HYDE PARK – Dutchess County Executive Bill O’Neil capped his 20-year career in county government with his first and only state of the county address, delivered at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park on Wednesday evening.
O’Neil, who took over the role when Marcus Molinaro was elected to Congress last fall, said the state must “stop the madness” of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act that would end the use of fossil fuels in the state by 2040.
“The bottom line is, the CLCPA will have caused our energy costs to skyrocket, our energy availability to be greatly reduced, and our way of life will be so totally disrupted, that the mass exodus of businesses and individuals will devastate New York beyond repair,” he said. “This is pure madness.”
On the county level, O’Neil noted the Justice and Transition Center is almost complete, county housing needs and emergency housing needs continue to be addressed, the county continues to battle the opioid crisis on several levels, and the youth opportunity center in Poughkeepsie is in the formative stages.