Keeping the developers at bay and out of Roosevelt
Outgoing councilman remembers battles borough fought and won
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

Roosevelt

ROOSEVELT - There's a sign over Mike Hamilton's desk that reads "It's not about you."

Hamilton, who decided not to run for re-election last year after serving four years as mayor and three years on the Borough Council, said the sign expresses his thoughts on public service.

Without Hamilton's service, Roosevelt might look like a very different place now. When he first took office in 2000, Hamilton defeated a two-term incumbent mayor, Lee Allen, and became the only new person on a council with intentions to bring more development to Roosevelt.

"The community sentiment was not to [develop]," Hamilton said. "That's why I was elected."

Hamilton and his supporters researched the costs of development, including schools and services. Their research showed that development is not cost-effective and that preserving open space does not have the costs associated with development.

"We turned it around with the support of the town, educating people on the pros and cons of development," he said.

At that time, the small historic community had two developers interested in building in the town. One, Matzel & Mumford, wanted to build 66 houses. The other, U.S. Home, which Hamilton referred to as "Goliath," would have put 350 units in the borough, which would have doubled the size of Roosevelt.

To defeat the development proposals, Hamilton said a committee of the "most creative, bright people," in town got together.

"My job was to invite everybody to participate," he said.

Hamilton said the litigation regarding the U.S. Home application lasted for several years. During that time, the town's own land trust, the Fund for Roosevelt, worked with state and county agencies to preserve land.

"That had a lot to do with the defeat of U.S. Home," he said.

Hamilton called the Fund for Roosevelt's preservation efforts "a second front" against U.S. Home, noting how unusual it is for a town of 1,000 people to have its own land trust. Hardly any private money went into preservation, with most of the money coming from grants and other funding, he said.

"We proved we could work with people in town with common goals," he said.

Hamilton helped the borough fight off another "Goliath" even prior to its victory against U.S. Home. He first got involved in borough affairs in 1996, when the state wanted to find a place to store low-level nuclear waste and was considering Roosevelt as a site for it.

According to Hamilton, the carrot the state dangled in front of the borough in the nuclear waste situation was that the town would not have to pay any taxes in return for storing the waste.

Hamilton said the nuclear waste issue back then was as divisive as the yeshiva issue is today.

"We did our research and [found that] what they're not telling us would hurt us," he recalled of the former issue.

The yeshiva controversy started in 2005 when Yeshiva Me'on Hatorah, a group from Riverdale, N.Y., opened a school for Orthodox Jewish high school-aged boys in the synagogue on Homestead Lane. The borough's Planning Board later determined that the school was not operating in accordance to borough ordinances.

Hamilton said that the synagogue had been a community institution, but some longtime members were kicked out when they disagreed with the yeshiva's plans.

With regard to the yeshiva issue, Hamilton said people must be tolerant of their setting and community values. He said people must respect zoning laws and that the town is on the National Register of Historic Places.

"People who don't respect zoning don't respect our culture," he said.

Hamilton said that the town's roots go back to the New Deal, as well as to cooperatives such as the store and the factory that once existed in Roosevelt.

"We were called a 'Commie' town but were really a cooperative town," he said.

Hamilton said some residents take offense when groups are not tolerant of the town's cooperative spirit.

"Tolerance is a two-way street," he said.

Hamilton said he always considered himself a facilitator.

"Public service is about the town, not personal gain," he said.

Hamilton said public officials must learn to roll with the punches, especially in a small town.

"My father said, 'You don't have to go to every fight you're invited to,' " he said.

Reflecting upon his time in office, Hamilton said he got out of it as much as he put in. He said there is a great deal to learn from public service for those "who do it in earnest so it's not about them."

Hamilton, who is a mental-health counselor, said that for as long as he lives in Roosevelt, he will continue his involvement in the community, though at the moment he does not know in what capacity that will be. He also just got a new job, he said, which he wants to concentrate on now as he gets established.