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Amsterdam stop sign ordinance leads to political conflict | News

Posted on by angelo
Amsterdam stop sign ordinance leads to political conflict | News

“The focus of the discussion ended up being whether I was allowed to suggest this ordinance rather than whether this ordinance should be considered,” said Kelly Quist-Demars, deputy mayor and alderman for the 1st Ward. “I think the reaction to that showed that they weren’t willing to talk about it and they didn’t want me to talk about it.”

Quist-Demars presented an ordinance to the Common Council this week proposing to install stop signs in both directions on Northampton Road at the intersection with Van Dyke Avenue. The measure would have made the intersection a four-way stop.

When discussing the ordinance, Mayor Michael Cinquanti said proposing a traffic ordinance to Quist-Demars, which would fall under the police chief’s discretion, was a violation of the city’s charter. the city. He said the council should withdraw the ordinance before discussing the traffic issues that prompted it.

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However, Quist-Demars questioned that decision, noting that the charter vests all legislative power in the council “unless otherwise provided.” She said it’s not clear that the charter prevents aldermen from taking road safety measures.

The company’s attorney, Anthony Casale, pointed out that the charter authorizes the police chief to install and maintain traffic control devices before recommending that Quist-Demars remove the measure to avoid “friction.” . Otherwise, he said the Council would have to “kill” the legislation.

“If this is something that the police chief agrees to from a public safety standpoint, then this order would be completely acceptable, but the police chief does not,” Casale said. “Without the consent of the chief, and with an objection from the chief regarding the public safety measure aspect, I would say that this is a direct violation of our charter.”

Police Chief John Thomas later rejected the proposal, saying traffic conditions in the area should be studied before considering such a change.

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“All of these things would have been discussed with Alderman Quist-Demars if she had contacted me in advance and told me about them. So, I have a problem with this just being put on the agenda without discussing it with me first,” Thomas said.

Meanwhile, Quist-Demars said she has already told Thomas about traffic safety concerns shared with her by Northampton Road residents. Her reaction and subsequent apparent lack of follow-up led her to propose the ordinance to bring the issue up for public debate.

“Our conversation that day did not lead me to believe that he was willing to discuss it any further. It’s been over a year since this happened. People told me they were disappointed that nothing was done and that I didn’t get any further action on this,” Quist-Demars said.

“I feel like one-on-one conversations and private discussions about these issues prevent the discussion from happening. The reasons not to discuss it will only pile up and I just wanted to make sure that was highlighted,” she added.

The draft ordinance submitted to the city clerk to place on the council’s agenda included favorable comments gathered from longtime Northampton Road residents concerned about increased traffic and excessive speeding over the years .

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Quist-Demars had already sent a letter and survey to residents concerned about the road. She shared details returned by a dozen respondents with the police chief.

Residents said motorists traveling downhill on Northampton from the Route 30 business corridor in the city of Amsterdam were often driving faster than the city’s 30 mph speed limit. They say excessive speed and tailgating make entering and exiting driveways difficult and sometimes dangerous.

The removal of a flashing traffic light at the intersection of Northampton Road and Van Dyke Avenue in recent years has made speeding problems worse, according to at least one resident. The light was still in place as of August 2021, but had been removed by August 2022 based on images of the intersection on Google Maps.

The police chief recommended the removal of flashing traffic lights at various intersections throughout the city through a June 2022 order. The lights were to be replaced with stop signs if necessary to save maintenance and construction costs. electricity.

The flashing yellow light signaling a warning on Northampton Road and the flashing red light signaling a stop on Van Dyke Avenue were not on the chief’s list of lights to be removed. It is unclear whether the deletion followed the proper procedure.

One resident, who asked that his name not be used to avoid potential conflict with other town residents, said speeding was a constant problem during the decades he lived on Northampton Road. He raised his concerns with authorities following a fatal road accident in October 2022.

“My wife took out the recyclable materials. It’s very disconcerting that she was standing 15 feet away from someone going 75 miles an hour. That was the end of the process for me,” the man said.

The police chief said the single-car crash was an isolated incident. The driver, Lisandro Garcia, was traveling at high speed when he allegedly thought he was fleeing the police. His passenger, Evelyn Y. Morales, died from her injuries sustained in the crash at the intersection of Northampton Road and Wilkes Avenue.

Garcia was later charged with second-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault, as well as drug-impaired driving.

“This is not the norm. It doesn’t happen all the time,” Thomas said. “It wouldn’t have mattered if there was a stop sign or not. That person would have crossed it and probably hit someone passing Van Dyke, because they would have thought he should stop, which is what we don’t want.

“You don’t want to suddenly put up a stop sign and have more accidents because of it,” he added.

Nonetheless, the neighborhood resident said authorities should study traffic conditions on Northampton Road and come up with calming measures.

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“I don’t really want to point fingers at anyone, but I’d like to fix something,” the man said. “It’s just way too fast.”

For his part, Cinquanti said he appreciated the work Quist-Demars did to gather residents’ concerns, but he didn’t receive that information until after the ordinance was released with the council’s agenda .

“Whenever an alderman has a question about an issue or has a citizen complaint from one of their residents, and I am made aware of that complaint or issue, I immediately try to respond to it,” said Fifty.

The city is apparently working on a project to purchase radar signs, using part of a recently awarded $99,000 state grant. One of the signs will likely be placed on Northampton Road. Thomas said police can also initiate roadside enforcement and other measures.

“I don’t think anyone was accusing Kelly of not being a team player. I consider her a very important member of city government and appreciate her contributions on all issues and topics as well as the experience she has as a public official,” Cinquanti said.

“She proposed a traffic ordinance that our police chief did not agree with and our charter gives the police chief the authority to implement and regulate traffic safety. Rather, I wanted her to first lead a discussion with the chief and council on these issues and let the chief propose an ordinance based on that discussion,” he continued.

Although she later declined to provide further details, Quist-Demars explained that she brought the ordinance, in part, because she was unaware of plans to address the traffic safety issue .

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“I just wasn’t informed or aware. I was told that if I wanted to bring something up in meetings, I had to do it and I won’t always be involved in things behind the scenes, so that’s what I did with it,” Quist said -Of March. .

Additionally, Quist-Demars suggested that the company’s attorney should review the board’s agenda before it was distributed, which could have allowed issues with the ordinance to be ironed out in advance. . The attorney is charged with performing these reviews by the city charter.

“I would emphasize that I have done everything possible to ensure that we operated to the right government standards and that I have been most willing to be a team player and the way I was treated during of this meeting was unacceptable,” Quist-Demars said. . “I didn’t deserve this.”