POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (WAMC) – Two powerful politicians got together today to map out a strategy for re-imagining one of New York’s great riverfront cities: Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.
Poughkeepsie Mayor John Tkazyik and Dutchess County Executive-Elect Marc Molinaro at Poughkeepsie City Hall, looking at plans for improving the infrastructure. ..:: WAMC Photo by Dave Lucas ::..
Dutchess County Executive-Elect Marc Molinaro walked over to Poughkeepsie City Hall for the informal meeting with Mayor John Tkazyik: a brainstorming session over bringing some change and adding a dash of excitement to the city…
City Hall is looking toward implementing a variety of upgrades one official described as a way to “put the stamp on Poughkeepsie for the next generation” … Mayor Tkazyik is advancing plans to convert Market Street back to two-way traffic and opening up 95 parking spaces along the busy artery – some other one-way streets would also revert to two-way to help make downtown more attractive to vehicular traffic.
County Executive-Elect Molinaro believes Poughkeepsie will prosper through city and county teamwork. Tkazyik recalls he and Molinaro collaborated in the past on the Mayors and Supervisors Association when Molinaro served as Mayor of Tivoli. Tkazyik says the two are also looking into using mass transit as an economic development tool and a way to bring more pedestrians into the heart of the city. Molinaro pointed out that the meeting with Mayor Tkazyik is the first of many planned political pow-wows.
Molinaro is stepping down as state assemblyman to take the reins from retiring County Executive Bill Steinhaus on January 1st.
POUGHKEEPSIE – Hundreds of residents, officials and well-wishers packed the Grandview ballroom on Poughkeepsie’s waterfront, to observe the inauguration of the mayor and city council.
Mayor John Tkazyik begins a second term following a close reelection last November. As a Republican, he faces the next two years with a strong Democratic majority on the common council. Bipartisanship was stressed in his inaugural speech.
The mayor said city officials may have “our partisan difference and disagreements” on how to allocate the scarce resources of a city that faces cutbacks in state and federal aid.
“But today, let us acknowledge there is nothing partisan of safe streets and clean parks, nothing partisan about ridding this city of drugs and gang violence, nothing partisan about creating a climate conducive to job growth, or creating a ladder of opportunity where people can climb as far and as fast as they would like,” he said.
Tkazyik said the diversity of the city’s population should not divide Poughkeepsie, but serve as a source of strength.
The mayor noted past achievements. “We have made progress in making this city a safer place to live, an emerging hub of economic activity. We have managed to keep a budget in balance and a tax levy under control, by working together for the common good,” Tkazyik said.
With a promise to balance budgets, further business development and continue to fight to make the streets safe and clean, John C. Tkazyik was sworn in to a second term as the mayor of the City of Poughkeepsie.
“Being your mayor is the highest honor I have ever known,” Tkazyik said Monday to the 400 or so people gathered for a mayoral inauguration at The Grandview in the City of Poughkeepsie.
Poughkeepsie Mayor John Tkazyik speaks after being sworn in Monday, January 2, 2012, at the Grandview in the City of Poughkeepsie. / Karl Rabe
The ceremony included the swearing in of eight City of Poughkeepsie Common Council members and words of support from local community, religious and political leaders.
“We’re here for you to help bring about … the renaissance that is very much a part of the city’s future,” said newly sworn-in Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro of the mayor.
Poughkeepsie Mayor John Tkazyik is congratulated after being sworn in Monday, January 2, 2012, at the Grandview in the City of Poughkeepsie. / Karl Rabe
Describing the job as “deeply personal,” Molinaro, who served as the mayor of the Village of Tivoli for 12 years, described Tkazyik as a man that “eats, lives, breathes and sleeps the City of Poughkeepsie.”
The one-term Republican mayor won a narrow victory in November against Democratic opponent Ken Levinson, who refused to concede defeat until a final count of absentee ballots was tallied two weeks later.
Poughkeepsie Mayor John Tkazyik is sworn in Monday, January 2, 2012, at the Grandview in the City of Poughkeepsie. / Karl Rabe
Addressing the mayor and Common Council members, Thomas O’Neill, the former Common Council chairman, commended Tkazyik for his perseverance in the midst of a national and statewide financial crisis.
“Mayor Tkazyik has shown a remarkable ability to deal with this crisis but he cannot do it alone,” he said.
O’Neill spoke of what he defined not as “crime” but a “serious and significant gang problem,” calling for a “broad-based” approach involving schools, churches and policymakers coming together to address the problem.
Tkazyik’s first term in office saw city residents reeling in the wake of a rash of shootings and homicides. They included several shootings along downtown’s Main Street, among others, and the homicides of Jessica Welch and city police officer John Falcone outside of the Poughkeepsie Train Station in February.
Under Tkazyik’s leadership, the city implemented a series of crime control initiatives: the Cash For Tips program, in which cash is paid to people providing information leading to the recovery of an illegal gun or leading to the arrest of a person possessing an illegal gun; summits with young people and youth groups to address crime in the city; the expansion of police foot patrols; and the establishment of new safety regulations for convenience stores operating past 11 p.m.
