Outrage is growing after members of a planning board for the upstate New York town of New Paltz voted 4-3 against reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before meetings after one member called it a “total waste of time.”

The New York Post is reporting on the controversy which began last Monday when board member Amy Cohen introduced a motion to recite the Pledge at future bi-monthly meetings as a show of respect.

Cohen, a local business owner and former mayoral candidate, said she had been contacted by several veterans and “many community members” with the suggestion.

“This is a government building, we have a flag here,” Cohen told fellow board members. “Personally, coming in off the street to do our governance . . . I feel that it helps me kind of transition.”

Surprisingly, some board members voiced opposition to the idea.

“To me, it’s a total waste of time,” said Vice Chair Lyle Nolan. “It’s a pressure type of thing, because if you don’t stand, it looks like you’re against it and I don’t think we need that. We’re all adults. We’re all here to do a job.”

Board member Lagusta Yearwood also objected, calling the pledge a “funny little thing.”

“I love this country, I don’t see any reason to say a pledge to it,” she said, claiming that reciting an oath to the US flag “goes against the principles this country was founded on.”

But the Pledge did have its backers, such as board member Adele Ruger who said it wouldn’t hurt to recite the oath. “It literally takes 15 seconds.

When the idea was put to a vote, recitation of the Pledge was killed by a 4-3 margin.

Board member Michael Zierler, who sided with those against recitation of the Pledge, said he feared it would divide the board.

“If we’re going to do it and some people choose not to . . . that creates a wedge,” he said.

The locals aren’t happy with their decision, however, particularly veteran groups.

Dietrich Orris, an Iraq War vet and junior vice commander of New Paltz’s VFW Post 8645 expressed his dissatisfaction with the vote.

“It is unfortunate that members of the planning board misinterpret our nation’s Pledge as divisive rather than unifying. We can only hope that the dissenting members choose to re-evaluate their position and support the time-honored tradition that we hold so dearly,” he told The Post in an e-mail.

Andrew Heaney, a local Republican congressional candidate, was also outraged.

“We either have a country, or we don’t. It’s shocking that an elected official won’t take the 15 seconds required to put their hand over their heart and recite the Pledge of Allegiance,” he said.

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