POUGHKEEPSIE – Five Poughkeepsie
council members voted to extend city bus service for three months, to
give the city and county more time to effectively transfer the service
to the county. The resolution calls for transferring almost $204,000 within
the city budget.
Councilman Christopher Petsas, who authored the resolution, concedes it
will likely be vetoed, by the mayor, meaning the city buses will stop
running after Friday, despite what happened tonight.
“I’m sorry that we don’t have that sixth voice at this
time, but rest assured that us five support you, we stand with you and
we’re doing everything we can to maintain our buses,” Petsas
said.
He also had harsh words for the three council members, Mike Young, Matthew
McNamara and Lee Klein, who did not attend the meeting.
“How disappointed I am that those that oppose our city system are
not in this room this evening,” Petsas said.
Several citizens attended the five-minute meeting, but in keeping with
past practice at special meetings, there was no public comment. It was
noted that the public has used every opportunity to comment at every council
meeting since late last year when Mayor Robert Rolison called for eliminating
the city bus service on June 30, as part of his 2017 budget.
