KINGSTON – Several elected officials in Ulster County are calling
for the county family court to be kept in Kingston.
The state wants it to move to more sufficient facilities and the county
administration has considered the Business Resource Center on Ulster Avenue
in the Town of Ulster.
But, county legislators Like David Donald Donaldson said it should be
retained in the city since Kingston in the county seat. And he noted moving
it out of the city would require a county-wide voter referendum.
Donaldson pointed to a concentration of county facilities and lawyers’
offices in Uptown Kingston, saying family court is “key to the success
of many of the businesses in the area.”
Fellow lawmaker John Parete said the Kingston School District’s
Cione Building is for sale and could be explored as an alternative and
Donaldson also said other options are the Kingston Plaza and the site
of the former parking garage. And he said the Kingston City Court, which
the state would also like to see relocated, could move into the same location
and family court and that would comply with the governor’s desires
for government consolidations wherever possible.
Former Mayor James Sottile said Uptown Kingston “is definitely where
it belongs.”
Kingston Alderman Brad Will said it would be “unjustly served by
a proposed, highly disruptive relocation of the county family court out
of the heart of Kingston.”
