Dutchess County candidates

 DUTCHESS COUNTY — Several offices are open at the county level this election season, including executive, clerk and, relevant to the Harlem Valley, legislators for districts 19 and 25.

 County Executive

Incumbent Republican Marcus Molinaro is seeking re-election for the county’s highest office.

Molinaro is at the end of his first four-year term as executive.

Of his tenure so far, the incumbent cites accomplishments in strengthening the county’s financial stability.

“Over the four years, we closed a $40 million budget gap, we replenished the county’s fund balance — the rainy day account — and we secured the second highest bond rating in the state of New York, Moody’s.”

The executive also noted efforts in consolidating the county government — shrinking the number of departments and maintaining the smallest workforce in 32 years, according to Molinaro.

“Particular to your readers, we focused on diversification in the workforce and revitalization in hamlet centers,” he added. 

Molinaro noted passage of this year’s Agriculture & Farmland Protection Plan, which “protects and preserves active farmland and expanded our financial commitment to supporting farming.”

If re-elected, the candidate said he’ll continue to focus on city and hamlet center improvements, as well as agricultural ones.

“We will have a very strong focus on economic growth that sustains and develops the unique characteristics of the Harlem Valley,” he said.

“More broadly, we’ll continue efforts to enhance the effectiveness of government — shared services, working with towns, villages and cities to drive down total cost of government,” he added.

The candidate took a moment in his interview to express fondness for the Harlem Valley, which he was once a representative for in the New York State Assembly.

“I love what the Harlem Valley is in Dutchess County,” he said. “Frankly, we need to do more to support the community and help to ensure the highest quality of living in eastern Dutchess County.”

Molinaro is also running on Independence, Conservative and Reform party lines.

Running against Molinaro is Democratic candidate Diane Jablonski, former county comptroller from 2006 to 2009.

The candidate said that experience as comptroller is a major qualification for her bid.

“As comptroller I had the opportunity to do a lot of audits, the expenditures of county funds,” she said. “I uncovered a lot of issues and concerns,” including $5 million in standing claims.

“I got an incredibly good understanding of Dutchess County, how it works, its financial structure … and the challenges they have in meeting the needs of the voters,” she said.

If elected, Jablonski said she’d like to focus on job opportunities “across the county not just on the river edge, but in the Harlem Valley as well.”

“I think that the major concern all across Dutchess County is in the economic environment that we currently have, we see a lot of foreclosures, we see that people aren’t able to get jobs that allow them a living wage,” the Democrat said. 

The candidate offered training programs as part of the solution.

Another concern Jablonski holds is the prospect of a new Dutchess County Jail.

“While the county executive has refused to give an estimate of that, he has signed a memorandum with the New York State Department of Corrections to break next June,” she said.

The candidate referenced a 2012 estimate for a new jail that projected $200 million. 

“A $200 million jail would triple the county’s debt,” she said. “We’ve already been cutting services; adding another $10 million in costs would put an undue hardship on all of the taxpayers.”

Instead, the Democrat said she’d focus on mental health and substance abuse services to reduce incrimination and the need for a new jail.

Jablonski is also running on Working Families and Green party lines.

 County Clerk

Incumbent Republican Brad Kendall is seeking re-election as Dutchess County clerk.

Kendall is near the end of his second full four-year term. Before that, he fulfilled an unexpired term in 2007.

Prior to his tenure as clerk, the candidate served as chair of the Dutchess County Legislature from 2000 to 2006. He was first elected to that government body in 1993, representing Dover.

Of his current role, Kendall cites increased productivity throughout the county clerk’s office.

“Our costs are actually 10 percent lower in 2014 than they were in 2007,” he said. “And we’ve improved customer satisfaction tremendously.”

The candidate said the latter is in part due to increased accessibility in the office and online.

If re-elected, the clerk intends to offer customers the ability to pay for transactions by credit card, as well as the ability to record land documents electronically.

Additionally, Kendall said, he has plans to continue digitizing the county’s court documents from the 18th and 19th centuries, funded by three state grants.

“One thing that I’ve brought to the clerk’s office is private sector experience,” the candidate added. Previously Kendall worked in the home building industry.

“It reminds me every day how hard people wok to pay for government services, so we want to be as efficient as possible.”

Kendall is also running on Independence, Conservative and Reform lines.

Opposing Kendall is Democratic candidate Mary Williams, current president of the Dutchess Democratic Women’s Caucus.

Williams’ motivation to run comes from a desire to make a difference, she said. 

“I look at the office of county clerk, I see that not much has changed, in fact things have gotten worse in some cases,” she said.

“I think we need credible opposition to call out the problems,” she added. “I’m running to enhance the services for residents of Dutchess County.”

Williams said she offers technology experience from IBM and other agencies, as well as financial skills from her role as treasurer of New York Yearly Meeting, a Quaker organization. 

