New blood ousts old Dem guard, chief resigns... New Urbanism comes to Guilderland



GUILDERLAND — Ten years ago marked an unprecedented shift in town politics and this year saw an unexpected swing back.

Since it was founded over 200 years ago, Guilderland had been solidly Whig and then Republican. But, in 1995, the suburban town elected its first Democratic supervisor and, recently, it’s had an all-Democratic Town Board.

This November, though, Republican challengers Mark Grimm and Warren Redlich ousted incumbent board members Michael Ricard and David Bosworth, both Democrats. Ricard was the board’s longest serving member and Bosworth chairs the town’s Democratic Committee, and co-chairs the county’s.

Enrolled Democrats slightly outnumber Republicans in Guilderland, being roughly a third of the town’s registered voters.

Grimm, who runs his own media business in town, said his run for town board was meant to bring back a functioning two-party system in Guilderland.
Redlich, a lawyer, stepped up to run after another Republican in the languishing town party dropped out; he called for reform in town assessments, claiming that Ricard had a "sweetheart" assessment on his $196,300 home.

Ricard sued to keep Redlich off the ballet, claiming that he had violated New York State’s infamously complex Election Law when he was substituted improperly for the party’s nomination.

The Republican pair ran together on a platform of open government.
"The town government is very secretive. They billed themselves as an open government 10 years ago, but today you have to battle with them for basic freedoms of information," Grimm said when he announced his run for the board in June.

The state’s Freedom of Information Law provides for the public’s right to government records and is used by the media and individuals alike to access information.
"The problem with the FOIL law is there is no penalty. They should be punished for withholding information," Grimm said. "I happen to believe the people should take the info and make a decision for themselves...If you watch a town board meeting, everything’s 5-0, 5-0, 5-0, because it’s decided in advance."

Grimm questioned how people can make an informed decision or judgement if they do not have the necessary information.

The town of Guilderland recently saw widespread media and public criticisms for withholding information following allegations of misconduct against its former police chief, James Murley. Supervisor Kenneth Runion, a lawyer, countered that he was properly following the state’s Public Officers Law.

The allegations led to Murley’s retiring from his post at the end of May.

In this fall’s election other incumbents ran unopposed — long-time highway superintendent, Todd Gifford, a Republican; and Clerk Rosemary Centi and Judge John Bailey, both Democrats.

Police chief resigns

The Guilderland police chief’s 35-year career ended this spring after he reached an agreement with the town.

In March, James Murley, then 61, was charged with sexual harassment, misconduct with a vendor, violation of the town’s ethics law, and not keeping accurate attendance and leave records. When the charges were first brought, Murley’s lawyer, William J. Cade, said that they were unfounded and vowed to fight the proceedings. He said then that Murley had no plans to retire.

After about four months on leave, Cade and the lawyer representing the town, Brian O’Donnell, worked out an agreement that kept the retirement benefits from Murley’s $97,000-a-year post intact, as well as his accrued vacation time. Agreeing to take retirement let Murley forgo a town hearing on the charges.
"There will be no formal hearing," Supervisor Runion said after the board agreed to the terms. "Everyone on the board has agreed that this is the best solution."
"The worse that could happen to him was termination under the proceeding," said Runion of the possible outcome of a hearing. "Retirement is the same thing...It’s basically as if you went through the hearing."

Deputy Chief Carol Lawlor has been serving as acting chief of police; the new town board will be responsible for appointing a permanent chief of police.
"Jim cared deeply about his staff and the department was like a family to him, the office staff and the officers," said Murley’s wife, Debra. "He still feels that way and that is why this is so hard for him...not even being allowed to go on the town property he protected for over 30 years."

Murley was one of the town’s first officers when its police force was put together three-and-a-half decades ago.

Westervelt seeks appeal

Two-and-a-half years into a 25-year-to-life sentence, Erick Westervelt is pinning his hopes on an appeal.

In October, his appeal was heard by an Appellate Division panel of judges, the middle level in the state’s three-tiered court system.

Westervelt was convicted of second-degree murder in 2005 and is serving his time at Dannemora, a maximum security prison in Clinton County.

Westervelt, who grew up in Guilderland and was living with his family on Salvia Lane, attending the University at Albany at the time of the murder, maintains his innocence.

He says he was illegally arrested and then forced into a false confession by the Bethlehem Police Department.

The Albany County District Attorney’s Office along with police claimed that jealousy drove Westervelt to murder Timothy Gray while Gray was living with Westervelt’s ex-girlfriend, Jessica Domery, in Delmar. The hatchet murder occurred five weeks before the highly publicized ax murder of Peter Porco; his son, Christopher Porco, was convicted of killing him and of bludgeoning his wife, Joan Porco, in their Delmar home.

Terence Kindlon represented both Porco and Westervelt; Porco is serving his term in Dannemora, too.

It took a jury nearly two days to convict Westervelt, who had confessed to the crime to Bethlehem Police. He later recanted his statements and said he was forced into a false confession.

Kindlon, of the law firm Kindlon & Shanks, represented Westervelt at the appeal hearing while Westervelt’s parents and aunts sat quietly in the gallery and listened.
"In the written brief, there was extensive legal argument that the police coerced him...and detained him from lawyers," Kindlon said this fall. "A whole hour was missing from the police interrogation."

The Appellate Division could uphold Westervelt’s conviction; find the sentence excessive; find something wrong in how the case was handled; reverse the decision and hold a re-trial; or dismiss the conviction altogether, Kindlon said.

Westervelt’s father told The Enterprise this month that he is hopeful, since the court is taking a long while to decide on the appeal, that it is taking it seriously.

Glass Works plans $100 million village

Plans for the largest development in Guilderland since Crossgates Mall were presented to the town board early this year as developers of the $100 million Glass Works community forged ahead.

Planned for a 57-acre parcel on Route 20 near the library, Glass Works will be a village-style development, in which planners hope to encourage mixed residential and commercial buildings. The development is named for an industry that once prospered here: glass making.

Glass Works will consist of 228 condominiums, 72 townhouses, and 27 residential cottages, the proposal says. The development will also contain 180,000 square feet of commercial space for retail stores, offices, and restaurants, and an additional 10,000 square feet for day-care facilities.

As for the public elementary school across Route 20 from the proposed site, Daniel O’Brien, president of Platform Realty Group, said Glass Works will contain large numbers of condominiums and not draw as many school-aged children as other developments.
"We don’t envision a host of people crossing Route 20," he said. Plans call for a crosswalk to be installed at the Winding Brook Drive intersection, as well as turning Winding Brook into a boulevard with a round-about.

However, according to the project’s draft environmental impact statement, an estimated 135.8 school-aged children will live at the Glass Works Village. The plan estimates that 15 percent will attend private schools, leaving 116 children for the Guilderland public school system to educate.
The impact statement also says 22 acres of the development will remain "usable open space" and 12 acres will be landscaped areas, leaving 24 acres for development.

— This year in review is based largely on reporting by Jarrett Carroll.