The Joint Consolidation Agreement makes it very clear that, upon consolidation, the 5 Village Trustee positions will no longer exist, which means that almost twice as many residents with differing needs, concerns and experiences will have one-half the number of elected government officials to turn to when they have a problem. No wonder the May 2025 Village Dissolution Plan honestly admits that “Village residents may have a smaller voice in government.” Consolidation will immediately increase governmental responsibility and complexity whilst reducing the number of elected government representatives by fifty percent.

How long will it be before the complexities begin to overwhelm this future Town government and we begin to hear cries for the appointment of a Town Administrator at an annual salary at which the current going rate is $150,000 or a salary increase for a full-time Town Supervisor with a current average annual salary of between $85,000 and $134,000?

While a Village government still exists, the current elected officials have time to negotiate what the proposed consolidated government will look like. To date, I have seen no reports of any substantive negotiations, discussions or deliberations on this issue of growing complexity in the government of our community.