold lettered City of Beacon Certificate of Recognition in recognition and appreciation for 29 years of dedicated public service to the City of Beacon.

As per the New York State and New York City Employees' Retirement System (ERS and NYCRS) retirement plan for state and city employees who joined between 1983 and 2009, Tier 4 members are eligible for a pension factor of 2% per year with 20-30 years of service. For each year beyond 30, the members receive 1.5%. Steve’s retirement is just shy of 30 years.

Steve accepted his certificate, and said: "Thank you so much. Thank you very much," and began to take pictures. City Administrator White encouraged: "Look like you like each other."

Steve gave his acceptance speech: "I just need to say thank you for the years I've been here. It's got its ups and downs, but mostly, you know, mostly everything was good. You know, you can't agree with everybody all the time, but for the most part, all went well. So thank you very much."

City Administrator Chris said: "Job well done."

Councilmember Amber Grant said: "Thank you. Enjoy your retirement. I hope you have wonderful years ahead of you with lots of fun."

Steve replied: "Hopefully it lasts as long as I was working."

City Administrator Chris warned: "Watch out for Mickey on the snowmobiles."

Mickey agreed: "We'll run into each other trails."

Steve cautioned: "Hopefully not. Hopefully not."

City Administrator Chris said: "Try not to run into each other."

After Steve was done, Mayor Lee started walking away but City Administrator Chris pulled him back, making sure one more item was complete. Mayor Lee then awarded Superintendent Manzi a certificate for 20 years, even though his hire date was in 2006, as stated in CSEA documents and in one of the anonymous notes that was sent to Councilmember Jodi McCredo and read in public in 2018. Superintendent Manzi is in his 19th year.

Mayor Lee said: "Mickey did a disclosure in his discussion of 20 years, he said. And that is correct. So in recognition of 20 years of outstanding and dedicated public service to the City of Beacon, I also have a City of Beacon Certificate of Recognition for Michael Manzi."

As for recognition, other employees have also worked for 20+ years, but not all have had the recognition that Steve received, according to Reuben, who has worked for the city since 2002 (23 years), starting as a summer intern. Dave Way recently reached 20 years, and Lew Swain retired with close to 30 years and was handed a certificate on the job, not during a public presentation like this, or with a City funded party. A retirement party was thrown for Steve during company time, and a Christmas Party also this year.

While these are nice gestures that can boost moral, the retirement party on company time was the first of its kind, according to Reuben, when asked by ALBB.

Last Call For Ward 4 Councilmember Replacement - ALBB Will Publish Your Applications

During last week’s City Council Meeting (12/16/2024), Mayor Lee Kyriacou declared “Last Call” to receive applications for Councilmember representing Ward 4 to replace Dan Aymar-Blair, who resigned to begin his newly elected position of Dutchess County Comptroller. The next step would be for the Mayor to appoint a replacement. The Council would then need to vote to approve the replacement. If they do not qualify that vote, the Council can appoint their own candidate and vote. And if they cannot do that, the Council can hold a special election, according to Beacon’s Charter.

This is the 3rd appointment situation for Beacon’s City Council in the past year, for a 6-person Council. The first two appointments happened when Wren Longo, representing Ward 3, unexpectedly resigned. In January 2024, Mayor Lee declared his appointment of Amber Grant to come out of Council retirement to fill the At Large seat, and moved Pam Weatherbee over to Ward 3, even though she had been elected to the At Large seat. There was no public review of these moves.

Back in November, during the 11/18/2024 City Council Meeting, Councilmember Paloma Wake requested public review of all applicants the Mayor was considering for appointment. Mayor Lee dismissed her at first by saying “Dan’s body isn’t even cold yet. Come on. We will get there when we get there.” He later said he would love 150 applicants, and said he had received some.

Mayor Lee did not indicate if he would make public the applicants. He insisted that his preference was for people who have been in “contested elections” before.

