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Chatham Town Board adopts anti-hate resolution, bids farewell to two members
Emilia Teasdale is reporting for The Columbia Paper the Chatham Town Board unanimously approved a Resolution Against Hate at its regular board meeting on December 16. The resolution was also adopted by the Columbia County Board of Supervisors in July, and the town of New Lebanon in May. Board member Kevin Weldon brought the resolution to the board for consideration. The resolution begins, “whereas recently as a nation we have witnessed record high violence based upon a person’s religion, race, gender identities, sexual orientation, nationalities, economic status and political affiliation” and concludes, “[the town board] reaffirms its commitment to a status of inclusion for all races, religions, nationalities, gender identities, sexual orientations, economic statuses and political affiliations… and on behalf of all residents of the town of Chatham, we maintain our position that violence of any kind is unacceptable …” December 16 was the last regular board meeting for members Weldon and John Wapner. Neither man sought re-election. Weldon has served on the board for four years and was involved with the Climate Smart Task Force and the town Recreation Committee. Wapner was appointed in early 2015 and subsequently elected in 2017. He also was involved in the Recreation Committee and upgrades at Crellin Park and working with the Morris Memorial to identify a new home for the Morris’s recreation program. Town Supervisor Donal Collins thanked them both and said he appreciated all their work pointing out, “We got the town through an early part of a pandemic.” Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.