The Putnam Examiner

Carmel Officials Likely to Discuss Appointing 5th Councilman

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Supervisor Ken Schmitt said the Carmel Town Board will reconsider its decision to go with a four-person board for the rest of 2011 after the Carmel Republican Committee voted to send the board a letter asking them to appoint a fifth member.

The town board, which needs three votes to pass any resolution, lost one of its members when former councilman Anthony DiCarlo was elected to the Putnam County Legislature. DiCarlo would have been up for re-election at the end of the year, and board members said they did not want to give anyone an unfair advantage in the election and did not want to disrupt the chemistry of the board.

Schmitt said Thursday the board would probably discuss the matter at an upcoming work session, possibly on Feb. 9.

“I’d really like to get the pulse of the community,” Schmitt said. “You’ll probably see it on a work session in the near future.”

Part of the concern, members of the Carmel Republican Committee said, was that Councilman Bob Ravallo works for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and must abstain on any matter relating to the DEP.

Schmitt said he has not yet received the letter.

The town board consists of three Republicans and one member of the Independence Party.

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