POUGHKEEPSIE – The ongoing partisanship between Poughkeepsie Mayor Rob Rolison and Council Chairperson Sarah Salem will continue in 2022 after the council changed the meeting rules on Monday evening. The “Mayor’s Comments” portion of the meeting, previously given early in the meeting, has been moved to the end of the agenda, with no reason given.
The change drew sharp criticism from community activist Laurie Sandow. “What a bad start this council is off to,” referring to the shuffling of the agenda. “It tramples our (the city residents) sensibilities.” Sandow noted that Salem had removed Rolison from the agenda in September of 2020 and did not reinstate the mayor’s comments to the agenda until August of 2021. Sandow said the return of the comments afforded a “childish faction” of the council to use the mayor’s comments as a “gotcha session” of questions. The original story explaining the removal of the mayor from the agenda can be found HERE. The Mid-Hudson News story of Salem’s 2021 reversal can be found HERE.
Rolison expressed his frustration with the new change. “The chair took me off of the agenda and almost a year later reversed herself after complaints from the community. Now, without any discussion, I have been moved to the end of the meetings, which typically last several hours, and I refuse to be a pawn in a petty political game.”
Fifth Ward Councilwoman Yvonne Flowers did not agree with the change in the agenda. “I feel the Mayor’s comments should have stayed toward the beginning of the agenda. Residents look forward to hearing important info from the Mayor at our meetings and they should not have to wait until almost the end of the meeting to hear from him.”
Rolison added, “We are back in a public health crisis and this administration is concerned with the health of our workforce and the safety of our residents. It would be beneficial to everyone if we were allowed to provide updates in a timely fashion regarding health updates and the delivery of services. We will pursue other options to keep the city informed on our actions in a timely manner.”
Chairperson Salem did not respond to emails requesting an explanation for the change in the agenda.
