SOMERS, N.Y. - Kathleen Pacella has been the town clerk in Somers for nine years. She likes the job because, "I just like meeting and talking to people. I went into a government office once and had a cold horrible feeling, but it's not like that here."
As town clerk, Pacella is responsible for all sorts of licensing and permits. She maintains official records and records births, marriages and deaths. I have to be available 24/7 for death certificates, she explained. Sometimes for religious reasons people need a certificate in order to bury immediately. Since the new same-sex marriage law passed, she has been asked twice for same-sex marriage licenses but we havent received the forms yet.
The town board, which meets twice a month on Thursdays, usually the first and third of the month, is headed by Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy. The public is welcome at all meetings. Thanks to Supervisor Murphy, residents no longer have to wait until the end of the meeting to make comments or ask questions. People may speak at the beginning and during the meeting. The town board's job is to control town finances and the budget, legislation and other policies.
The planning board, chaired by Fedora DeLuca, discusses site plans, subdivisions, wetland issues and modifications to sites. They meet twice a month on the second and fourth Wednesdays.
On the third Tuesday of every month, the zoning board of appeals meets to evaluate zoning variances. A variance is required when someone wishes to build something that overruns the property setback rules. Zoning often affects people in Shenorock and Lincolndale because the building lots are smaller, said Pacella. The chairman of the board is Paul Marx.
All of the boards videotape their meetings and the videos are posted on the town website. Agendas for the various meetings are posted the Monday before each meeting, both on the website and on the bulletin board at town hall. Minutes are kept of all meetings and are posted on the website and at town hall.
A special feature of the website is the Who Do I Call? column. It answers many of the little questions or minor problems that confront us every day.
In general, the Town of Somers website contains a lot of information about our towns government. Town officials are also easily contacted by telephone. As Town Clerk Pacella said, we are all accessible. Im a people person. I serve the people.
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