Village of Goshen Mayor Kyle Roddey to resign

BY ERIKA NORTON
GOSHEN — Village of Goshen Mayor Kyle Roddey plans to resign from his position as mayor due to his recent hiring as assistant principal at Goshen High School.
The mayor said it was an emotional decision for him, but that he wants to be able to devote himself fully to the students and the school community and doesn’t feel it would be appropriate to hold both positions.
“While I enjoy being the Mayor now as much I did in 2011 when I was first elected, I will have to resign in the next few months,” Roddey said in a statement. “I have never given this community less than my best and to hold both offices would make me unable to do so. I am thankful that I will be able to continue my service to Goshen in this new capacity as I return ‘home’ to the school that had such a tremendous impact on me.
“Being mayor has been the highlight of my life and I will greatly miss being on the Village Board and working with our team,” he continued. “Ultimately, however, I want to devote myself 100 percent to the students and families of the Goshen School District.
“In the near future I will know the date my resignation will take effect and I will want to reflect more deeply on this amazing journey, but for now I am thrilled to be joining the Gladiator Team.”
According to Roddey, the Board of Trustees will appoint someone from the board to take the position of mayor until the upcoming elections in March, when Roddey’s term would have ended. Once one of the trustees becomes the acting mayor, they will then appoint someone to fill the vacated trustee seat until the March election.
The new assistant principal position at the high school was created to fill Assistant Principal Patricia Pagnotta-Lercara’s leave of absence, according to online Goshen Board of Education meeting minutes.
Roddey’s salary will be $105,000 effective July 23, 2018 through June 30, 2019, with a tenure date of July 23, 2022 and a tenure area in General Administration. He has Initial SBL (School Building Leader) and Professional Social Studies 7-12 certifications.
At age 25, Roddey was elected the Village of Goshen’s youngest mayor and has held the position since 2011. His current four-year term was set to end in 2019.
Since 2013, Roddey has been teaching eighth-grade social studies at Twin Towers Middle School in the Middletown School District. He was also the acting dean of students at Twin Towers Middle School during an administrative internship.
As mayor, Roddey makes $23,000 a year. He made $75,000 as an eighth-grade social studies teacher in Middletown.
A lifelong Goshenite, Roddey grew up in the Village of Goshen and attended Goshen public schools. He earned a degree in history from Binghamton University and a masters in teaching social studies from Mount Saint Mary College.
The transitionRoddey said that he wants to make sure that when he steps down, the transition happens as smoothly as possible.
“I will be creating a turnover file for whoever follows me so they have a road map of various aspects of the job and background on key projects,” Roddey said.
Some of the village projects Roddey’s currently working on include a grant with the Town of Goshen to investigate consolidating the court departments and building departments. He also said he is hoping that the owners of the Goshen Plaza will submit site plans to the planning board soon, so he’s trying to facilitate that process in any way possible.
He said he’s also working on the Illuminate Goshen Concert Series and the auction for the painted trotters that will take place sometime in September.
Until he steps down, Roddey said the only decisions that he would not weigh in on would be any items related to the school district. The Board of Trustees and school district leadership have been working on a new SRO (school resource officer) agreement, but Roddey said he has recused himself from those discussions as it is a conflict.
On Wednesday morning, Roddey gave his final State of the Village Address to the Goshen Chamber.