Who lives in Ward 4 who is interested in filling the final year of Dan’s seat? If the Mayor will not make this public, A Little Beacon Blog will publish your applications, if anyone has indeed applied. The Republican committee in Beacon might be defunct or dysfunctional, and the Beacon Democrats can be cliquey. Independents may just go their own way, but fight odd battles. Fresh talent trying to break through the primary process might experience a difficult time.

During this time of breaking pavements and systems, this could be your time. Contact ALBB if you have submitted your letter of intent that explains how and why you want to serve, and ALBB will republish your letter.

Police Referral and Signing Bonus Passes - $10,000 Per Hire Who Stays Longer Than 6 Months

The slightly revolving door of the Beacon Police Department just got a golden appliqué. At the December 16, 2024 City Council meeting, the Council unanimously passed a resolution presented by City Administrator Chris White for the payment of $5,000 to a member of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) who refers a Police Officer of New York State to the City of Beacon’s Police Department, and $5,000 to that Officer if they stay in the job longer than six months.

Salaries of Beacon Police Officers have also increased 5% since September 2024, when the Council voted unanimously to move the salaries to more closely match municipalities around the region.

Staffing Challenges

For over a decade, the Beacon Police Department has been understaffed. With 36 positions available, the department currently has 8 openings, with 2 out on injury, and 1 in the academy who is not yet able to serve on their shift. The constant demand for more officers to regularly patrol Main Street for traffic violations - either on foot or on bike or from sitting in the car - is difficult.

On August 19, 2024, Police Chief Thomas Figlia presented to the Council that the department was in what he called a “crisis,” with officers leaving Beacon for other municipalities with higher salaries. As reported by the Highlands Current, “Of the 31 police officers hired in Beacon since 2014, 12 have left for better-paying jobs elsewhere, Figlia said.”

Salary Differences

At the August 19, 2024 City Council Meeting, the Council unanimously agreed to pass a 5% raise for police salaries. The Starting Salary in 2025 would have been just over $61,000, according to the 2022-2025 PBA’s contract. According reporting by the Highland Current, salaries of the Town of Poughkeepsie were presented to Council, which showed that “a patrol officer in Poughkeepsie reaches his or her top pay of $106,414 after four years of service. In the Town of Poughkeepsie, it’s $113,300 after five years. In Beacon, a patrol officer hits the ceiling of $98,553 after six years. The 5 percent raise, which the council approved unanimously, brings the number to $103,481. The ceiling rises to $106,068 next year.” City Administrator Chris declared at the August 19th meeting before the vote that Beacon is no longer competitive with other nearby municipalities.

On August 19th, the 5% raises were passed, bringing the Starting Salary from $61,683 to $64,767 starting September 1, 2024. Then starting January 1, 2025, that would increase to $66,062, according to the Memorandum of Agreement between the PBA and the City of Beacon.

NYPD Recruitment

The hiring pool grew larger with recent changes in Civil Service law in New York State that allows Beacon to hire officers from the New York State Police Department (NYPD), City Administrator Cris stated during the meeting. “We've been interviewing a few.” He went on to voice his preference for recruiting NYPD officers: “The officers are kind of a close-knit community, and if we get one person from NYPD, that person has all of the contacts they worked with in the city and then can say they have a personal incentive to try to recruit them for us.”

Does The Referral/Hiring Bonus Combo Impact Retention?

This referral/hiring bonus combo is the latest attempt to fill the force with officers. However, it is not clear why this referral bonus would help retain an officer once hired. The bonus is paid out to the two parties after the officer has reached 6 months of employment. It would be helpful to know Beacon’s retention rate.

The public is informed of when new officers are hired or promoted, as they require a vote from Council. Retirements are also announced, as they are congratulatory and require new pension payments. But when officers are fired, demoted, or leave for another position, this development is not announced, and is reserved for Executive Session, which is closed to the public.

