To the Editor:

The only thing “going rogue” in the town of Westerlo is our town board, which is being led by an inept lawyer, who instead of giving advice when called upon, directs the town supervisor on what to do next.

My name has been smeared in town as someone who gave up on the planning board and I felt it was fair to share my side of the story with the residents. The way our board was canceled should be seen by every resident as a clear path for political retaliation and the supervisor’s need to control all future applications.

As chairman of the planning board, I have had a great relationship with the town board for the past few years, which is why I was shocked to find they were getting rid of it. During those years, the town board members may have attended two of our meetings.

One town board member came to our training; the rest, who were invited, never made it to any training or meeting to understand what we do. To say the least, I do not think they know anything about our role as the town planning board; however, they felt the need to decide to disband over a few days.

In my letter of resignation, which I wrote the night after our town attorney walked out on us in the middle of our planning board meeting and got into a verbal altercation with a town board member, I wrote that I resigned effective June 2024, still holding my role as chairman through June to help our board transition.

I struggled with the drama between the town attorney and the town board, and at times felt we were never getting accurate representation from our town attorney. When he did show up to our meetings, which was 50 percent of the time, multiple times we were left running a meeting without a lawyer present.

After our May meeting, where our town attorney gave us advice, we followed his advice and started the new application process immediately for this applicant.

Jump to a few weeks later, when getting back from vacation I was informed that our town attorney, town supervisor, town board member, and confidential administrator went to the Albany County Planning Board’s public hearing for an application we were the lead agency on to give numerous false details regarding said application.

Once I watched what happened, I asked to rescind my resignation because I was appalled at the misleading information they gave the Albany County Planning Board and then I heard about the urgent desire to remove the planning board. One must question the motives of any government leader who decides to take away more protection, knowledge, and experience from a town.

During the process of wanting to remove the planning board, not one town board member ever reached out to me, as chairman, asking about the implications I thought would happen if they were to do so. Even when I asked the town supervisor to call me to chat, never did I receive a message or call back. The lack of transparency has been a constant theme for this administration.

I am saddened to see what is happening in our town with our leadership but even more scared to see how quickly the process happened. I encourage all residents to attend the town board meetings, get involved, and stay aware because with this administration we are not sure what will happen next to this town we love.

Finally, I want to thank the very hardworking members of our town planning board who served with me for the last few years; it has been an experience I am very grateful for.

Beau Loendorf

Past Chairman

Westerlo Planning Board

Editor’s note: See related story.