Mid Hudson Times Nov. 15 2017 | Page 4

4

“ My clients are emailing today asking , ‘ Who is going to do my taxes ?’ I ’ ve assured them I will ,” Sofokles said last week . “ I ’ ve been doing community service , raising children and doing my job my whole adult life .”

The city needs a new police station , Sofokles said . “ We need a police chief ,” she said . “ And , everybody needs to work better with the city manager .”

Sofokles pledged to focus on continuing the city ’ s revitalization momentum . “ We are on the brink of something big in the city , I can feel it ,” she said . “ I really feel the time is now for Newburgh . There ’ s a rebirth coming .”

Johnathan Jacobson won the council seat in Ward 3 . “ I feel I can work well with the rest of the council regardless of whom they supported ,” said Jacobson a day after the election . “ If someone else has a good idea , I will back it .”

Jacobson won the seat with 376 votes over Newburgh United candidate Anthony Grice , who brought in 247 votes , and Republican John Guidice who received 213 . Jacobson will replace Regina Angelo , who is stepping down after serving on the council for decades .

“ I ’ m thrilled and humbled by my solid victory ,” Jacobson said . “ I want to congratulate my opponents on their spirited campaigns .”

Jacobson , who is former chairman of both the city and Orange County Democratic Committee , repeated his campaign promise to fix city streets . “ I am going to push the administration to come up with a multi-year plan to fix and pave all the streets ,” he said . “ That will take getting federal and state money ,” he said , because , “ we can ’ t have any tax increases . If we keep raising taxes , people will vote with their feet and they will move out .”

Mid Hudson Times , Wednesday , November 15 , 2017

Jacobson , Monterverde , Sofokles

Continued from page 1

FREE

@ Newburgh Free Library

MAIN LIBRARY 124 Grand Street | 845-563-3600

TOWN BRANCH Newburgh Mall | 845-566-0460

Jacobson Monteverde Sofokles

Jacobson said there was a lot of “ door-to-door ” campaigning by his team to get residents out to vote . “ We had a good ground operation ,” he said .

Ramona Monteverde ran unopposed in Ward 2 . Last week , Monteverde said she was looking forward to “ working on a council where we all respect each other .”

“ We have to find a chief of police and support the city manager in helping him to do that ,” she said . “ I want to make sure we work on the relationship with the city manager so he doesn ’ t feel like he ’ s always under attack . I support the city manager 100 percent .”

Taxes are another concern for Monteverde . “ What I ’ ve heard from homeowners is that there is no way they can afford their taxes and stay in their homes ,” she said . “ We need to make sure there are fair taxes and assessments across the board so that everyone is paying their fair share .”

Monteverde will step down from the city planning board at the end of the year . She will continue in her position as director of operations with Safe Harbors of the Hudson .

Karen Mejia , poised to serve her second term , said she wants to maintain progress being made on housing . “ I want to continue work on code enforcement and bringing properties to the tax rolls ,” she said , with support from organizations such as Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh , RUPCO and the Newburgh Community Land Bank .

Mejia also wants to see a continued focus on policecommunity relations . The councilwoman said she is hopeful that the new council will be more civil than in the past .

“ In the last two election cycles we have seen an improvement in how council members interact with each other ,” Mejia wrote to the Mid Hudson Times this week . “ I am hopeful that the incoming council will continue to lift the bar of civility and productivity higher .”

Correction

The son of Newburgh City Councilwoman-elect Patty Sofokles is a New York City Police Detective . His place of work was misstated in a recent article in the Mid Hudson Times .

As seen Seen on on ABC ABC-NBC & NBC

Classes Dec . 5 , 7 , 12 Floral Design Décor

~ Dried / fresh ~ Hands on ~ Gift certificates

Call today

562-2820

GoodOldDays

270 Walsh Ave . New Windsor , NY

The Alternative Florist ….

In Brief

DEC to host Public forum on PFCs at Beaver Dam Lake

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will host a public forum to update the community on testing for perfluorinated chemicals in the Beaver Dam Lake area .

The meeting will be held at 7 p . m . Wednesday , inside the Washingtonville Middle School Auditorium . State DEC and Department of Health officials will speak at the event . A question-andanswer period will follow .

“ Perfluorinated compounds ( PFCs ), specifically perfluorooctane sulfonate ( PFOS ) and perflurooctanoic acid ( PFOA ), have been detected in the surface water and ( fish ) of Beaver Dam Lake and its tributaries , which is part of the Beaver Dam Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District ,” the DEC stated in a November press release .

“ The PFCs have been determined to originate in an area in the western part of Stewart International Airport , where firefighting foam was used to extinguish a major aircraft fire in 1996 .”

None of the more than 200 wells sampled in the Beaver Dam Lake area were found to be above the EPA ’ s lifetime health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion for PFOS or PFOA , the DEC stated .

The forum will take place at 7 p . m . on Wednesday , Nov . 15 at Washingtonville Middle School , located at 38 West Main Street in Washingtonville .

NW clerk ’ s office open Saturday

Town of New Windsor Town Clerk , Deborah Green announces that her office will be open on Saturday , November 18 , from 9 a . m . to 12 Noon for the convenience of those who can not get to the Town Hall during normal business hours , 8:30 a . m . to 4:30 p . m . Monday through Friday .

A Notary Public will be available , E-Z Pass tags can be purchased , and various licenses can be obtained i . e .: Marriage license , dog license , hunting and fishing licenses , and handicap parking permits .

Trash 2 Treasure Event Nov . 24 in Rock Tavern

On Black Friday , Nov . 24 , from noon to 4 p . m ., the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Rock Tavern is hosting its fourth Trash 2 Treasure event .

“ Clean out your homes to make room for holiday goodies and bring anything you ’ d like to find another home for ,” says event organizer Amanda Crowell . “ When you bring goods to share , you can also take home treasures that you find-- all free . A 50 / 50 raffle and bake sale will make this sharing event even more fun .”

Remaining items will be donated to charity after the event . For further information , please contact Crowell at broadleafhouse @ gmail . com . The UUCRT is located at 9 Vance Road in the hamlet of Rock Tavern in New Windsor , right off Rt . 207 between Goshen and Newburgh .