Workplace culture may also need some nurturing, as vacation days are encouraged to be “bought back” by the City and not used by the officers, as explained by City Administrator Chris on December 16th. He promoted vacation-days-for-cash, which encourages officers to not use their time but to sell their unused days. Workplace culture currently encourages time off for life balance and mental health. City Administrator Chris focused on getting “bodies in the door” during the meeting, a phrase which is not indicative of showing value.

Improvement to the facilities may also help. One or two budget cycles ago, then Police Chief Sands Frost mentioned the locker room at the Police Station being in need of an upgrade. With the new Fire Station across the street with the new geothermal floor, perhaps it is time for a little more comfort down at the Police Station.

With overtime being paid to members of the Highway Department to renovate the men’s 3rd floor bathroom at City Hall, perhaps renovations can be made to the Police locker room if there is another $50,000 paid by Central Hudson to Beacon to do more paving after Central Hudson completes work under the street in the Spring.

Or, if the $10,000 per new hire is not used for recruits, or sunsets on December 31, 2025, perhaps the lump sum can go toward renovations at the Police Station.

$5,000 Police Referral Bonus and $5,000 Signing Bonus Proposed To Attract NYPD And Others To Beacon

Photo Credit: City of Beacon Police Department

At the 12/9/2024 City Council Workshop, City Administrator Chris White proposed a hiring incentive of $5,000 referral bonus and a $5,000 sign on bonus to be paid to a member of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) who brings in a Police Officer of New York State. If approved at tonight’s City Council Meeting, this would be a pilot program and would run from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025, unless the City and PBA wanted to extend the program.

City Administrator Chris implied that he wanted to attract more officers from the New York Police Department (NYPD), and was interviewing one such officer now, who he hoped would spread the word to other NYPD officers if hired. “The officers are kind of a close-knit community,” City Administrator Chris told the Council, “and if we get one person from NYPD, that person has all of the contacts they worked with in the city and then can say they have a personal incentive to try to recruit them for us.”

There would be no limit to how many referral bonuses could be received if an officer was hired and stayed for 6 months. City Administrator Chris proposed: “If everything meets the requirements, they can do this numerous times, like more than one. It's not just you can only do it once if they have, like, four people and it all works out.”

People referring the officers would need to be a current member of the PBA in good standing, and would be paid after the officer stayed for 6 months. Both the referrer and the hire would be paid after the officer stayed for 6 months.

The City of Beacon’s Police Department has been short staffed for a number of years, since at least Randy Casale’s administration. The department is slated to have 36 officers, but there are currently 8 openings. Two officers are out on long-term injury; one in the academy is not available to shift yet; and another officer recently announced they are leaving for a state police job in February or March.

Per the contract with the PBA, there are minimum shift standards. If those are not met, then officers can work overtime to meet the standards. Beacon has budgeted $1 million dollars for Police overtime in the 2025 budget, City Administrator Chris explained.

Other incentives have been tried, he said, including raising wages for PBA by 5% in September, and an incentive bonus last year of $11,000. He also said they “tried to mitigate our use of overtime through allowing them to sell back vacation days.” City Administrator Chris said “if we could hire 8 people, that would cost us $880,000 and that would help to stem the the heavy use of overtime that we're forced to do just to meet the minimum shift standards.”

Going into vacation days, City Administrator Chris highlighted what they did in an old contract last year: “We had made it so that if you were here less than 7 years, you had to. If you use more than X amount of days, you had to bundle them into 5 days, and what it ended up doing was having people burn time. And for us, when somebody takes time off that they didn't need to take, it generates overtime. And instead, what we did is, we allowed them to break that up and then sell some of those days back. And that did help a little bit, but it's…unless we get more bodies in the door it's going to be hard.”

It was not clear what City Administrator Chris meant when he quantified the time as “time off that they didn’t need to take.” Since taking time off work is considered a benefit to one’s mental and physical health. Which does impact moral.

These bonuses would not be available to officers who the City hires through canvassing the Dutchess County Civil Service Police Officer list.

The full resolution can be accessed here.

