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1. Stuart Buchanan
Voting designee to the APA Commission, representing the Commissioner
of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC), who is appointed by Gov. Pataki. Mr. Buchanan is director
of DEC Region 5, which is headquartered in Ray Brook. |
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2. Katherine Osborn Roberts
APA Commissioner. Democrat. One of Gov. Pataki’s first three
appointments, in 1995. A Putnam County neighbor of Pataki, Ms.
Roberts was a teacher at the Spence School, a school principal,
and an investment analyst at INA Corp, Philadelphia. At the time
of her appointment she was executive director and a member of
the board of directors of the Open Space Institute (OSI), which
is a wealthy land trust created by the Rockefeller’s environmental
litigation arm, the Natural Resources Defenses Council, to be
a repository of settlements won from “citizen suits.”
OSI coordinates with DEC to acquire private land for environmental
preservation, originally in lower New York, especially the Hudson
Valley and surrounding highlands Now, however, OSI is active
in acquiring land in the Adirondacks. Ms. Roberts was also a
member of the board of directors of the Hudson Highlands Land
Trust, another non-profit dedicated to acquisition of private
land. This land trust became extremely wealthy from the legacy
that Laurence Rockefeller procured from the couple who founded
Reader’s Digest during their final days. |
JUST APPOINTED
photo:Adirondack Park Agency |
3. Vacant Seat
February 2002: Deanne Rehm Appointed to Long-Vacant APA Seat
After over a decade, every one of the eleven Commissioners
seats on the Adirondack Park Agency is finally filled, with the
confirmation by the State Senate of former Bolton supervisor
Deanne Rehm. Appointed by Governor Pataki to one of the “in-park”
seats that must be filled by a local resident, Ms. Rehm previously
served three terms as the Bolton supervisor, and also for many
years as an assessor for towns in the Adirondacks. She is currently
assessor for the town where she was born, Lake Luzerne, which
is also in Warren County.
In an interview recorded in The Adirondack Journal, Ms.
Rehm said that she thought that the southeastern part of the
park is not very well represented on the APA, and that she has
a particular interest in seeing that northern Warren County,
Northern Saratoga County, and Essex County have good representation.
She said that she understands the needs of the people not only
to live in the park, but to make a living as well. To that end,
she was reported to say, “I have indicated an interest in
the economic development initiative committee.” |
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4. Cecil Wray
APA Commissioner. Appointed in 1999 by Gov. Pataki, Mr. Wray
is a Democrat. He lives in Manhattan, where he is “of counsel”
with the corporate law firm of Debevoise and Plimpton. He has
a weekend home in the exclusive town of Garrison on the lower
Hudson, where Pataki lives, as well as a third home in Keene
Valley. He is a member of the board of directors of the extremely
wealthy Hudson Highlands Land Trust, where APA Commissioner Katherine
Roberts also served. When appointed to the APA he resigned from
his position at the time on the board of directors of the Adirondack
Council, a powerful organization that lobbies for extreme preservation
of the Adirondacks. He once served as law clerk to U.S. Supreme
Court Justice Tom C. Clark. |
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5. Frank Mezzano
APA Commissioner-Park resident. Appointed in 1998 by Gov. Pataki.
Mr. Mezzano, a Republican, was the supervisor on the Town of
Lake Pleasant and a member of the Hamilton County Board of Supervisors.
He owns Speculator Department Store and is the director of Colonial
Health Care Corp. of Nathan Litthauer Hospital and Nursing Home. |
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6. Barbara Rottier
Acting Counsel to the APA. She was previously Associate Counsel
for many years. Ms. Rottier is on the board of directors and
treasurer of New York Rivers United, a Rome, N.Y.-based non-profit
organization affiliated with large national environmental organization
American Rivers, Inc. According to their official IRS statement,
the mission of New York Rivers United is the “preservation,
protection and enhancement of river resources in New York State.” |
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7. Daniel T. Fitts
Executive Director of the APA. He was appointed by Gov. Pataki
as Acting Executive Director in 1995, and became full executive
director in January 1996. In September 1999, the Hamilton
County News quoted Mr. Fitts: “We feel that for far
too long the tables have not been as level as they should and
that locals have not had the say they should be allowed. The
entire agency agrees this opportunity should be given.” |
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8. Richard H. Lefebvre
Chairman of the APA Commission when this photo was taken on August
9, 2001. Retired in
November 2002. He is a Park resident and a Republican. Gov. Cuomo
appointed him in 1993 over the objections of environmentalists
and Gov. Pataki made him Chairman in 1998. Retired from the position
of speech pathologist at the Gloversville School District, Mr.
