Just 15 months after taking office, Town of Plattekill Supervisor Jennifer Salemo has decided she won’t run for another two-year term.

Speaking with the Southern Ulster Times on Thursday, Salemo revealed that she won’t seek re-election in November due to business commitments. She is the general manager and co-owner of the Turtle Creek Golf Course on Plattekill Ardonia Road.

“I have to focus on my business and spend more time with the business,” she said. “As much as I love the role as a public official, it’s taking away a lot of my time from the business.”

Salemo admitted some might question why she ran for office in the first place while trying to operate a nine-hole golf course and on-site restaurant.

“A lot of people would ask why I would decide to take on this role and possibly hurt the community by leaving (after one term),” she said.

Salemo said she made her decision not to seek office again after efforts to sell Turtle Creek were unsuccessful.

“The business was sold but the deal did not go through,” Salemo said. “That’s what happened. I thought I’d have a lot of time on my hands to be able to be the supervisor.”

Salemo said she will finish out the rest of her term.
“I’ll do my best,” she said. “It’s a beautiful town with a lot of opportunities. I’m excited about our future. I’m hopeful I can still be an integral part of the town, but I do have to prioritize my business.”

Salemo said her chief goal in the last nine months of her administration is to make sure that a landfill won’t be located in the town. The Plattekill Town Board has passed a resolution opposing a proposed landfill by the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency (UCRRA) in Plattekill.

UCRRA commissioned a report by the company HydroQuest two years ago that eventually identified two potential landfill sites in Plattekill. Although UCRRA Executive Director Greg Ollivier said in an appearance before the Plattekill Town Board on March 15 that the study has been set aside and is not currently being considered by UCRRA, Plattekill officials want the Ulster County Legislature to take steps to guarantee a countywide landfill won’t happen in Plattekill.

“I don’t want to leave before there’s something in writing that permanently opposes any kind of landfill in the Town of Plattekill,” Salemo said. “I think the town is the furthest location for a perfect site for a landfill. There’s so much growing and expansion in the town. The people who are buying houses and moving into this beautiful community don’t deserve to find out there’s a landfill coming here.”

The Town Board has approved a resolution opposing any attempts to locate a landfill in the town.

Salemo said she’d also like to find a replacement for Police Chief Joseph Ryan, who resigned on March 17 after 16 years heading the part-time police force. Ryan was suspended without pay for one month after crashing his police car into a light pole while visiting relatives in Toms River (NJ) last September.

“I’d like to bring in a new chief into our police department that will strengthen the department and rebuild from where we are right now,” she said.