How Beacon Could Hold An Election For City's 3rd Vacancy On City Council

In the past year, there have been 3 vacancies on Beacon’s City Council. The third is opening at the end of this month when Dan Aymar-Blair resigns to begin his new Dutchess County Comptroller position that he won in a narrow election. If all goes as Mayor Lee Kyriacou wants it to, the Mayor will follow the first step of the City’s Charter by appointing someone, who the Council would then also approve, as they did with the first unexpected vacancy situation in January 2024. But does it need to? Or can an election take place?

In November, City Council Member Paloma Wake requested and recommended that the Mayor announce an application process, and share with the public who the applicants are and why they want to serve. While the Mayor did make an announcement this time, which was only at City Council and has not been posted on the City of Beacon’s home page or Facebook page, he did not agree to making the applicants public. If the Council does not support his appointment, they can consider their own, or move to hold an election.

According to the City of Beacon’s Charter: “If a vacancy in an elective office is not filled by the Mayor with Council approval within forty-five (45) days of its occurrence, the Council shall have the power to fill such vacancy by four (4) affirmative votes of the Council. In the event that no appointment is made to fill the vacancy as hereinbefore provided, the Council may call a special election to fill such vacancy for the unexpired term. Such a special election shall be held no later than ninety (90) days from the occurrence of the vacancy.”

How Did The First 2 Vacancies Happen?

The first two vacancies were due to the unexpected resignation of Wren Longo of Ward 3. Her resignation was a rumor for weeks, and then confirmed by Mayor Kyriacou during a City Council Meeting.

In January 2024, to fill Wren’s resignation, neither the Mayor nor Council opted for an election for another representative. Instead, Mayor Lee shifted over a Council Member to make a second opening. Former Council Member Pam Weatherbee had come out of retirement to run unopposed for the At Large Council position, in part to have a stronger voice in the redevelopment of the communities and streets around Rte 52 known as the Fishkill Avenue Corridor after the Healey Dealership vacated its location there.

Councilperson Pam also lives in Ward 3, but Wren already occupied the Ward 3 seat as Pam ran for the At Large seat. When Wren resigned, the Mayor decided to move Council Member Pam over from the At Large position to the Ward 3 seat, which opened up the At Large seat to someone who could live anywhere.

While it is assumed that applicants for the Ward 4 seat need to live in that area, it does not seem to be specified in the Charter about how to temporarily fill vacancies. A Little Beacon Blog has reached out to the Mayor and City Administrator Chris White for confirmation, but received no response, as Chris has a no-response policy to all questions posed by ALBB to any department head after ALBB published an anti-discrimination article on the City’s policy. ALBB also emailed the City Attorney Nick Ward-Willis of Keane and Beane, and also received no response.

During the first vacancy situation in January, instead of opening a call for applications, Mayor Lee announced that he begged former Council Member Amber Grant to come out of retirement to fill the spot, saying that no one else was qualified.

But, two community members had tried running during that election: La Star Gorton who ran as an Independent having missed the Democrat deadline to be considered to primary (which would have versed her against Molly Rhodes in Ward 1). La Star’s impetus for running was her experience living in Tompkins Terrace, and wanting that community more represented.

The second candidate was Reuben Simmons, a longtime Highway Department employee who announced his candidacy for Mayor a week before the election as a write-in candidate, and earned 16% of the vote. Normally, the write-in spot on the ballot receives 1% of the vote, if that.

Mayor Lee proposed to move Pam over from the At Large seat she ran for, to Ward 3, and to bring Amber back to At Large. The Council agreed, and city business moved on.

So What Will Happen This Time?

With this 3rd vacancy, the same process is about to happen, with no public review of the Mayor’s appointment. At the request of Council Member Paloma Wake, the Mayor has agreed to be more open about taking applications, but not about making them public, as Council Member Paloma requested. Mayor Lee also reaffirmed his strong preference for appointing someone who had already been elected in the past, which severally limits the application pool from new talent emerging.

