Members
Commissioner Selection Process - The Commission shall consist of 11 qualified electors of Ulster County and representing the different geographic areas and reflective of the demographic diversity of the County, with five members appointed by the County Executive, three members to be appointed by the leader of the party in the Legislature with the most members, and three members by the leader of the party in the Legislature with the second most members. No appointee to this Commission shall be a County employee or elected official at the time he or she serves on this Commission.
Commissioner Bios
Cynthia Lowe - Chairperson
From November, 2007 thru June, 2011 Cynthia Lowe was the Vice President - Ulster for the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley. Prior to that position she was a member of the senior management of a community bank in Orange County for fifteen years. She is a Certified Public Accountant and was a practicing accountant In Kingston for ten years. Currently Cynthia is the voluntary Chair of the Board of HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley. She also volunteered her time to the Ulster County Commission on Reapportionment and is a member of the Kingston Sunrise Rotary Cub. Cynthia and her husband Glenn Sutherland have lived in the Town of Ulster for over 20 years.
Michael E. Catalinatto - Senior partner of the Albany and Saugerties law firm of Maynard, O'Connor, Smith & Catalinotto. He is admitted to practice in the State of New York and is a member of the New York State, American, Albany County and Ulster County Bar Associations. Catalinotto is a graduate of New York University and the Columbia Law School.
He is a former member of the New York State Advisory Committee on the Civil Practice Law and Rules, and the College Council of the State University of New York at New Paltz and is a former chairman of the Kingston Hospital Board of Trustees.
An active member of the Saugerties community, he is a former town justice, town attorney and former member of the Ulster County Ethics Committee. He has served as president of the Saugerties Rotary Club and member and advocate of the Saugerties Council of the Knights of Columbus, the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce and the Saugerties Area Chamber of Commerce.
Rod Futerfas - Born Jersey City, New Jersey, June 27, 1958; admitted to bar, 1974, New York.
Education: Syracuse University (B.S., 1970); University of San Francisco and Albany Law School (J.D., 1973) Ulster County Assistant Attorney County Attorney, 1979-1980. Director: United Cerebral Palsy of Ulster County, 1980-;
Woodstock Fire Company No. 5 Emergency Rescue Squad, Inc., 1977-2005. Special Town Attorney, Town of Woodstock, 1980-1992, Town Attorney, 1996-1999, 2006-; Town Attorney for the Town of Denning, 2002-; Town Attorney for the Town of Rochester, 2006-2007. Member: New York State Bar Association.
Practice Areas: Municipal Law; Real Estate Law; Zoning Law; Civil Litigation; Adoptions.
Thomas Kadgen - of Shokan, has been a citizen activist since 2000. Previously served on The Community Service Board and Criminal Justice Council for Ulster County. Graduate of SUNY in Human Services. Retired Case Manager of Ulster County's Community Corrections Program and member of The League of women voters.
Jay A. Kaplan - Born: February 4, 1948 in Brooklyn, New York
Marital Status: Married to Janice Kaplan since July, 1973
Children: Two, Caroline Kaplan and Lindsay Kaplan
Education: University of Pittsburgh, B.A. 1969; Boston University School of Law, J.D. 1972
Current Employment: Private law practice, Jay A. Kaplan, P.C., 24 John Street, Kingston, New York 12401, Tel # 845-331-3258
Professional Career: Admitted to the New York Bar, 1973; Admitted to the Federal Bar for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1973 and for the Northern District of New York in 1984. Staff Attorney for the Legal Aid Society for the City of New York, 1972-1976; supervisor, Youth Court (non-management) 1974-75, Senior Trial Attorney, 1975-76; private practice, Kingston, New York, 1976-present: Jay A. Kaplan, Esq. 1976-79, 1981-1987; Engel & Kaplan, 1980-1981; Kaplan & Franzman, 1988-89; Jay A. Kaplan, P.C. 1990-present [f/k/a Samoff, Kaplan, Benton & Franzman, P.C. (1990-1998) and Kaplan & Franzman, P.C. (1998-2005)]; Office of the Public Defender, 1980 (first Public Defender of Ulster County, appointed by the Ulster County Legislature in 1979, organized and administered this newly created government office until end of 1980; Ulster County (Board of Directors, 1992-1995) and New York State Bar Associations, 1976-present; New York State Trial Lawyers Association, 1982-2003.
Community Service: Mid-Hudson Health Maintenance Task Force, 1983-1986, Mid-Hudson Health Plan 1985-86, Treasurer, 1985-1986; United Jewish Appeal, greater Kingston campaign chair, 1987; Jewish Federation of Greater Kingston, Inc., President, 1985-87; scholarship chair or co-chair, 1988-2005; Mid-Hudson Senior Baseball League, co-founder, 1987-1993; Kingston Lions Club, 1978-1981, scholarship chair, 1980-81.
