BERNE — After a tenure fraught with controversy, Supervisor Dennis Palow conducted a short and harmonious final town board meeting on Dec. 10.

The meeting opened with his successor, Joseph Giebelhaus, swearing to uphold the state and national constitutions as Palow administered the oath of office while his deputy supervisor, Thomas Doolin, held a Bible.

Giebelhaus, a Democrat and a newcomer to Berne and its politics, was uncontested in his November run for supervisor, appearing on the Democratic, Republican, and Conservative party lines.

He will not assume his duties as supervisor until Jan. 1.

The Enterprise asked him after the meeting why he was sworn in early. Giebelhaus noted that the law allows an elected official to be sworn in 30 days ahead of taking office and said, “Because we’re all new. So, if there’s a snowstorm, I can swear people in.”

He scheduled the town’s reorganizational meeting for 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day at the Berne Community and Senior Center at 1360 Helderberg Trail.

Republicans had made inroads in the Democrat-majority Hilltown in 2018 and took over the board in 2020. Then, last year, three GOP-backed candidates simultaneously quit, citing financial mismanagement by Palow, who did not seek re-election, as well as a toxic work environment.

That brought the town government, since the board had no quorum, to a standstill for seven months and also left every board seat open for the November elections.

Voters elected to four-year terms on the board two political newcomers: Brian Bunzey, a Democratic retiree, and Casey Miller, a Republican business owner.

Voters elected to two-year terms on the board Scott Duncan, chief of the East Berne Volunteer Fire Company who works as Albany County’s deputy commissioner of public works and who ran on the Democratic, Republican, and Conservative lines, and Melanie laCour, a Democrat and a lawyer, who had been appointed by the governor to restart town government, giving the board a quorum.

“I would like to thank everyone over the last eight years,” Palow told the residents who assembled at the community center for the December town board meeting.

Palow, who had a military career, had served on the town board for four years, including as deputy supervisor, before he was elected supervisor.

“Politics are nasty …,” he said. “You just have to make decisions … for the town and the residents.”

Palow thanked Randy Bashwinger, who had once chaired both the town and county Republican committees, for his “hard work” as highway superintendent. 

Bashwinger was ousted in the November election, attributing his loss to siding with Palow after the three board members resigned.

Allen Stempel, a Republican who was backed by the Berne Democratic Committee, bested Bashwinger in the election.

“It’s going to be a tough road, man,” Palow told Stempel, who was seated in the gallery on Dec. 10.

Palow also thanked his deputy supervisor, Doolin, who did not quit with the other three.

Doolin said he was retiring from his medical practice as a physician’s assistant. He also said he was pleased that, during his tenure, the town’s Switzkill Farm — a town purchase that Republicans had campaigned against — was “taken over by the county.”

“It’s been an interesting four years for me … I’ve done the best I could,” said Doolin. Doolin was the one board member who would consistently answer questions, even on thorny issues, from The Enterprise.

Palow wished Giebelhaus and laCour “good luck,” and told laCour she was smart to have run for just a two-year term.

Palow went on to thank the planning board, zoning board, “all the committees,” and the “great town clerk.”

Incumbent Clerk Kristin De Oliveira handily beat her Democratic challenger in November.

Giebelhaus thanked Palow and Doolin for their service, calling it “a herculean task doing this job,” noting a lot of work was done behind the scenes.

Finally, Palow thanked “all the people who always attend board meetings.”

One of those people is Helen Lounsbury, a retired Berne teacher and retired school board member, who has attended town meetings regularly for decades.

“We’d be remiss,” Lounsbury said, “if we didn’t give this group — old and new — a big round of applause.”

The crowd obliged.

Steve Khoury, who chairs the Berne Planning Board, then spoke passionately about his gratitude.

He thanked Bashwinger and Deputy Highway Superintendent Jim Deitz for their work.

“You looked out for us,” he told Bashwinger.

He told Deitz he was “always there” and went on, “The highway garage would not operate without his tools.”

Deitz lends his tools, Khoury said, “because he wants the town to succeed.”

Khoury commended Palow for staying in his post after the three board members quit. “You didn’t jump ship,” he said, later stating, “There was some vile crap thrown out there.”

Khoury told Doolin, “You are of the same bent.”

Khoury said he was looking forward to working with the new board and concluded, “We’re all people.”

“I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into,” said laCour of submitting her name to the governor’s office for appointment to the board.

She said of serving on the board, “It’s difficult but it’s rewarding.”