Mayor Lee said at the 12/2/2024 City Council Meeting: “I'll probably take applications for the next week. Probably the following week I'm going to remind people one more time, and then we will just shut them down.” No reminder came during the following week’s Workshop Meeting.

He continued: “I will choose from that list. I've already had people express interest. You all are welcome to do that. I'd love to have 150 interested. I will say and I said this last time, that I have a decided preference for people who have served, who have run for office in contested elections. I think that makes you much more aware of the community and aware of the role up here. Doesn't mean that is the only criteria, but is a decided preference.”

If the Council does not approve of the Mayor’s appointee, and if they cannot or will not decide on who to appoint amongst themselves, the Council Members can opt to have an open election for the public, per the City’s Charter.

Applicants are encouraged to email bswanson@beaconny.gov or send to the Mayor at mayor@beaconny.gov. Applicants may want to CC each Council Member, to ensure their applications is seen.

Applications Open For Ward 4 Council Member Vacancy; Mayor Lee Indicates He Will Limit Pool By Attempting To Pick Someone Who Already Ran In An Election

“The Mayor makes an appointment. The Council makes an approval. I certainly won’t interfere with your process. ”

— Mayor Lee Kyriacou

During the 12/2/2024 City Council Meeting, Mayor Lee Kyriacou announced that he is accepting applications for the upcoming vacancy of the Ward 4 Council Member seat, as Dan Aymar-Blair, who was re-elected to the position last year but ran unopposed, was declared the winner in the close and contested election for Dutchess County Comptroller.

This is the 3rd vacancy this year for Beacon, yet the first to be announced for public consideration. When the unexpected resignation of Wren Longo, Council Member for Ward 3 was announced, a public process was not held for her replacement. The entire Council and Mayor ran unopposed, and now has an appointee (Amber Grant) and a Council Member who was moved from the At Large seat to the Ward 3 seat (Pam Weatherbee). Appointing a person into a vacant City Council seat without public review of that appointee is within the City of Beacon’s Charter.

During the 11/18/2024 City Council Meeting, Council Member Paloma Wake requested that the Mayor’s consideration of Council Member appointees be open to the public, in the form of making an announcement for applications, and reviewing those applications in public before making an appointment, which the Council would need to approve, or else make their own appointment, or move to an election.

Mayor Lee’s Response To Council Member Paloma’s Request For Public Access To Ward 4 Applicants

Mayor Lee did make an announcement during the 12/2/2024 City Council Meeting stating that he had received emails of applicants already, and more applicants could continue emailing their qualifications. He strongly indicated that he would most likely appoint someone who had already gone through a “contested election.”

This preference limits the number of people who can be considered, as the applicant would have had to have been awarded a primary selection by a political party (an already difficult achievement given signature challenges), and won or potentially lost a race and legally challenged the outcome.

For the first two Council appointments that were not made public, one included an At Large position, where the Ward representative can live anywhere in Beacon. For that seat, Mayor Lee ignored two candidates who had tried running in the previous election: Le Star Gorton and Reuben Simmons. Le Star was trying to bring more representation to Tompkins Terrace, and Reuben has been involved in the community and government as a Highway Department employee (and one time Highway Superintendent) and through I Am Beacon. According to both of them, he did not reach out to them with consideration.

Instead, Mayor Lee explained that he begged Amber Grant to return to Council as the At Large representative, and shifted over Pam Weatherbee from At Large to Ward 3, which was Wren Longo’s Ward.

Mayor Lee’s Process On How To Deal With Applicants

“I’ll probably take applications for the next week. Probably the following week I’m going to remind people one more time, and then we will just shut them down. I will choose from that list.”

— Mayor Lee Kyriacou

While he made an announcement during last week’s City Council Meeting, Mayor Lee did not indicate that any public process would be happening to meet the potential candidates, as Council Member Paloma had recommended. Mayor Lee said: “As [Attorney] Nick noted, the Mayor makes an appointment. The Council makes an approval. I certainly won't interfere with your process.”

