Most Town Boards Receive Middle-of-the-Road Ratings

According to a recent survey conducted for the Courier, 58.7 percent of Putnam County residents have a fair or poor opinion of their local town boards. While the most dissatisfaction was in Southeast, a majority of those polled in Carmel, Kent, and Patterson gave their town board a negative “fair or poor” rating.

In Carmel, 53.4 percent called the town board’s performance “fair or poor,” while 41.7 percent offered a “good or excellent” rating, with only 2.9 percent of those saying the board was doing an excellent job. Kenneth Schmitt, town supervisor, said he was very pleased with the results. “We’re very responsive to the issues brought up by our residents,” he said.

Schmitt added that the Carmel town board gets along very well and that although they don’t always agree with one another, they are respectful and, “What we are doing represents that we’re working for the greater good for our residents.”

The survey also noted that the key concerns brought up by Carmel residents are high taxes, unemployment, weak economy, the school budget, and the quality of education. Conducted by pollster Kieran Mahoney for the Courier, the survey had a margin of error of +/- 5.65 percent and was conducted among likely voters.

In Patterson, 48.4 percent said they were satisfied with their town board’s performance, against 51.6 percent who said the board was doing a fair or poor job. Patterson Supervisor Michael Griffin, said he was pleased by this result and that considering the economy, Patterson seems to be in good shape. “We’ve been very frugal with our money and we’re doing more with less,” Griffin said. He added that rarely does he receive feedback from Patterson residents unless there is something they are very angry about.

Patterson residents cited high taxes, immigration, unemployment, the quality of education, government corruption, and lack of commercial development as concerns.

In Kent, 65.9 percent of those polled said the board was doing a fair or poor job.

The extensive survey of life in Putnam, excerpts of which have been published in recent Couriers, shows high taxation a top concern for a sizeable block of the population.

In regard to taxation, Supervisors Griffin and Schmitt said they think the high tax complaints stem from school taxes.