Last night, the Dutchess County Legislature voted unanimously to require members of two additional boards to complete the county’s ethical and financial disclosure forms annually. I have been working on this change for five years.

In 2019, the legislature passed new ethics rules and disclosure requirements that included adding the members of four boards: the Dutchess County Labor Development Corporation (LDC), Dutchess County Industrial Development Agency (IDA), the Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency (RRA) and the Dutchess County Water and Wastewater Authority (WWA). But in 2020, the Molinaro Administration removed the four boards from the list after complaints were lodged by Republican donors on the IDA and LDC who did not want to disclose their business ties.

Each year, I made the argument for adding the IDA & LDC back onto the list and finally, last year, with new leadership in the executive and legislative branches, the Republicans agreed to do that. The members of the IDA & LDC guide tax breaks to businesses who create new jobs or bring jobs to our county.

Last night, we added the final two boards to restore the list we originally agreed upon.

Transparency and oversight have always been a top priority for me in the legislature, and I am gratified to finally achieve this milestone.

In this conversation, I speak with Democratic Minority Leader Yvette Valdés Smith about our work stopping a sales tax hike in Dutchess County.

Dutchess County Comptroller Dan Aymar-Blair and I want to hear from you if you have lost a federal job, lost federal funding or any organization you are part of has lost federal money. Please visit this form and let us know!

https://www.dutchessny.gov/Departments/Comptroller/Comptroller-Federal-Funding-Intake-Form.htm

Great Hands Off! rally in Kingston today protesting the wanton destruction and pillaging of our Federal Government by Elon Musk and the Trump Administration. Incredible turnout despite the rain. It was great to run into so many Red Hook and Rhinebeck folks at the event.

In this conversation, I speak with Lisa Kaul, Dutchess County Legislator for District 6 in the Town of Poughkeepsie. We discuss our efforts to improve transparency and oversight in county government. Legislator Kaul is a freshman member of our body who has been doing great work, and I’m proud to have partnered with her on this effort.

As part of last year’s budget, we expanded funding for mental health services specifically for our area. New medical office space is being created at the old Pet Country location and if all goes well, the new services will be available by year’s end. Check out the video to learn more.

In this conversation, I speak with Mayor Gary Bassett of Rhinebeck about some of the village’s current initiatives and plans. They discuss the recent revamping of the comprehensive plan, efforts to improve housing affordability, the Safe Routes to School initiative, and the challenges posed by climate change.

In this conversation, I speak with Robert McKeon about the various projects and developments in the Town of Red Hook. We discuss the ongoing updates to the comprehensive plan, infrastructure improvements, the trail system, and community engagement.

As I head off to our January board meeting, where we will ask the state to keep our sales tax at the same level, a reminder that in December 2023, the Dutchess County Republicans voted to increase your sales taxes while I proposed a cut. Thankfully, county and state dems were able to stop the increase from going into effect and lo and behold, last year’s budget was passed without incident even without the extra money.