It should be noted that the Council does not make an automatic approval. The Council, as per the City’s Charter, makes a consideration, and can decline the Mayor’s appointee. The Council can then consider their own appointee(s), or move to hold an election.

Mayor Lee continued: “I will certainly use the opportunity to say there will be an opening on December 31st on the Ward 4 Council seat. I certainly encourage anyone who is interested to apply. Email Ben Swanson bswanson@beaconny.gov. Or send to me at mayor@beaconny.gov.”

When referring to “your process," Mayor Lee did not indicate what that process looked like.

As for a deadline, Mayor Lee explained: “I'll probably take applications for the next week. Probably the following week I'm going to remind people one more time, and then we will just shut them down. I will choose from that list. I've already had people express interest. You all are welcome to do that. I'd love to have 150 interested.”

But Mayor Lee clarified his intent for how he would narrow the prospect pool: “I will say and I said this last time, that I have a decided preference for people who have served, who have run for office in contested elections. I think that makes you much more aware of the community and aware of the role up here. Doesn't mean that is the only criteria, but is a decided preference. If council receives applicants, please forward to me.”

How An Election Could Occur For The Filling Of The Ward 4 Vacancy

According to the City’s code, Section 2.04 B, the Council could hold a Special Election if they do not approve of the Mayor’s appointment. “If a vacancy in an elective office is not filled by the Mayor with Council approval within forty-five (45) days of its occurrence, the Council shall have the power to fill such vacancy by four (4) affirmative votes of the Council. In the event that no appointment is made to fill the vacancy as hereinbefore provided, the Council may call a special election to fill such vacancy for the unexpired term. Such a special election shall be held no later than ninety (90) days from the occurrence of the vacancy.”

Council Member Paloma Wake Requests Public Review Of Applicants For Ward 4 Vacancy Before Attempted Appointment By Mayor

“I am interested in having a discussion in public, if allowable, about the Mayor’s change in process and procedure of holding in-person interviews of prospective new hires into our police force.”

— Council Member Paloma Wake

City of Beacon Council Member Paloma Wake has been asking for more public transparency in the appointments and hires of public servants for the City of Beacon. In the 11/18/2024 City Council Meeting, she requested for a second look at the process and procedure of holding in-person interviews of prospective new hires into Beacon’s police force. She also requested public review of the 3rd vacancy on the City Council within a year.

Of the police hires, Council Member Paloma said: “I do not have any objection to the 3 detective appointments on the agenda for tonight. They are internal transfers with positive records within our police force. However, I am interested in having a discussion in public, if allowable, about the Mayor's change in process and procedure of holding in-person interviews of prospective new hires into our police force."

It is not clear what the “change in process and procedure” is “of holding in-person interviews of prospective new hires into the police force.” Discussion about new hires or fires happens off-camera of the public City Council Meeting, in something called Executive Session. If the discussion of procedure about these happened in Executive Session, it is possible the public did not learn about it. A Little Beacon Blog emailed Council Member Paloma for clarification, but has not received a response.

“[I want to] announce that we have a potential impending vacancy for the Ward 4 position. I reiterate what I asked for a year ago when we came up with similar vacancy through the resignation of Wren Longo.”

— Council Member Paloma Wake

Regarding the vacancy of Council Member for Ward 4 after Dan Aymar-Blair ran for Dutchess County Comptroller and looked to be winning by a slim lead after he filed a lawsuit to delay the declaration of winning until absentee ballots were counted, Council Member Paloma said:

“[I want to] announce that we have a potential impending vacancy for the Ward 4 position. I reiterate what I asked for a year ago when we came up with similar vacancy through the resignation of Wren Longo.”

The Vacancy After The Resignation Of Wren Longo

Before Wren’s resignation, word circulated on the street about it, but it never made it to a public announcement. After Wren resigned, Mayor Lee Kyriacou announced that he would be shifting the person who ran for the At Large position - Pam Weatherbee - to replace Wren in Ward 3, as Pam also lived within Ward 3.

