RHINEBECK – Assembled in the livestock show ring at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, the county legislature held its August meeting and celebrated the 50th anniversary of the governing body on Monday evening. The forum was complete with a mixture of straw/hay on the ring floor and Chairman Gregg Pulver and Clerk Carolyn Morris elevated over the ring on the stand normally used for judging livestock events.
County Legislature in session at the Fairgrounds
Prior to 1968 the county was governed by a board of supervisors before changing to the current form. According to Pulver, a full-time farmer from Pine Plains, many of the original legislators were farmers and holding the meeting at the agricultural showcase was a fitting tribute. The 55-year-old Pulver’s opening remarks revealed that he has spent the last 50 years at the Dutchess County Fair during the August event.
Dick Whalen, chairman of the Agricultural Society welcomed the legislators and attendees to the fair “to showcase and promote agriculture to those not familiar with it.” To the amusement of many he continued by saying “if it wasn’t for farmers we’d be hungry, naked and sober.”
State Senator Sue Serino, herself a former county legislator, was in the show ring with a gathering of current and former legislators to present a proclamation honoring the event. Serino noted that at the county level there wasn’t the partisan fighting like there is in Albany. “What a great three years it was.”
Poughkeepsie Mayor Robert Rolison, who served on the legislature for over 12 years including as chairman for six years said of his tenure “it allowed me to work alongside some of the most giving and caring elected officials you would ever want to meet.”
Todd Bender, who served on the legislature when the body was made up of 35 districts before downsizing to 25, called his time on the board rewarding.
“During my tenure we, in bipartisan fashion, established the premiere 911 Emergency Response Center and established a viable water source for the residents of Staatsburg,” Bender said. “These undertakings along with the enduring friendships I’ve made along the way are very rewarding.” Bender now serves as a correspondent for MidHudsonNews.com.
