Vicky Perry candidate for Red Hook County Legislature
Vicky will bring new leadership as Red Hook's County Legislator

Vicky's priorities protect the land and people’s futures. She has spoken out against further delays in well-testing, has appealed to the State to toughen air pollution standards for power plants, urged scrutiny of electric rate hikes and gas price hikes, and has written in support of the Community Preservation Act. She is a truly progressive leader.

As the founder of Red Hook for Verified Voting, Vicky Perry has informed citizens and legislators alike as to the challenges facing our voting process. She has held forums on the technology of new and emerging voting requirements. Currently, she maintains an online information source for up-to-the-minute changes in the voting situation.
 
As a member of Dutchess Democratic Womens’ Caucus, Vicky represents the emerging force of New York women whose voices are being heard all across the county in local government.

In 2004, Vicky founded Hardscrabble MoveOn, and became team leader. This group empowers citizens to make their interests heard and felt at the national level. Some important areas that the group has acted on include: protecting Social Security from privatization, spotlighting ethics abuses in the House of Representatives and preserving the balance of power between the Senate and the White House.

Vicky will give Red Hook more legislator for your tax dollar. Since Vicky does not hold other elected office, there will never have a conflict of interest that might require her to recuse herself. That means our town is always going to be represented on every matter. Working for Red Hook at the county level will be her sole focus. She will attend all the meetings of committees of which she is a member as well as meetings of the full legislature.

Previous public service: 2005 Founder: Red Hook for Verified Voting, Dutchess Democratic Womens’ Caucus, 2004 Team leader Hardscrabble MoveOn, 1994 communication coordinator: Town Supervisor race Cambridge, NY. Lead in creating a TV-Turnoff Week in Cambridge, NY

How should a legislator spend her time on county business? To been an effective legislator, I would use five strategies.

First, I will open our government. I will maintain a website with all the resolutions I’ve sponsored or co-sponsored. Also, my voting record would be publicly available and current there.

Second, I will communicate recent legislative news to the town by means of periodic newsletters .

Third, I will include, in my mailings to the town, survey questions to keep track of new needs and priorities the town may have.

Fourth, Keeping in constant contact with constituents and town officers is important. I will attend municipal meetings and host special interest forums in town.

Finally, researching new opportunities and challenges for the town must be ongoing. Ongoing research will refine the vision of the town’s priorities. 

What are the issues facing the county?
Red Hook’s most pressing issue is the preservation of Red Hook as a rural town. Farms and natural landscape that are replaced by residential development will be forever lost. Taxes increase dramatically when new homes are built. 

Unfair taxes, in the form of the county’s complete reliance on sales and property taxes, hurt people struggling on fixed incomes. 

Jail overcrowding endangers jail employees, inmates and our county’s bottom line. Responsibly reducing overcrowding will relieve current costs without the huge debt of building an expansion. Cost effective measures to treat offenders have not been explored by the current legislature. 

Government should not be an insider’s game. 

Government operations, such as meetings, voting records and the budget should be freely accessible. 

Air and water quality are under attack. Our air pollution is worse than the Bronx. We have a history of MTBE contaminating our well-water. The County legislature needs to get tough on polluters. 

How should the legislature deal with these issues? 
Increase the usage of the Farmland Protection Matching Grant Program by reducing the percentage contribution coming from towns and private sources. An increased overall fund would allow for more county-wide farmland protection. A synergistic effect is achieved when farms across the county are protected: central farm support services are maintained and tourism is strengthened. Over-assessed farm buildings should get tax relief.

Tax fairness needs a task force to study how we can get more progressive sources of funds. We need cross-county efforts to reduce increases to Red Hook’s school budget from residential development in Clermont, Columbia County. Supporting efforts by state legislators to move school funding away from property taxes would go a long way to reducing the impact of school expansion on people with fixed or limited incomes.

To decrease jail overcrowding, we should rehabilitate more effectively than we have up to now. Seventy five percent of current detainees are awaiting trial. Create a carefully supervised bail loan fund to assist those too poor to afford even a modest $100 bail – available only those accused of non-violent offenses and misdemeanors. Expand the electronic monitoring of non-violent offenders and those awaiting trial who are accused of non-violent crimes. Support the implementation of mental health courts. Improve drug courts with effective rehabilitation programs. 

Open government by putting budget, meeting minutes, voting records online. Demand regular audits that correlate campaign contributions with county contracts. This would eliminate any possibility of conflicts of interest. Meetings should be videotaped, then made available to public access television and web-cast in the county website

Institute periodic testing of underground petroleum tanks. We need neighbor-notification 48 hours before pesticides are commercially applied. The county can join with others in the region to push for tougher state-wide standards to control power plant pollution.
 
Should the legislature move its monthly meetings to the evening? Yes. 
Why? That way working people could attend.

What should be the role of government in people’s lives? We are the government. Together we create services that a single individual cannot create. And when we come together for a civic purpose, we grow as a community.

Why should voters elect you? We deserve government for the people. I believe Red Hook and Dutchess County are drifting without a vision towards sprawl and pollution. The current majority in the Legislature have not pursued priorities that safeguard our future. My priorities protect the land and people’s futures. I will work full-time to achieve effective government.

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