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Mid Hudson Times , Wednesday , May 16 , 2018
IN THIS ISSUE |
Calendar .................. 12 |
City of Newburgh ............. 18 |
Classifieds ................ |
30 |
Crossword ................ |
32 |
Letters to the Editor .......... |
8 |
Meadow Hill ............... |
24 |
Town of Newburgh ........... |
23 |
Newburgh Heritage ........... 10 |
New Windsor ............... |
25 |
Obituaries ................ |
28 |
Opinion ................... |
8 |
Police Blotter .............. |
27 |
Service Directory ........... |
34 |
Sports ................... |
40 |
PUBLIC AGENDA
WEDNESDAY , MAY 16
City of Newburgh Civil Service Commission , 1-3 p . m . Council Chambers at City Hall .
THURSDAY , MAY 17 Town of Newburgh Planning Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 1496 Route 300 , Town of Newburgh .
WEDNESDAY , MAY 23
Town of New Windsor Planning Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 555 Union Ave ., New Windsor .
TUESDAY , MAY 29
Town of Newburgh Workshop meeting , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 1496 Route 300 , Town of Newburgh .
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The Mid Hudson Times ( USPS 000-5947 ) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh , NY 12550 , with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , NY Single copy : $ 1 at newsstand . By mail in Orange , Ulster or Sullivan Counties : $ 40 annually , $ 44 out of county . Periodicals permit at Newburgh , NY POSTMASTER : Send address changes to Mid Hudson Times , 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , NY 12550 .
Ex-Beacon mayor seeks Assembly seat
By MARK REYNOLDS mreynolds @ tcnewspapers . com
Democrat Steve Gold served as Chief of Staff for the late NYS Assemblyman Frank Skartados . After Skartados ’ passing last month , Gold decided to seek Skartados ’ seat in the fall elections .
The 2010 census put the population of the NY 104th Assembly district at 129,187 and it encompasses Newburgh and Beacon on its southern border and the Town of Lloyd and part of Poughkeepsie on the north .
Gold was born Brooklyn , and graduated from Erasmus High School in 1968 . He was ineligible to serve in Vietnam because of a long-standing medical issue . At 24 he started Longwood , an employment / management consulting firm in Mid-town Manhattan and a decade later joined The Computer Factory , the largest IBM retailer in the nation .
Gold was also a computer instructor for Comp USA and later served as the Democratic Election Supervisor for the Board of Elections for Dutchess County .
“ In that job I was responsible for hiring , training and assigning all of the Democratic election inspectors in Dutchess County ,” he said .
Later , in 1991 , he earned a B . S . degree from Excelsior College in Albany , with a concentration in Political Science .
Gold and his wife Mary moved to Beacon in 1986 , where he dipped his feet in the political arena , serving on the Beacon City Council for 10 years and also as Mayor from 2008 – 2011 .
Gold recalled his five year tenure with Skartados .
“ I was his legislative director , so I was involved in all that we initiated and he co-sponsored ,” Gold said . “ I also managed all of his grants and I was the Supervisor of his four-person staff .”
Gold said he decided to run for the 104th Assembly seat after seeing how much people appreciated the work that Skartados did on their behalf in Albany . Gold said he wants to continue Skartados ’ direction , “ without missing a beat . Frank would have encouraged me to run .”
In the coming months Gold will be seeking endorsements from the various local parties , “ many of which I already have and then hitting the campaign trail .”
Gold said presently there are no other announced Democratic candidates for the seat , but a primary will be set in September if another individual qualifies after obtaining the requisite number of petitions .
Gold said New York is “ at a turning
Steve Gold , former Beacon mayor and , more recenlly , an aide to the late Assembylman Frank Skartados , recenty announced plans to run for his former boss ’ s seat in the state assembly .
point ” where the state Senate ( presently with a paper-thin GOP majority ), the Assembly and the Governorship might be in the hands of the Democratic Party after the elections in November . He said this scenario would , “ present great opportunities to pass legislation that will benefit all New Yorkers .”
Gold said he will continue to press to transform the educational system , as Skartados had long advocated . In particular Skartados thought that , “ the high-stakes testing was bad for teachers and for children . He wanted teachers to have more control of the curriculum
” Part of Beacon ’ s metamorphosis is that people realized that in the Mid Hudson Valley you can have the interest of Main Street with shops , stores and restaurants and also be out in an orchard , on a tourism tour or hiking in the mountains .” in the classroom with less intervention from Washington and Albany .” Gold helped write legislation for Skartados that would permit more local control , knowing full well that it would take years to accomplish , “ but you have to start somewhere .” He also wants to make college more affordable .
Gold believes in a single-payer health care system that is funded , not by individuals , but through state taxes . He is worried that many in the current system will purchase very high deductible care and put off seeing a doctor for a minor condition that if left untreated could lead to a major health problem , with all of the attending high costs .
Gold believes schools should be funded by a progressive state income tax rather than on home property values . He said the current system has not changed because the majority of NYC dwellers are renters who oppose an income based system while those who live upstate are mostly property owners who would prefer the income based system . He said he would propose letting the New York City system continue as is and make the change to allow upstate residents to pay for schools on an income tax basis .
Gold promises to continue protecting Hudson Valley ’ s farms and fruit orchards . He is opposed to proposals to locate additional anchorages in the Hudson River and to a pipeline that would run down the middle of the NYS Thruway from Albany to New Jersey . He said the state government should renew its role in protecting the ‘ health , safety and welfare of its citizens ’ and he will work tirelessly to ensure that this important principal is held paramount .
Gold said our region should take better advantage of the recent low airfares from Europe to Stewart Airport to promote and sell tourism packages to our area .
Within the district Gold wants to continue the present plans of bringing infrastructure to the Route 9W corridor as a way to attract more industry , shops and stores and tourism from Marlborough to Highland .
Gold said the story of Beacon ’ s transformation from a rundown old factory town to its current bustling economy should serve as a blueprint for the future of the entire 104th district .
“ Part of Beacon ’ s metamorphosis is that people realized that in the Mid Hudson Valley you can have the interest of Main Street with shops , stores and restaurants and also be out in an orchard , on a tourism tour or hiking in the mountains ,” he said .