Moving Montgomery forward

Newly elected officials eager to make an impact

By Connor Linskey
Posted 11/20/19

Following a competitive election for town supervisor and town councilman in Montgomery, Brian Maher, Ronald Feller and Kristen Brown are eager to move Montgomery forward.

As town supervisor, Maher …

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Moving Montgomery forward

Newly elected officials eager to make an impact

Posted

Following a competitive election for town supervisor and town councilman in Montgomery, Brian Maher, Ronald Feller and Kristen Brown are eager to move Montgomery forward.

As town supervisor, Maher aims to represent all residents of the Town of Montgomery. During his tenure, he plans to request an audit from the New York State Comptroller, appoint a Comprehensive Plan Committee and have a serious discussion on the merits of a Development Moratorium as the Comprehensive Plan is updated; among many other items.

Maher plans to work closely with the town board. He promises to have an open line of communication and respectful dialogue on the issues facing the community. He will work with the town board to build on recent improvements as well as implement new ways to make town hall more efficient.

Maher wanted to become town supervisor because he believed he could provide the town with the type of leadership it needs. During his campaign, he attempted to meet as many voters as possible. Knocking on doors was priority number one, followed by making phone calls and reaching out through social media and email. Maher was humbled by the countless individuals who supported his team’s campaign in addition to all the volunteers. They collectively knocked on more than 5,000 doors and made thousands of additional voter contacts.

“I can’t wait to get to work and continue to earn the trust given to our team by the voters,” he said.

The race for Montgomery Town Supervisor went down to the wire. Maybrook Mayor Dennis Leahy was disappointed by the outcome of the election but says he is now focused solely on improving the Village of Maybrook.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us and we will keep chipping away at our goals,” he said. “The Village Board and I will continue to strive in keeping our village safe for our residents, to improve our infrastructure, welcome smart growth with light industry to offset the tax burden on residents and work towards our goal to revitalize our Main Street.”

Current town supervisor Rodney Winchell was asked during a recent Montgomery Town Board meeting about his feelings regarding the results of the election. He declined to comment. 

Fellow Republican Ronald Feller is eager to begin his term as Montgomery town councilman.

“I want to hit the ground running,” he said.

As a town councilman in Montgomery for four years, Feller brings a lot of experience to the table. Now that he is retired, he can dedicate more time to the job. He hopes to implement a parks and recreation summer program for children as well as a program for seniors. Feller also hopes to improve the state of the volunteer ambulance corps, who are severely underfunded. He is looking forward to working with councilwomen Cindy Voss and Sheryl Melick again as well new town supervisor Brian Maher.

“I think it’s going to be a good cohesive unit that’s going to be good for the town,” he said.

Kristen Brown is anxious to begin her tenure as town councilwoman as well. She has big plans for her time in office.

“A few of my top priorities are to update the comprehensive plan and the zoning,” Brown said.

She wants to ensure that the right stakeholders are at the table in regards to the comprehensive plan. Brown believes that the water and sewer system on Neelytown Road needs to be updated. She was inspired to run for town councilwoman after hearing about the warehouse proposed by Project Sailfish. The warehouse would cause surface runoff to flow into the Tin Brook, which runs through her family’s historic farm in Walden.

One of the reasons Brown ran for town councilwoman, is that she has a lot of experience working with people who have different personalities. As the chair of the New York Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers and Ranchers Program she has worked with people of different personalities at the local, state and national level to impose laws.

She looks forward to working with the town board in order to help the community.

“My goal is to be that friendly approachable face to everyone,” Brown said. “At the end of the day we all want the same thing: to do right by our constituents.”