Stiles is now the chairman of APA
Adirondack Daily Enterprise (Saranac Lake, NY)
10/24/07, Web site
See story on original Web site: http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=9084
By HEATHER SACKETT, Enterprise Staff Writer
SARANAC LAKE — The state Senate approved Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s three nominations for the Adirondack Park Agency Board of Commissioners late Monday night, including the appointment of Curt Stiles, of Upper Saranac Lake, to the position of chairman.
“I’m excited about it,” Stiles said of his new chairmanship. “It’s a real challenge that I look forward to. I think the important thing is looking at all sides of the issues and taking a balanced approach to the agency. It’s a wonderful agency, and I look forward to being a part of it.”
Stiles is a retired faculty member of Paul Smith’s College and is president of the Upper Saranac Lake Association.
Commissioner Cecil Wray had been serving as interim chairman following the resignation of Ross Whaley, also of Upper Saranac Lake, in September. Whaley’s term had expired and he was not reappointed by the new governor.
Also approved by the Senate were commissioner Frank Mezzano to another term and Richard Booth to an outside-the-Park commissioner seat on the board.
Stiles’ appointment to the APA board will require that he steps down from his position as board member of the Adirondack Council, an environmental advocacy group. Spokesman for the Council John Sheehan said Stiles’ resignation was expected.
“At the moment of his confirmation, he resigned from the Council’s board of directors,” Sheehan said. “We didn’t want him to feel any conflict of interest. We strongly felt it was not proper for local government officials to serve on the (Adirondack Council’s) board because we play an advocacy role at the monthly APA meetings. We didn’t want him to feel he was in an awkward position.”
Sheehan said that although the Adirondack Council will be sorry to see Stiles go, he will be an asset to the APA.
“He’s someone we very much respect, and we think he will do a good job,” Sheehan said. “We are very sorry to lose him as a member of our board, but our loss is the (APA) board’s gain and the Park’s gain.”
Fred Monroe, of the Local Government Review Board, said his organization is concerned about Stiles’ involvement with the Adirondack Council, but that “he’s someone we can live with.”
“Obviously we are somewhat concerned that he is a former board member of the Adirondack Council because they take positions quite frequently that are not in the best interest of Park residents,” Monroe said. “But we are quite hopeful he will be fair and balanced. He’s a resident, so that’s a plus.”
Monroe added that he was happy the governor decided to withdraw the nomination of Richard Booth as chairman, since he lives outside the Park.
The last three choices for chairman were picked from the academic ranks: Ross Whaley was a professor and former president of the New York State College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, Richard Booth is a professor of urban and regional studies at Cornell University in Ithaca.
Contact Heather Sackett at 891-2600 ext. 24 or hsackett@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.