A Little About Me

My name is Marcel Nagele. I'm seeking election to the Woodstock Town Board. Many of you already know me, but for those who don’t, I'd like to share a little of my background and reasons for running.

I was raised in West Hurley, in a working-class family with five children, so I understand the struggles that working class families go through. Dad was a factory worker, who suffered several heart attacks and went out on permanent disability when I was in my mid-teens. Mom worked as a personal care assistant for several elderly people, and at the age of twelve I began helping one of her clients two hours each day after school and on Saturdays. He was a retired attorney, going blind, and I became his eyes, becoming his driver and handling his affairs. I earned his trust over the sixteen years I worked for him, so much so that he gave me full Power of Attorney when I was in my mid-twenties. I've also been fortunate enough to work for several other elderly people through the years. From a young age, my parents and various older folks I've worked for instilled in me the need to maintain the highest level of integrity possible and the commitment to help people.

At eighteen years of age, I also began working for The Woodstock Guild of Craftsmen, Inc., which is now known as the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild. Another great older gentleman taught me the ropes of all things Byrdcliffe, with its antiquated systems and buildings, and after just a few years I became the Property Manager. I worked for Byrdcliffe for twenty-two years, and understand hard work and dedication.

At the same time, I began operating my own businesses of one form or another: a tree service business that ended in tragedy, some additional property management and rental ownership, an extensive snowplowing business, and a trucking, excavation and grading business most recently known as Woodstock Dirtworks, LLC. I understand the responsibility and ethical requirements of running a business.

My first civic involvement began in 2018, over the site that became the Selina Hotel. It was being developed on a contiguous property to where I reside. The project was not only disruptive to my neighbors, with ear-splitting noise and blinding lights, it was, I discovered, an illegal site development. My associate and I contacted the Town with legitimate concerns that were just ignored. It quickly became evident we needed to hire an attorney. The responses we received from the Zoning Department and Supervisor McKenna, whom I knew little of at the time, ranged from avoidance to misleading information. This matter could have been resolved with a phone call. Instead, we spent more than twenty-five thousand dollars in legal fees simply to get the Town to enforce its own laws. In exchange I received a valuable, eye-opening education in how things go down in our Town. Ultimately, we prevailed and the project was shut down. Little did I know how invaluable that experience would become.

I became involved in the Shady Dump scandal by accident. I had run into Frank Eighmey twice, and upon hearing about the problem he was facing, asked him with some irony, “Is Bill McKenna taking care of you?’ His response to that question was beyond negative and impacted me greatly. In April of 2023, I attended a Town Board meeting and realized the Eighmey's were being treated in a manner all too familiar and unfair, and at that moment I had to get involved. I encouraged Frank to change attorneys, and after the Zoning Board of Appeals didn't provide required relief action, the Eighmey's were forced to initiate a lawsuit to invalidate the permit for the infamous “Plan E,” an illegal substitute for the proper and required remediation that Supervisor McKenna had promised. Ultimately, they were successful in having it vacated and annulled by the court. A second suit including the Town was initiated, but the Town was ultimately released, simply because, and here’s the kicker, there isn't a requirement for the Town to enforce its own laws. I have since become deeply involved in the Shady Dump issue, challenging the Town Board and providing documentation and transparency to the people of Woodstock.

The Shady Dump matter, in turn, drew me to the newly formed civic group Woodstockers United for Change, with which I've not only continued my commitment to remediating the Shady Dump, but have become involved in researching the PFOS contamination of our drinking water and helping inform the public of the facts and dangers, which the Town has largely not provided. In fact, I helped identify several errors in professionally prepared town water reports that required amendments due to our findings. We organized an unfiltered and well received Citizens’ Town Hall on Water, to counter a previous one organized by a Town Board Member which contained censorship and misinformation, and continue to work on these and other issues that affect the health, safety and rights of our citizens.

First and foremost, I intend to bring to the Town Board the integrity, transparency and civility which I believe our Town is in desperate need of. I would work toward assuring Woodstock laws and democratic procedures are followed, and power grabs, nepotism and micromanaging are ended.

Specifically, I commit to trying to accomplish the following:

1. Reinstitute professionally operating Environmental and Human Rights Commissions, advisory bodies that would speak to power rather than collaborate with it.

2. Require enforcement of our zoning and solid waste laws, and move toward remediation of the Shady Dump through the necessary enforcement of the law, assuring that the cost will ultimately be paid by the property owner.

3. Establish a fully independent and professional quarterly municipal water testing plan and implement a professionally-advised source tracing plan to determine where the PFOS or other potential contamination is coming from.

4. Shed light on how the dissemination and archiving of information is currently handled and offer a much-needed fix to continual problems.

5. Work to institute necessary policy changes regarding personnel issues to assure a discrimination and harassment free workplace, and establish a designated protocol for proper independent investigations of all allegations of abuse of policy.

6. Institute a new, fair and proper employee performance review program to assure efficiency in our workforce.

7. Be a strong, unyielding voice in representing all Woodstockers, especially the most needy and vulnerable among us.

In my life, I have worked with and built relationships with people of all backgrounds and social status. I can relate to the challenges any of you may be going through, and will always be approachable, empathetic, and responsive. I’m a problem solver, and I’m committed to doing the work to heal divisions, restore trust, and put the Town we love back on the right course. Thank you for listening.

A Little About Me

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