MILLERTON — Millerton residents cast their ballots last Tuesday, March 19, to vote in this year’s village election. There were open seats for mayor and two village trustee positions. Additionally, there was a referendum to change the month of the general village election from March to June.
Incumbent candidate Debbie Middlebrook campaigned for her second two-year term as mayor while Jennifer Najdek ran for a second two-year term as village trustee. Newcomer Joshua Schultz ran for the other open trustee seat.
Voting took place at the Village Nutrition Site adjacent to Village Hall. In addition to receiving five absentee ballots, Village Clerk Kelly Kilmer reported that 58 voters cast their ballots. According to the Dutchess County Board of Elections, there are currently 535 registered voters in the village of Millerton.
Out of a total of 63 votes, both Middlebrook and Najdek received 60 votes while Schultz received 56 votes. Additionally, there were two write-ins for the mayoral position and each village trustee received a write-in vote.
The referendum to change the village election month passed with 43 votes in favor of the change and 17 votes against it.
Pleased by the support they received from the community this election, all three officials have already started looking into projects to enhance the village for future generations.
Given the recent news of the Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) awarded for a new sidewalk on the south side of Main Street, Middlebrook said she hopes to see the sidewalk replacement project completed during the first year of her second term. She also wants the block grant-funded Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) modifications to the Village Hall building completed in the next year.
Middlebrook also shared her plans to continue pursuing the completion of a municipal sewer system and collaborating with North East town Supervisor George Kaye.
In reference to the referendum to change the village election month, she said, “I feel this will be very beneficial to the trustees going through the budget process as new trustees will not come on the board when the process is in its final stages but rather be involved through the complete process.”
In addition to pursuing the sidewalk project on Main Street, Najdek said she hopes to keep pushing forward with the plans for the shared highway garage between the village and the town. Additionally, she aims to keep moving forward with the village’s feasibility study to “figure out what the next steps would be to see that through.”
In his first year as a village trustee, Schultz said he hopes to get better acquainted with village taxpayers as he becomes more acclimated to his new position. With projects like the revitalization of Eddie Collins Memorial Field and the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) study already in the works, he said he hopes to have a positive impact on future projects and to listen to what his constituents have to say while balancing the village’s fiscal responsibilities.
“I’m just honored to be there,” Schultz said. “It’s another way in which I can serve my community, and what I’m looking forward to the most is continuing to serve the people, especially the residents of Millerton.”
Dick Hermans in the Oblong Bookstore on Millerton’s Main Street in 1985.Provided
Fall storage crop harvests amid soil building cover crops at Adamah Farm in Falls Village. Janna Siller 