With the newly open At Large seat that then needed filled, Mayor Lee stated that he then begged former Council Member Amber Grant to come out of Council retirement to fill Pam’s newly earned but quickly vacated seat of At Large. This, all done within a Council and Mayoral race where all contestants ran unopposed. This made a free-for-all for the Beacon Democrats, and freedom for Mayor Lee to appoint whoever he wanted, with approval of the City Council.

“Dan’s body isn’t even cold yet. Come on. We will get there when we get there.”

— Mayor Lee Kyriacou's response to Council Person Paloma Wake's request for applicants to Ward 4 seat, and public review of those applicants.

Meanwhile, two other candidates had been running at the time, and could have been considered for the At Large position: La Star Gorton for Ward 1, and Reuben Simmons (who entered the Mayoral race one week before voting, and won 16% of the vote as a write-in, which is unusually high).

When Council Member Paloma requested a more open process, she stated: “I recognize that the City Charter gives the Mayor power of appointment with consent of Council. I would ask for my consent to personally be given that there be a process that is public that is inspired by how the school board handles vacancies. Though I'm aware that the school board have their own charter. And official public notice be given. For a period of time - I would propose 30 days - that application notice be given and applications for anyone interested be sent to the Mayor's office and also encourage that process to provide an opportunity to speak directly to the public about why they want to serve. Submit those ideas to Council's consideration most importantly the Mayor's discretion.”

Mayor Lee responded to Council Member Paloma with: “Dan's body isn't even cold yet. Come on. We will get there when we get there.”

When Does The Leaf Truck Stop Making Bulk Pickups? "Until It's Done."

When do the leaves stop getting picked up by the City of Beacon’s leaf truck? “It will continue until it's done,” Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White announced during the 11/18/2024 City Council Meeting. A schedule of quadrants was posted on the City’s website up until 11/25/2024, with this statement: “pickup will continue for several weeks, rotating through the quadrants.”

According to some residents in the Beacon Facebook Group, the leaf picker upper truck was spotted on Mead Avenue yesterday (12/4/2024). During the November meeting, City Administrator Chris assured residents that even after the truck stops running for bulk leaf pickup, people can bag their leaves and the Highway Department will pick up the bags of yard clippings throughout the year as they usually do.

Should you have raked leaves into the street in front of your house, you may want to consider calling the Highway Department to leave a voicemail, and sending an email with your address, to make sure they are alerted before the truck rotation for bulk leaf pickup powers down.

Beacon’s Burn Ban Is Over For Now - Enough Precipitation Fell But Not Enough To Fill Reservoir

Beacon’s Burn Ban is over - for now. After fall’s dry conditions fueled fires across the region, Beacon and New York State issued Burn Bans to protect against future fires. With the rainfall that happened shortly after that, and recent snow flurries, the City of Beacon announced during this week’s City Council Meeting that Beacon’s Burn Ban as been lifted. City Administrator Chris White stated: “The state classified us at low risk. The snow and rain did help quite a bit. Did help with fire risk.”

However, the Stage 1 Drought has not changed, and is not likely to in the last month, City Administrator Chris said. While there was some precipitation, it was not enough to fill the reservoirs back up past 60%, which is Beacon’s drought trigger.

This Thursday morning, there was a 2hr snow delay for Beacon City School District from the freezing conditions after light precipitation overnight.

Flags Fly at Half Mast For Clara Lou Gould; Leaders Who Worked With Her Share Admiration

Clara Lou Gould, Beacon’s Mayor for 17 years from 1990-2007, passed away on Monday at the age of 97. Clara Lou was active in civic life and contributions in her final years, sometimes making appearances at City Council Meetings to promote the reading of the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July.

“Quality of her term in office is what most people will remember.”

