Supervisor Gerry Siller announced Wednesday that Councilman Mike Bebon has resigned from the Town Board. The announcement came a day after Siller accepted the resignation of Edward Hindin from his position on the Town Planning Board and as project manager for the Town’s Comprehensive Plan update.
As a result, work on the Comprehensive Plan Update project will be suspended, Siller said.
[Read our coverage of Hindin’s resignation in this Gazette post.]
“This week we lost two extremely dedicated members of Town government through resignation,” Siller said in announcing Bebon’s resignation. “Mike brought a completely different perspective to the Town Board. His depth of knowledge, sincerity, professionalism and commitment to Town issues was unparalleled in my years of experience in Town government. Mike was a tremendous asset to the Town and he will be sorely missed.”
Bebon and Hindin, along with Councilman Albert Dickson, made up the Town’s Comprehensive Plan Task Force, charged with managing the plan update in coordination with hired consultants and a 12-member citizen advisory committee.
“Edward brought his expertise to the Planning Board as well as the Comprehensive Plan, serving in both positions as a volunteer,” Siller said. “It was singularly through Edward’s efforts that the Comprehensive Plan Task Force was established and the entire process started. It will be very difficult for the process to continue as smoothly as it has been to date.”
Siller said he did not wish to elaborate on the reasons the men gave for their resignations.
“The Town Board will continue to move forward. Our two main priorities, housing and water, are still in the forefront,” he said. “In the coming weeks we will be presenting proposals to address both issues.”
In his announcement, Siller addressed apparent “confusion” over roles relating to the long-range planning process.
“It should be noted that the Task Force, and not the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee (CPAC) is tasked with managing the process on behalf of the Town Board,” Siller said. “The role of the CPAC is purely advisory to the Task Force.”
“The CPAC was created to assist the Task Force and is one of many ways in which citizen input is sought. There have also been or will be surveys, focus groups (workshops), consultations with town committees and departments and conversations with community organizations and local businesses.”
Given the critical roles the two men played in the planning process, Siller said, “the Town Board has decided to suspend further work on the Comprehensive Plan until such time as the Task Force can be reconstituted or reconfigured.”
“The Town Board recognizes the work and momentum that has been achieved thus far and anticipates restarting as soon as possible.”