If elected, the candidate has plans to expand access to Department of Motor Vehicles offices.

“My position is we should have expanded hours,” she said. “We should have early morning hours and at least one day late hours, and we should have a Saturday,” she said.

Williams is also keen on digitizing county records.

“So we do have our records digitized — some of them, but not nearly enough,” the candidate said, adding that she’d like to see the office downsize its warehouse storage. 

Another area Willaims wants to see adjusted is the protocol in which public meets with the clerk’s office.

“In a lot of counties you make an appointment, so if you knew you could get there at 3 p.m. and be out there by 4 p.m. … we don’t offer that,” she said. “I’d like to look at that.”

Williams is also running on the Working Families line.

 District 19

Incumbent Republican Gregg Pulver is seeking re-election for Dutchess County’s 19th Legislative District.

The candidate has served in the Dutchess County Legislature for almost two years — one complete term.

Pulver takes pride in having worked for the repeal of the energy tax instated in 2014. 

“Once I got in, I said I’d do whatever I could to get rid of it,” he said.

Another accomplishment, Pulver said, was co-authoring the Agriculture & Farmland Protection Plan.

“That’s global for our region. It’s a huge accomplishment,” he said.

If re-elected, the candidate hopes to diversify the county’s economic base by filling vacant buildings and thus generating jobs.

In addition, he’d like to keep taxes under control.

“The 400-pound gorilla in the room is going to be what we’re going to do with the Dutchess County Jail,” Pulver added. “The cost, whatever it is, is going to be a very public dialogue and we’re committed to that dialogue.”

Before the Legislature, Pulver served as town supervisor of Pine Plains for 12 years.

“I think I’ve represented the area well and will continue to work to give them a very large voice in Poughkeepsie regarding the issues that face the largest legislative district, geographically,” he said. 

Pulver is also running on Independence, Conservative and Reform lines.

Running against Pulver is Democratic candidate Debra Blalock.

Blalock held the position in 2013 after she was elected to an unexpired term. 

“I was very proud of being the representative of District 19 and the things that we did in that very short time,” she said. “My approach to representing was in fact contacting the people I was representing.”

Blalock said attending Town Board meetings and uniting local supervisors are examples of this. 

“We came together as a group, whether it was Democratic supervisors or Republican supervisors … we were really working collectively as a group in this area,” she said.

The candidate said she looks past party lines in her votes, considering each issue individually.

“Things you pass down at the county level really do affect town budgets,” she said.

If elected, Blalock would aim to save money for taxpayers.

“My goal is to try to bring more economic development. We have a wonderful, wonderful rural area, so it has to be the right kind of economic development,” she said.

Blalock is also running on Working Families and Green lines.

 District 25

Sandy Washburn is running on the Republican ticket for Dutchess County Legislator in District 25.

Washburn defeated incumbent Republican Michael Kelsey in the Sept. 10 primary.

The candidate has over 10 years experience working in the municipal parks and recreation domain, currently as the department head in LaGrange.

“I do have the experience in managing large budgets, making choices and being fiscally responsible,” she said.

 If elected, the candidate would like to see a focus in drawing more businesses into the county.

Washburn said she’d also work with lawmakers to keep the cost of living affordable.

“I’d be the voice for agriculture in this district,” she added citing a strong background in farming.

The candidate noted she is family-oriented and proud to be so.

“My greatest accomplishment is my family,” she said. “I have three beautiful children.”

Washburn added, “I would just want people to know that my family is important to me and that because I have raised a family here, I have faced all the same circumstances, issues and celebrations.”

Washburn, a Salt Point resident, is also running on Conservative and Reform party lines.

Opposite Washburn is Democratic candidate Tom Hurley.

Hurley is president of the Millbrook Central School District Board of Education, on which he has served for 22 years, and a member of the Dutchess County Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES).

As for his candidacy, the Democrat said he felt it was time to step up.

“I have a great deal of experience in public speaking and public forums and presiding over things and I felt that I had the qualifications and the experience to do a good job in the Legislature,” he said. 

If elected, Hurley said he’d like to see Dutchess County continue to pursue economic development through good jobs and affordable taxes.

Another one of Hurley’s county-level priorities is maintaining government support of Dutchess Community College.

For the district in particular, the candidate wants to see Silo Ridge completed responsibly so to benefit all the residents of Amenia, the rural setting of Millbrook safe from unwise development and power lines in Pleasant Valley to have minimal impacts to its landowners.

 Hurley, a lifelong Millbrook resident, said he enjoys public service, speaking to people and resolving challenges.

 “I have the ability to bring parties together,” he added, “I’m a lifelong Democrat, but I’m not such a partisan that I don’t see good ideas that come from the other side of the aisle. If it’s a good idea, I am willing to get behind it.”

 Hurley is also running on the Working Families line.

 For information on other county-wide candidates, see www.dutchesselections.com.