Shelter Island officials sworn into office: Councilman confronts town attorney  

Councilman Albert Dickson wasted no time at Tuesday’s Town Board organizational meeting in letting Town Attorney Stephen Kiely know that he’s not declaring war, but has questions about actions by the attorney during his service to the previous administration.

When a resolution on the agenda to reappoint Mr. Kiely for the next two years was read, Mr. Dickson said that before acting on it, he would “just like to review the last couple of years” to look at things “before I go along with this resolution. I hope you don’t mind,” he told Mr. Kiely.

Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams intervened, explaining there is no contract with the town attorney who serves “at will,” meaning at any time, the Town Board could elect to interview others for the job. She said Mr. Dickson’s questions could be discussed in an executive session immediately after the organizational session, or at any future time.

With that, the vote to pass the resolution was unanimous.

The meeting started with the swearing in of Ms. Brach-Williams, Councilmen Dickson and Benjamin Dyett, along with oaths for Town Clerk Amber Wilson, Tax Receiver Annmarie Seddio, and Highway Superintendent and Public Works Commissioner Ken Lewis.

Supporters packed the Town Board meeting room to witness the ceremonies.

Ms. Brach-Williams thanked County Executive Ed Romaine for attending the local swearing-in ceremony, noting she can’t remember the last time a county executive had attended such an Island event.

“It reinforces our relationship” and bodes well for working together on county and town initiatives, Ms. Brach-Williams said. She thanked the new county executive for including her on his transition team as he prepared to take the reins from former county executive Steve Bellone, who was term limited.

Although she announced the real work of her administration will start at next Tuesday’s work session, Ms. Brach-Williams used the immediate executive session Tuesday to discuss the eight applications received to date to fill the vacant Board seat that resulted with her election as supervisor.

Given the holiday period, the new supervisor said there may be candidates who had not indicated their interest in serving; she would continue to accept resumes through the end of this week.

All resumes will be reviewed by the current four-member Town Board and interviews will be set up with candidates before the Board chooses someone to join its ranks. In a late December interview, Ms. Brach-Williams said she would prefer to add someone not with a strong affiliation with either party and who could bring fresh perspectives to the issues.

Ms. Brach-Williams also laid the groundwork for moving forward with the update of the town’s Comprehensive Plan. Councilwoman Meg Larsen, who was named deputy supervisor Tuesday, will continue to serve on the Comp Plan Task Force. It’s anticipated Julia Weisenberg will also continue as a Task Force member, representing the Planning Board.

Ms. Brach-Williams appointed herself as the backup to Ms. Larsen because, she said, while that might be controversial, she has “a clear idea” of how she wants to proceed.

Mr. Dyett and Mr. Dickson said they had discussed the situation with the supervisor and support her decision, although both have their own strong opinions about work done to date on the plan. Mr. Dyett was one of three Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee members to resign from the CPAC in September.

Ms. Brach-Williams’ approach is to have the Comp Plan continue to review the final four draft chapters, estimating that could take until the end of February. At that point, the draft would go back to consultants from BFJ Planning for revisions.

Then it will come back to the Comp Plan group to ensure the issues raised during the earlier review are in a new draft. If the Comp Plan group isn’t satisfied with the redraft, it could again go back to the consultants for additional changes. At any time in that process, there could be public meetings.

Only when the Task Force and CPAC are happy with the draft will they send the document to the Town Board for its review, and there would be at least two public sessions, so the public has ample input into the plan before a Town Board vote occurs.

Ms. Brach-Williams asked her three Town Board members to think about issues they believe are critical for their attention and provide her with a list to be discussed at the Jan. 9 work session.

At that time, they will work together to prioritize the list that will guide their work. The full list of resolutions passed at the organizational meeting, including appointments, is on the town website at shelterislandtown.us.