To the Editor:

On Sept. 7, there was the first annual Adirondack Nature Festival for people with disabilities, connecting all people (who could get there) with nature.

We have nature in Guilderland but our town leadership has contorted themselves to make the town parks inaccessible. For example, the town received a state grant to remodel the Fred Abele Park.

Supervisor [Peter] Barber made the award  announcement nearly three years before the project was completed in October 2022, which was certainly enough time to plan for an inclusive playground remodel. But Supervisor Barber did not make the park inclusive.

Here’s how the October 2022 Fred Abele Park remodel was celebrated: Patricia Fahy, Dustin Reidy, and our town board members showed up to celebrate their park remodel that lacked any playground equipment, not even a swing and, in 2024, with no shame in their game, the town supervisor continues to tout the Fred Abele park remodel on the town website with a photo clearly showing no playground equipment for children with disabilities.

Now, Peter Barber and the town board support his efforts to extend the supervisor’s term of office from two years to four on the ballot referendum that is on the back of the ballot sheet this November [“Public to vote separately on extending terms for supervisor and clerk,” The Altamont Enterprise, Aug. 19, 2024]. Peter Barber lumped his request, trying to pull from voters who like Lynne Buchanan, the town clerk, to extend both terms of office.

Remember, Lynne Buchanan is still the receiver of taxes and she would remain employed if her two-year term were to remain in place. Peter Barber, on the other hand, wants the town residents to lose out on timely accountability — the same accountability you have every year at your job is what he is seeking to prevent in his job as town supervisor.

He even said as much when he asked the town board to support his endeavor to extend his term of office, stating, “I think the reason is because you want to do long-term planning and a lot of times you can’t do something in two years … You can’t do something without worrying about how people might perceive it.” [“Guilderland proposes extending terms for supervisor and clerk,” The Altamont Enterprise, July 19, 2024]

Our long-term planning as residents of this town requires us to turn over that ballot sheet and vote no to the proposition to extend terms of the town supervisor and town clerk. We need long-term accountability to the residents that is timely.

Two-year terms provide the same accountability you have or had at your jobs. You can be party loyal and vote no. There are wonderful Democrats in this town who deserve a quick opportunity to lead with fresh eyes.

I will respect how you vote, but this vote is harmful to the town residents. It cuts you out the same way the children and adults with disabilities are cut out of the town parks.

You won’t like it. You will want timely voting. Giving term extensions of four years will, like the Fred Abele park and others, you will have to wait the way people with disabilities have to wait for nondisabled people to decide it’s in their best interest to do something for the disabled.

The Fred Abele Park grant was announced under [state Senator] George Amedore’s leadership on or about 2018. The Fred Abele Park remains a park without a swing for children with disabilities in 2024. That’s what a delay in accountability will mean to your quality of life.

Christine Duffy

Guilderland

Editor’s note: The propositions to extend, from two years to four, the terms for Guilderland supervisor and town clerk will not appear on the Nov. 5 ballot. According to the state’s Election Law, the paperwork had to be submitted to the Albany County Board of Elections by Aug. 5.

“We did not receive any text for a ballot referendum from the Guilderland Town Board,” Rachel Bledi, the Republican election commissioner, told The Enterprise this week.

Peter Barber could not be reached for comment.