Primary election day is on June 27 and early voting is already underway. There are three Democratic candidates for mayor in the city of Poughkeepsie, including the current mayor.
Yvonne Flowers is a daughter of Poughkeepsie, born and raised in the city. A city councilmember of about eight years, and a candidate for mayor, she believes her lived experiences will translate into votes.
“I have children who live here. I have grandchildren that live here. I have been embedded into the community, in helping families in the community for over decades,” Flowers said. “As far as I’m concerned, and the work that I’ve done in this city, I am truly deeply invested in this community. I lived in public housing, I understand the struggles that people have went through.”
Flowers said her accomplishments as councilmember include reducing gun violence and improving home ownership in the Fifth Ward. And if she were elected mayor, she says she wants to advocate on the same issues for all community members. On day one, she says she’ll hit the ground running.
“First thing, we’re dealing with a housing crisis. I have seen many middle-class families that are leaving the city and this is our hometown. What I want to do first of all is to work on building a housing stock for people that they can afford,” Flowers said. “And working with developers, and working with our nonprofit housing partners, such as Hudson River Housing and Habitat for Humanity, to try to improve home ownership in the city of Poughkeepsie.”
If Flowers is elected to office, that would make her the first Black mayor of the city.
Wesley Lee is also hoping to take that title. Lee is a history professor at Dutchess Community College and a long-time advocate who works with at-risk young people in Poughkeepsie with his nonprofit organization helping them get jobs in the city. On the campaign trail, he’s hearing from community members who are concerned about pocketbook issues.
“They’re concerned about the economy. We have a plan to revitalize the city of Poughkeepsie, the economy,” Lee said. “Lot of people we talk to are concerned about the school district, how education there needs to be improved and enhanced for our children. They want to be participants in things that we do in the city of Poughkeepsie.”
His goal is to create a coalition of partners, including councilmembers who can work together to confront some of the biggest problems facing Poughkeepsie’s lower-income families and the homeless population.
“Poughkeepsie deserves better, and we’re going to be doing that,” Lee said. “We want to make it so people in the city of Poughkeepsie, when they call City Hall, they’ll get their councilmember to talk about things they want to change so we’re going to implement for the first time an office in City Hall for councilmembers.”
Poughkeepsie Mayor Marc Nelson is running for re-election to secure a four-year term. He’s proud of what he’s been able to accomplish as mayor over the last six months, including the city’s recent credit rating upgrade.
“We got the upgrades from Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s, that for the first time in a decade or more indicates positively that the city is on the right track financially,” Nelson said. “We had been one of the poorest cities in state of New York, as ranked by the New York state comptroller’s office.”
Nelson said the city is coming back to life. He believes he’s the most experienced candidate as someone who’s been serving in the public sector for more than 20 years and because he says he’s delivering for the community.
“Throughout the city we’ve see millions of dollars invested in city parks, in our water treatment plant, in our sewer plant,” Nelson said. “And we’ve spent three times as much money on paving city streets as we have in prior years. So it’s a really exciting time here in the city.”
Nelson says the progress under his administration is a sign that Poughkeepsie is heading in a positive direction.
“Experience matters, this is not the time for change, it’s certainly not the time to bring someone into the office of the mayor who has not served as a chief executive and as a leader of an organization,” he said.
All eyes will be on Poughkeepsie on primary day as voters cast their all-important decision on who they want front and center to lead the Democratic ticket.