Marc Nelson assembles transition team in advance of becoming mayor

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From left are City Administrator Marc Nelson, Finance Commissioner Dr. Brian Martinez, Mayor Rob Rolison and Assistant to the Mayor Stacey Bottoms. Mid-Hudson News file photo.

POUGHKEEPSIE – City Administrator Marc Nelson has named former City Corporation Counsel Paul Ackermann to lead his transition team as he prepares to assume the office of mayor in Poughkeepsie in January. Ackermann, an attorney, will be joined by three prominent members of the Poughkeepsie community to help Nelson prepare for his new role.

The soon-to-be-mayor said the team has been assembled to help the six-year city administrator hear the needs of the city before taking the reins.  I’m interested in hearing, through the transition team, what the needs of the community are,” said Nelson who served one year as the city’s finance commissioner before being named city administrator.

Paul Ackermann, Esq.
(Photo provided)

Ackermann joined the city as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in 2008. He was appointed to lead the city’s Law Department in 2011 and served in that role until returning to the private sector in November 2021. Ackermann was born and raised in the City of Poughkeepsie, where he continues to live with his wife and two children, and is currently the president of Mental Health America of Dutchess County Board of Directors.

West Point graduate and former 8th Ward Common Council member Sakima McClinton has also agreed to serve on the transition team.  McClinton is a lifelong Poughkeepsie resident who has served the community from an early age. She has worked with REAL Skills and The Art Effect, served as City of Poughkeepsie School Board President and served on both the board of Mental Health America of Dutchess County and the City of Poughkeepsie Planning Board. She is a member of the Exempt Firemen’s Association, a Veterans of Foreign Wars Lifetime Member, and a member of the Hudson Valley Veterans Alliance. McClinton was the first African American woman from New York to graduate from the United States Military Academy and is a combat veteran.

Retired City of Poughkeepsie Police Sergeant Joe Ciardi is bringing his 23 years of city police experience to the team. Ciardi, a city resident, served in the police department’s Community Policing Division, Neighborhood Recovery Unit, Juvenile Bureau, and Detective Division before retiring as a patrol sergeant in 2021. Active with the City’s Behavioral Evaluation Action Team and with CPPD training initiatives, Ciardi served on the City’s Ethics Board and was a member of the PBA’s Executive Board for many years.

Completing the transition team is Da’Ron Wilson.  Wilson is a political scientist who has long prioritized service to the Poughkeepsie community, serving from a very early age with numerous local organizations including The Northside Community Center, Harambe, PACMAN, Real Skills, Protect the Dream, Brother2Brother, Upward Bound, and CM2. Wilson is a combat veteran and has spent more than two decades serving City of Poughkeepsie students and their families in the Poughkeepsie City School District, where he is currently the Executive Director of School Engagement.

Nelson is confident in the abilities of his team, telling Mid-Hudson News, the team members, in addition to working collectively, have individual roles as well.  One member is tasked with addressing labor relations with the city’s various unions while another will be doing outreach to the city’s non-profits, such as Dutchess Outreach, who were overwhelmed with work during the pandemic.  “We still have a fair amount of ARPA money that can be deployed to help those agencies,” Nelson said.

The transition team may be contacted by email at transition@fastmail.com.  The city’s next mayor is urging members of the city’s workforce and the entire community to reach out to the team to offer their priorities.  Nelson said that anyone with suggestions can email the transition team, and can do so anonymously, to present their priorities for consideration to help him fulfill his mayoral duties.




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