The meeting began with Minority Leader Valdes- Smith, surrounded all women legislators, offering for adoption a proclamation acknowledging the critical (yet historically undervalued) role American women of every race, class and ethnic background have played in every sphere of American life – cultural, social, philanthropic, or political, as well as leaders of progressive social change including voting, emancipation, labor and civil rights.
Committee reports included one by Legislator Lawler regarding a budget meeting and student enrollment projections at Dutchess Community College, and one by Legislator Kaul regarding the silver certification of the Climate Smart Task Force (which makes it eligible for climate action projects), the receipt of $3 million in an EPA grant used for landfill methane emission reduction, studies relating to road salt reduction, and the purchase of brine equipment for Red Hook and East Fishkill, as well as plans to expand the Peach Hill Green Infrastructure Project model to other communities, and to designate the Fishkill Creek as an inland waterway which would make it eligible for grants.
Legislator Drago provided a mental health update relating to the identification of a building in Rhinebeck for the planned expansion of services Northern Dutchess.
There were fifteen items on the consent agenda, all of which passed unanimously. These included:
- Resolution 24 (authorizing the issuance of $828,200 serial bonds of the County and the expenditure of $3,280,000 grant in aid monies to pay the cost of road reconstruction in and for the county)
- Resolution 30 (confirming appointment to the Dutchess County Veterans Affairs Committee;
- Resolutions 31and 32 (amending the 2025 county budget as it pertains to the District Attorney)
- Resolution 33 (granting sick leave at half pay to Ashley Rivera, an employee of the County Sheriff’s Office Correction Division)
- Resolution 35 (authorizing the County Executive to file and execute applications for 5311 grant funds through the State Department of Transportation to the Department of Public Works Division of Public Transit)
- Resolution 36 (authorization a fee for the acquisition by way of donation of two parcels owned by Chelsea Farms LLC located on County Route 92 Chelsea Road in the Town of Wappingers)
- Resolutions 37 and 38 (both relating to the Hudson Valley Regional Airport, first amending the 2025 county budget to fund the removal and disposal of PFAS contained firefighting foam and to purchase a new supply of non PFAS contained foam as it pertains to the Hudson Valley Regional Airport, and second as it pertains to the Brownfield Cleanup Program)
- Resolutions 39 and 40 (amending the 2025 county budget as it pertains to the Department of Public Works Airport Division)
- Resolutions 41, 42 and 43 (approving applications to correct tax roll and to order the local tax collector to correct the tax roll and to issue a corrected tax bill
- Resolution 42, approval of application to correct tax roll and to order the local tax collector to correct the tax roll and to issue a corrected tax bill; and
- Resolutions 44 and 45 (appointments to the Dutchess County Industrial Development Agency and the Dutchess County local development corporation).
One Resolution (46) on the non-consent agenda -amending the budget as it relates to the County Board of Elections – also passed unanimously without discussion.
Assistant majority leader Polasek, Assistant minority leader Atkins, and Legislators Drago, Kaul and Lawler discussed other matters.
Legislator Polasek spoke about two letters sent to the state legislature urging action to (1) close a loophole that allows convicted sex offenders to operate businesses that serve minors (including martial arts and dancing studios and tutoring facilities), and (2) calling on the legislature to take action to end the ongoing correction officer strike.
(At the public comment section at the end of the session, several members of the public also urged closing the sex offender loophole, and insisted, on requiring rigorous background checks, drug testing and fingerprinting to insure that child abuse offenders were prohibited from working with children. The speakers – who expressed pain, emotion, fear and vulnerability in response to the recent arrest of a Hyde Park martial arts instructor for multiple acts of child abuse — included parents, a grandparent, a psychologist and a social worker who also read a victim statement. )
Legislator Drago spoke about a letter to the Acting Commissioner of the Social Security Administration expressing concern regarding the closure of the SSA Office in Poughkeepsie; the Office has been temporarily closed for renovations and is also on a DOGE list of planned lease terminations, which would force residents of the County to travel to either Middletown or Hudson for services. The letter urges the SSA to (1) provide transparency, offer a clear and detailed timeline for the completion of renovations and the full reopening of the Poughkeepsie Office: (2) to reconsider lease termination, clarify the implications of the office’s inclusion on the DOGE list and consider the significant negative impact that a permanent closure would have on our community; and (3) maintain local services and ensure that residents of Dutchess County and the surrounding area continue to have access to in person SSA services without the need for extensive travel.
Legislator Kaul offered a letter for others to sign in support of a proposed bill before the state legislature – the Packaging Reduction Recycling Infrastructure Act. She noted that addressing our waste issue is really a problem for the entire state and that producers of waste material should be pressured to innovate in order improve their packaging. She offered shampoo as an example; instead of a plastic bottle, the industry could produce a bar of shampoo or concentrated shampoo in a reusable glass bottle; with respect to the costs and concerns that packagers costs would be passed to consumers, she argued that this was “six of one, half a dozen of the other: there are costs associated with waste disposal and the innovations imagined were more beneficial to public health. Later in the session, Assistant Majority Leader Polasek explained he would not be signing the letter because, though he agreed with the need to reduce waste, he proffered that the proposed bill would be too costly to taxpayers and would unfairly burden low-income consumers.
Legislator Atkins raised concerns about the rampant funding cuts happening in Washington D.C. and the effects of these cuts on nonprofits and the business community locally, particularly with respect to housing. He had sought information about what kind of planning was going on in anticipation of these cuts from Commissioner Balkind from the DPW, and was told there was none; he therefore requested that he—and the heads of other agencies identified by Comptroller Aymar Blair as impacted by federal cuts – present to the Legislature at the next session concrete plans for how to deal with the federal cuts. Chairman Truitt assured that his office would follow up with the Executive’s Office regularly to see if any inquiries had come in from nonprofits or the local community.
Legislator Atkins again renewed his concern that there was a dearth of information concerning the funding for and closing of the pods that were supposedly temporary but are still being used to provide emergency shelter. Chairman Truitt said he would continue to seek answers from the County Executive’s Office.
Legislator Lawler pointed to the measles outbreak across the country and noted that the vaccination rate in Dutchess County is only in the low to mid-80’s when 95% is needed for herd immunity. I urged the County to offer a clinic through the Department of Health to provide vaccinations.
After public comments described above concerning child protection from sexual offenders, the session concluded with condolence. These were in the memories of Michael R. Osterhoudt, a graduate of Red Hook High School, who was a Machine Equipment Operator with the Dutchess County Highway Department for many, many years, and Rosalyn “Roz” Shankman, who was with the Dutchess County Department of Hygiene for thirty plus years.