In a five-way race for two open seats on the New Paltz Village Board on Tuesday, voters elected Tom Rocco and Rebecca Rotzler.
Rocco got 335 votes and Rotzler 252, giving them a comfortable margin over Don Kerr (180), Jonathan Cohen (124) and Radi Serdah (62).
Rocco and Rotzler are no strangers to village politics. Rocco currently serves on the village Planning Board, was part of the village Master Plan Committee and is also on the board of the New Paltz Democratic Committee. Rotzler, who ran with current mayor Jason West in 2003, served a four-year term and was West’s deputy mayor.
A central issue in this election was whether or not the village of New Paltz should be consolidated with the town -- a question that has arisen in several villages in the area in this year's elections. Rocco is in favor of consolidation; Rotzler is more skeptical of the idea, and is a loyal supporter of mayor Jason West, who opposes consolidation.
Kerr, the closest runner-up, campaigned with Rotzler. Both sought to appear on the official ballot, but challenges to signatures on their petitions brought both below the 100 signatures required for a slot on the ballot.
Kerr was formerly the president of the New Paltz School Board. He resigned from the board in 2011 after being arrested on felony charges of marijuana trafficking -- a charge that was later dismissed by an Ulster County grand jury. According to a Daily Freeman story, Kerr, a business owner in a building with several tenants, had signed for a package containing eight pounds of marijuana that was addressed to someone else in the building. When he was arrested on trafficking charges, Kerr had already come under intense community scrutiny for two previous marijuana-related minor arrests.