— Former Judge Peter Forman

In 2019, the City of Beacon honored her with a plaque and dedication of a day, declaring August 29th “Clara Lou Gould Day,” as reported by Hudson Valley Press. At the time, then Mayor Randy Casale said of Clara Lou: “Boy, did you make this city better, turning it completely around into a now destination spot. Since you, we have only gone up, and you have been a mentor for me.”

Clara Lou was the first female mayor for the City of Beacon, and the longest serving female mayor in New York State. She was the Tioronda Garden Club President during 1970-1971 and 1974-1975. She established Beacon as a Tree City, which is referred back to today when citizens advocate for green spaces among the development of new buildings.

Clara Lou started the Civic Beautification Program and organized the Greenway Trail Initiative. She is a founding member of the Beacon Patriots Garden. She was avid supporter of the arts, and a long-time member of the Beacon Historical Society. Said the Beacon Historical Society of her passing on their Facebook page: “We deeply mourn the loss of our former mayor (and friend!), Clara Lou Gould -- the longest-serving female mayor in the history of New York State. She was a remarkable visionary who shaped our city's future like no other. Clara Lou was a long-time member of our Society and a generous supporter of our mission. We will miss her devotion, her smile and her kindness. May she rest in peace. Clara Lou was Beacon’s biggest fan. Somehow, 97 years was still not quite enough of her!”

Former Judge Peter Forman came to the 12/2/2024 City Council meeting to thank the Council for recognizing Clara Lou by lowering the flag to half mast, which he said he discussed with City Administrator Chris White. Peter served with Clara Lou for 9 years as Beacon's City Attorney before his election to the County and Family Courts. Peter said of Clara Lou: "Quality of her term in office is what most people will remember. The one thing that will stand out is the Dia citing in 1999 and how much Dia meant to the redevelopment of Beacon. She was very much involved with that. She supported it 100%. There were times we weren't sure it was going to happen. Clara Lou said ‘keep pushing; be persistent.’"

Pam Barrack, who served Dutchess County as Commissioner of Finance for 9 years, presented with Peter, saying this about Clara Lou: "She was very active other than being the Mayor of Beacon. She was quote active in the community before, during and after her tenure as Mayor. We are going to miss her terribly."

Community members in the Beacon, NY Facebook Group remembered her for volunteering at the Highlands Hospital.

“The one thing that will stand out is the Dia citing in 1999 and how much Dia meant to the redevelopment of Beacon. She was very much involved with that. She supported it 100%. There were times we weren’t sure it was going to happen. Clara Lou said ‘keep pushing; be persistent.’”

— Former Judge Peter Forman

Mayor Lee Kyriacou held a moment of silence for Clara Lou during the City Council meeting, and reflected: “Seminal work [by Clara Lou] was done to point this city toward a new vision, and it made a huge difference. I agreed with Peter Forman's remark. Clara Lou did it in a way she didn't feel obliged to lead. It encouraged the entire council to be much more collaborative and much more open to ideas. The consensus that got developed over that period of time crossed political lines; crossed new-comer/old-timer lines. A lot of it had to do with her style. I was very respectful of that. We didn't always agree. She usually figured out the right answer by the end of things. I had a lot of respect for that. She will be missed.”

Former Mayor Randy Casale told A Little Beacon Blog: “Clara Lou was a special person. She loved our city and cared about all the people. She was a great leader to work with and learn under. When she became Mayor, she had a vision for this city and a plan. She followed them both and made this one of the best cities in America. I thank her and may she rest in peace.”

The family will receive friends on Monday, December 9, 2024 from 4 to 8 p.m. at Riverview Funeral Home by Halvey, at 2 Beekman Street. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at 10 a.m. at St. Joachim Church, 51 Leonard Street, Beacon. Interment will follow at St. Joachim's Cemetery.

To send a personal condolence please visit www.riverviewbyhalvey.com.

Funeral arrangements are under the care of Patrick J. Halvey of Riverview Funeral Home by Halvey, LLC.