POUGHKEEPSIE – Mayor Robert Rolison was optimistic as he discussed
his first 100 days as the City of Poughkeepsie’s top elected official
on Wednesday with members of the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Rolison said that although the city is under fiscal stress, there are
a number of things currently working in the city’s favor and he
wanted to relay that to the local business community.
“Our fiscal challenges are real, they are daunting, but we are talking
to other organizations at the state level, at getting help to identify
things, we’re partnering with the county; so, we’re going
to get through that, but again, we didn’t get there overnight and
it’s not going to change overnight. That’s one particular
part of government, but all the other things that we’re doing, all
the businesses that are pulling together to make the city a cleaner place,
the stronger place that I talk about, it’s all good,” said
Rolison.
The mayor pointed out that, although the city is having cash-flow, deficit
and manpower issues, his administration is taking steps that are showing
results.
As of Wednesday, Rolison said there are over $830 million in projects
going on in Poughkeepsie, the city has just hosted two presidential candidates
within a week of each other, without incident and with very little time
for planning (approximately 72 hours in the most recent visit by Donald
Trump), has just a day earlier, met with the state’s Financial Restructuring
Board to help identify issues with fiscal stability and has created a
Fiscal Advisory Board that meets every week now to do analysis of the
city’s finances.
Something Rolison noted being most proud of is the continued clean-up
of the city and housing abatements, to which he credited a dedicated city
workforce. Also, Rolison said he was proud to see that many residents,
not employed by the city, have been reaching out to City Hall to offer
help in any way they can.
“The spirit and the fabric of this community is strong and that
is probably the one thing that keeps you going,” said Rolison. “It’s
a great community: one city, our city and we’re working together
to make it better. As simple as that sounds, that’s what we’re
doing.”
Despite the current fiscal condition of the city, Rolison told the business
community that Poughkeepsie has all the necessary tools to become great:
the Hudson River, vacancies for businesses and residents, a strong community.
He said, looking to the future, that those who do not jump on board with
Poughkeepsie now, will likely regret it later on when they could have
gotten in on “the ground level.”