Joan Lawrence - Bauer has more than 35 years of field experience in business ownership and management, outreach and development and writing and teaching endeavors. Having started her career with a retail department store, she has worked in and with multiple major industry groups spanning for profit, not for profit and government sectors. Her background includes work in the field of health, housing and education as well as travel and tourism, manufacturing, retail, direct mail, and insurance and financial services.
Lawrence-Bauer has lectured extensively in Communication and Media studies at the SUNY College at New Paltz and Ulster County Community College and in Marketing and Networking classes at SUNY New Paltz School of Business. Her research and development of a health communication campaign, co-authored with Dr. Mary Kahl, has been published in a textbook, Evaluating Women's Health Messages, edited by R. L. Parrott and C.M. Condit. An award-winning journalist, Lawrence-Bauer wrote "Down to Business," a weekly newspaper column for the Catskill Mountain News, for seven years.
Most recently, Lawrence-Bauer has served as the Director of Communication and Resource Development for Rural Ulster Preservation Company (RUPCO) where she has merged traditional and new media approaches to better reach and serve the needs of clients, funders, public officials and other related service agencies. She has developed and directed outreach campaigns for each of five different "business lines" helping to increase the agencies visibility among all audiences and increase the number of clients seeking RUPCO assistance.
Lawrence-Bauer is a past board member of both the Ulster County Development Corporation and the Delaware County Industrial Development Agency, a past board chair of the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce and Past President of Ski the Catskills. She served as a board member of the Margaretville Memorial Hospital and as an Interim Executive Director of the Ulster County YWCA. She currently serves on the Business Advisory Council of the SUNY New Paltz School of Business. Lawrence-Bauer has lived in Oliverea, NY for 25 years.
James McGarry - I am a life-long resident of Ulster County, currently residing in Ruby, excepting four years in the US Navy and three years in law school. I am a graduate of Kingston High, Ulster Community College, SUNY New Paltz and Albany Law School (from which I graduated in 1977.) While at New Paltz I majored in Sociology with a minor in Political Science. I have been a member of numerous civic, fraternal, youth oriented and social organizations. Retired now, I devote a substantial amount of time to civic affairs through memberships in the League of Women Voters and the World Affairs Council and to choral singing.
My early legal practice covered an array of general practice fields and I was an attorney in the office of the City of Kingston Corporation Counsel. Later, my area of concentration turned to children and family law in the second portion of my practice and I was, for 12 years, an attorney for the Ulster County Department of Social Services, 9 of which were as the supervising attorney.
While once I was an active member of a political party and engaged in the political process, I have been completely removed from the political fray for well over 20 years.
Michael Moriello - Michael is an attorney and partner in the Kingston law firm of Riseley & Moriello, PLLC, which specializes in real estate development, environmental law and commercial transactions. He is also an owner/operator of Apple Hill Farm, a multi-generational family farm and market located in New Paltz. Michael resides in New Paltz with his wife Jean.
Thomas M. Rocco, PhD -
Consultant, Innovation in Higher Education (current)
Provost, Hellenic American University, Athens, Greece (2005-2008)
President, Granite State College, New Hampshire (2001-2004)
President, Leadership Institute of Seattle (1998-2001) concurrently: Dean, Applied Behavioral Science, Bastyr University (Seattle)
Dean, SUNY Empire State College, (1983-1998)
Associate Dean, School of New Resources, College of New Rochelle, (1974-76, 1977-1983)
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, (1969-1977)
Community activities:
Village of New Paltz Planning Board (2008-present)
Village of New Paltz Comprehensive Plan Review Task Force, Chair (2010-present)
Town of New Paltz Democratic Party Committee, District 4 (2008-Present)
Leif Spencer - Resides in Wallkill NY with my wife Debra and 3 children.
Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice.
Employed for the past 22 yrs with the Town of Newburgh PD. Currently hold the rank of sergeant and assigned as the supervisor of the detective bureau. I am also assigned as the Program Manager for the New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation Program.
Former Secretary of the Town of Newburgh PBA.
Held the position of Committee Chairman and Cubmaster for Cub Scout Pack 76 in Wallkill.
Former Vice President of the Southern Ulster Futbal Club travel soccer program.
Richard T. Cahill Jr
EDUCATION:
EXPERIENCE:
- Major Crimes Unit (1997 to 1998)
- Narcotics and Gang Violence Unit (1998 to 1999)
HONORS AND ACTIVITIES: