POUGHKEEPSIE – Mayor Robert Rolison, a Republican and his Democratic opponent, Joash Ward, faced off during a Thursday night debate at the Family Partnership Center. The candidates were asked questions by both the moderator as well as those submitted in advance by the attendees.
The audience of nearly 100 heard two distinctly different views of the city from the two candidates. Rolison told of how the city was in bad shape when he took office. “The streets weren’t being repaired, crime was on the rise, and people were leaving,” Rolison said. According to the incumbent, Poughkeepsie had a $13 million dollar deficit that the city has been working to rectify. Rolison called the fiscal improvements “pretty extraordinary successes.” The city has lowered the deficit and experienced three years of budget surpluses which Rolison attributed to teamwork between the administration, the common council, and city staff. Statistics released by the state also indicate that violent crime in the city is down nearly 50 percent.
Ward claimed to be the youngest valedictorian in Poughkeepsie High School history and painted a much bleaker picture of the current state of affairs in Poughkeepsie. Ward said that he has a plan to “correct the mistakes that urban renewal and segregation have left on this city.” He took aim at the embattled Poughkeepsie City School District that he says is “failing” the youth of Poughkeepsie. “We are not training our young folk with the skills they need for today’s economy,” said Ward. Rolison agreed that the district has experienced turmoil in the past but credited the school board with the recent hiring of Dr. Eric Rosser as superintendent, calling it “a step in the right direction.”
Ward also made the claim that the Poughkeepsie schools are segregated and subtly claimed that Rolison’s father, the late State Senator Jay Rolison was complicit in the segregation of the schools.
Citing the fiscal stress the city is under according to a report issued by the state comptroller’s office, Rolison said that the finances are improving but the comptroller had changed the grading schedule resulting in Poughkeepsie still being considered under substantial stress.
Ward maintained the city’s financial distress is due largely in part to the school district. The two men also addressed public safety with Ward questioning why the police force is not diverse and does not look like the residents they are supposed to protect. Rolison, in the past has said that the city can’t force residents to take the civil service exam to be eligible to join the police department.
Rolison chose not to address the eligibility requirements at the debate. He said that the recent community survey, residents feel that the city is improving but admitted that “there is a lot left to be done.” The mayor pointed out the return of the community policing unit and the Behavioral Evaluation Assessment Team unit, known as BEAT, which pairs police with emergency crisis workers to make contact with the at-risk community and explaining the available services to assist them.
The retention plan, designed to keep officers from transferring to other departments in search of bigger paychecks was implemented by Rolison’s administration and has managed to keep the department at nearly full staffing levels since being started.
