A week after Town of Plattekill Supervisor Jennifer Salemo said she wouldn’t seek a second two-year term in November, Republican Party officials have endorsed Councilman Dean DePew Sr. to run for the job.

Salemo, a Republican, announced on April 6 that she wouldn’t seek re-election due to business commitments at the Turtle Creek Golf Course on Plattekill Ardonia Road. Salemo, who is the co-owner and general manager of the nine-hole golf course, said she decided she couldn’t devote the time necessary to hold office after a sale of her business fell through.

The Plattekill Republican Committee chose DePew to run at a meeting last Wednesday at Turtle Creek.

The committee also endorsed incumbent Kevin Roberts (District 12-Plattekill) and Phil Johnson (District 16-Plattekill/Gardiner) to run for two-year terms on the Ulster County Legislature. District 16 is a newly created district due to reapportionment.

Incumbent Plattekill Councilman Wilfrido Castillo Jr. and newcomer Joe Hoppenstedt were endorsed to run for four-year Town Board seats. The terms for Castillo and Councilman William Kras, who chose not to seek re-election, are up at the end of 2023.

Deputy Town Clerk Sarah Nelson was endorsed for Town Clerk. Current Town Clerk Donna Hedrick, will retire at the end of this year, according to DePew.

DePew was first appointed to the Town Board in 2013 to fill a vacancy. He won four elections to retain his seat including one in November 2019 after he was forced to resign due to stipulations in his state retirement from the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

DePew is serving his second year of a four-year term on the Town Board. If he is elected supervisor, the board will have to appoint a replacement to serve for one year in 2024.

DePew said his top priority is to protect the taxpayers of the community.

“I firmly believe wholeheartedly that 10 dollars in somebody’s pocket can change their world,” he said. “My main goal is to keep as much money in the pockets of everybody as I possibly can.”

DePew said he is nonpartisan when it comes to serving the residents of the town.

“I don’t feel I represent just the Republicans or Conservatives in town,” he said. “I feel like I represent everybody and would appreciate everybody’s vote.”

DePew has been very outspoken against the proposed landfill in the town. The board hired the Walden law firm J&G Law to fight the landfill and the board has passed a resolution opposing it.

Although Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency (UCRRA) Executive Director Greg Ollivier told the board that a report commissioned by the agency that located two possible landfill sites in Plattekill would not be used to determine the location of a landfill, DePew said the town needs to strongly oppose any future landfill in Plattekill.

“We’re strongly in opposition to a landfill and will try to get those (possible sites) removed from the list,” he said.