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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Harvey and Lee vie for Democratic nomination
and psychology at the College of New
Rochelle and Mount Saint Mary College.
Her company, Legacy Corporation
provides counseling, social work training,
and assists in restoring licenses after a
DUI violation.
Lee will run on the on the Independence
Party and Reform Party lines, while
Harvey will run on the Working Families
Party line. The primary election will take
place on Thursday, September 13. The
voting will take place from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
By KATELYN CORDERO
[email protected]
The Democratic mayoral primary will
be held on Thursday September 13 to
decide the party’s nominee in the general
election this November. The race between
Gay Lee and current mayor Torrance
Harvey is to complete the final year in
the term of the late Mayor Judy Kennedy
after she passed away in April this year.
The two are looking to give a voice to
the people of Newburgh and make lasting
changes in regards to revitalization, job
creation, unity with the community and
government, water contamination, and
easing the tax burden.
Harvey believes he already started
working towards his goals for the city, as
Mayor for the past four and a half months.
He was a part of the council that revealed
water contamination to the public, and
is working to get rebates on dirty water
back to the citizens of Newburgh. Harvey
hopes to continue to fight for the various
initiatives he has started in his short time
as Mayor.
“It’s important we have continuity in
the city government,” said Harvey. “Give
me a chance, I’ve only been the mayor for
four and a half months and we already
made significant strides and changes.
I’m already in the position, give me the
opportunity to show what I can do as the
mayor of the City of Newburgh.”
Gay Lee
Harvey has worked for the Newburgh
Enlarged City School District as a history
teacher for 20 years. He is excited to work
with the school district to find ways the
city and the school district can work
together to help the youth of Newburgh.
This includes new technology, and
making sure they have the capabilities to
use the new technology outside of their
school.
Lee sees her campaign as a voice for
people who have not been heard by the
city government. She is looking to help
the youth through community outreach
Torrance Harvey
centers and programs helping students
transition from high school to college, or
into the working world.
“At this stage in my life I want to be
able to reach the babies,” said Lee. “They
are the ones that I feel I am cleaning
off the table for. At this stage the group
is younger because the resources are
just not there. I’m hoping that if I work
really hard by the time my [4 year old]
granddaughter is 21 life will be so much
better.”
Lee has been a licensed social worker
for 21 years. She teaches social work
POLLING PLACES
First Ward
Districts 1-2 Board of Education
Auditorium, 124 Grand Street
Districts 3-4 Horizons on Hudson
School, 137 Montgomery St.
Second Ward
District 1 Public Safety Building, 22
Grand Street
District 2 South Middle School, 33-63
Monument Street
Third Ward
Districts 1-2 Kol Yisrael, 290 North
Street
Districts 3-4 Activity Center, 401
Washington Street
Fourth Ward
Districts 1,3,5 Activity Center, 401
Washington Street
District 2 Board of Education
Auditorium, 124 Grand Street
District 4 Kol Yisrael, 290 North Street
Newburgh Fire Department receives nearly $1.5 million in funding
By KATELYN CORDERO
[email protected]
The City of Newburgh Fire Department is back to a full
staff as a new three year grant will allow them to rehire
those laid off and fill in vacant positions. This is the third
time the fire department will receive the grant, one that
is very difficult to receive and rarely renewed.
Acting Chief Terry Ahlers is grateful for the $1,497,886
in funding the department will receive to hire nine
firefighters, as announced Wednesday by Senator Charles
Schumer , Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressman
Sean Patrick Maloney.
“We had a lot of support from the senators and
congressman, we are thankful they stood up for us,” said
Ahlers. “We hope before this grant runs out that the city
will work with us to find a permanent solution.”
The money comes from the Department of Homeland
Security’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency
Response (SAFER) grant program. It will rehire five
firefighters that were laid off, and allow the department
to fill four vacant positions. The new grant will cover the
department until 2021.
“This is a huge win,” said Maloney. “We’ve been all
over FEMA for months to get this funding and I couldn’t
be happier that they’ve done the right thing here. It’s
incredibly rare to get a third SAFER investment, but
Newburgh cleary had demonstrated its need given the
unique situation the department is in.”
At the end of July when the previous SAFER grant
expired, 12 positions were covered by the grant. The City
of Newburgh put three of the positions into the budget
leaving the department nine firefighters short. The new
grant will have the department staffed with 68 total
personnel.
“All the guys laid off are all excited to come back, and
we are excited to have them back,” said Ahlers. “Even
though we stayed in contact we missed having them in
the trucks. We missed the extra hand in calls.
City’s planning and development director steps down
Deirdre Glenn resigned from her position as Director
of Planning and Development for
the City of Newburgh on Friday
August 31. Glenn took the position
in October of 2014, working for the
revitalization of Newburgh through
the planning and development
department.
“Deidre served this city with
integrity and honor,” said Mayor
Deidre Glenn
Torrance Harvey. “She did an
excellent job with a lot of revitalization initiatives. She
was a honor to work with, I will miss her dearly and she
will be missed by everyone.”
Glenn is to be replaced with Cynthia Corsiglia as
the Interim Director of Planning and Development.
Corsiglia has an extensive background in business
and development with a New York law degree from
Hofstra University. She has volunteered with Lawyers
Foreclosure Intervention Network to help volunteers
negotiate mortgages on behalf of homeowners facing
foreclosure.