Rolison was presented a photo of the annual Balloon Festival
held in and around the city
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,” the mayor said. “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.”
Rolison 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, the mayor 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 are 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.”