Lefebvre lives on Canada Lake in the town of Caroga Lake. He
represented Gov. Pataki in the first delegation to the Italian
Abruzzo Park, which, under Mr. Lefebvre’s leadership, the
APA “twinned” to the Adirondack Park to promote wolf
reintroduction in New York. In August 1999, the Hamilton County
News ran an article with the theme that “Lefebvre hopes
his legacy at the park agency will be more communication and
cooperation.” Mr. Lefebvre stated that Gov. Pataki appointed
him to “find that sensible balance.” |
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9. William H. Kissel
APA Commissioner. A Park resident appointee, Mr. Kissel is a
Republican and lives in Lake Placid. He was appointed by Gov.
Pataki in 1999. The owner of a law firm in Lake Placid, Mr. Kissel
is the author of professional journal articles favorable to APA
zoning. A former APA General Counsel, Mr. Kissel was once associate
counsel to the Senate Codes Committee. He was counsel to the
New York State Olympic Regional Development Committee and the
1980 Olympic Games, Inc. |
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10. James T. Townsend
APA Commissioner. Mr. Townsend is a Republican and resides in
Rochester. He is a partner in the Rochester law firm of Remington,
Gifford, Williams and Collichio, a general practice law firm
specializing in corporate, business, and real estate law. He
is considered an Adirondack “Forty-sixer,” having climbed
the major peaks of the mountain range. |
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11. Douglas Schelling
Voting designee to the APA Commission representing the Commissioner
of the New York State Department of Economic Development, who
is appointed by Gov. Pataki. |
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12. Hon. James King
Voting designee to the APA Commission representing the New York
State Secretary of State, who is appointed by Gov. Pataki. Mr.
King is a retired New York State Assemblyman, whose district
included part of the Adirondack Park. After later becoming a
New York State Supreme Court Judge in Plattsburgh, Clinton County,
Mr. King is now the Chief Counsel of the Department of State. |
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13. James C. Frenette
An APA Commissioner when this photo was taken on August 9, 2001.
Governor Pataki appointed Mr. Frenette as Interim Chairman of
the APA Commission early in December 2002, and he served until
May 9, 2003, when he announced his retirement after over ten
years on the agency.
“I came to the agency as one kind of person and left as
another,” he said during his parting remarks.
“You changed my thinking on a lot of things and I hope I’ve
changed the agency on others.”
APA Commissioner. A Democrat, Mr. Frenette is an in-Park commissioner,
residing in Tupper Lake, Franklin County. Gov. Cuomo appointed
him to the APA in 1992, when he filled a vacancy that had existed
since 1987. He was the APA’s first new designee since 1984.
Retired as a member of the Franklin County Board of Legislatures,
he was also a teacher, town councilman, and town justice. |
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14. Joseph Rota
Executive Director, Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board.
Mr. Rota resides in Huletts Landing, which is in the town of
Dresden. He was town supervisor for twelve years and served as
chairman of the Washington County Board of Supervisors. The Review
Board is a monitoring agency that was created in 1973. Like the
requirement for five local appointees to the APA commission,
the establishment of Review Board was one of the compromise measures
won by then-Assemblyman Glenn Harris, allowing Gov. Rockefeller
to get the final Adirondack Park Agency Act enacted by the Legislature.
Mr. Rota has no vote on the APA Commission, but is allowed to
sit at the table with the commissioners and to participate in
the debate. The Review Board publishes an annual report to the
Legislature evaluating the APA. |