Other accomplishments during his tenure include the drawing of new restaurants and two new supermarkets to the downtown area and development along the waterfront, among other large-scale business investments.
Tkazyik said he was proud of having presented a balanced budget and the development that had taken place during his tenure. He thanked the many people who, he said, had helped him to bring it about, including those who “toiled without credit.”
“Too many people in this city are without work, too many still live in fear of crime,” he said. “Our mission is not yet complete.”
The position of mayor carries a four-year term and pays $25,000 per year.
Poughkeepsie Mayor John Tkazyik, center, celebrates at Andy's Place in the City of Poughkeepsie on Election Night, Nov. 8. / Darryl Bautista/Poughkeepsie Journal
City of Poughkeepsie Mayor John Tkazyik and Dutchess County Republican Elections Commissioner Erik Haight today said Tkazyik has defeated Democratic challenger Ken Levinson after absentee and other ballots were counted.
“Mayor Tkazyik has another four years,” Haight said after the counting of absentee ballots for the city was completed around 11:30 a.m. “Levinson cannot overcome John Tkazyik at this point. It’s mathematically impossible.”
Final vote tallies were not immediately available, but Tkazyik , a Republican, said he had a 95-vote lead over Levinson. The mayor had a 122-vote lead based on machine results tabulated after Election Day.
Levinson said he called the mayor and “congratulated him on his victory” early this afternoon.
“It was obviously a very, very close race,” Levinson said. “A lot of the people in the city saw the need for change.”
Elections officials began counting paper ballots from the city Tuesday and the count was completed this morning, Haight said.
In other races that remained undecided after the Nov. 8 election, Haight said Councilman Thomas Parise, R-1st Ward, defeated Democratic challenger Jacqueline Jordan. Haight said council Chairman Lee Klein, R-4th Ward, was defeated by Democrat Nina Boyd.
Haight said the 8th Ward race will likely end up in court. Republican Councilman Paul Herman trailed Democratic challenger Leslie Catlett by six votes, but that 14 ballots have been challenged.
If current results stand, Democrats would hold a 7-1 majority on the Common Council next year. The GOP has controlled the governing body for the past two years. Council members serve two-year terms and are paid $9,000 per year.
During the campaign, Levinson said the city needed to fight crime and bolster public safety by placing more police officers on foot patrol. He also called for more youth programs, a need he said escalated after the 2009 closure of the city-based Dutchess County YMCA.
Tkazyik pointed to what he said was his strong record of keeping taxes in check, a recent decrease in violent crime and ongoing downtown and waterfront development in asking voters to give him a second four-year term.
Tkazyik, 32, helps run his family’s restaurant, Andy’s Place. Levinson, 55, is a landlord who buys and restores properties. The mayor’s post pays $25,000 per year.
The Democratic challenger in the race for Poughkeepsie mayor has conceded. Ken Levinson said after counting the absentee and affidavit ballots, he didn’t have the numbers to overtake incumbent Republican Mayor John Tkazyik. Our John Wagner has the details.
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — Out of more than 5,000 votes cast, current Mayor John Tkazyik is up by 90 with 73 contested ballots. Those numbers lead his challenger Ken Levinson to concede, congratulating the mayor around noon on Wednesday.
“What we predicted election night is what took place here today,” said Tkazyik. “And I want to thank the voters of the City of Poughkeepsie for having the faith and confidence in me to serve another four years.”
Tkazyik had spent three terms in the common council before being elected as the second youngest mayor in Poughkeepsie history. Due to term limits, this will be his second and final term as mayor.
But not all city races are over. The eighth ward council seat is headed for court with Leslie Catlett leading incumbent Paul Herman by six votes with 14 contested ballots.
“The judge will listen to both side’s objections, there will be witnesses called, sometimes there’s even private investigators involved, every ballot will be scrutinized,” explained Democratic elections commissioner Fran Knapp.
“I would expect that we’ll have, hopefully, certified results by sometime in December, January at the latest,” said Republican elections commissioner Erik Haight.
And while it took two weeks to finally decide the mayor’s race, the mayor says there’s already a number of city projects in the works and many reasons for Poughkeepsie to get excited about the next four years.
“Linking our walkway path to the future elevator project with Walkway Over the Hudson, a ten bay emergency response center and we have a new supermarket, Save-a-lot, that’s going to be breaking ground in the spring,” said Tkazyik.
The Democratic lead common council says they’re ready to work with the mayor, but they want to see better crime fighting and a city-wide youth center.
“If we can fund the Walkway over the Hudson, I don’t understand why we can’t fund something for human beings, for our youth, they have no place to go,” said Democrat Gwen Johnson, who was re-elected to her fourth term in the common council.
Absentee and affidavit votes were investigated, questioned and tallied on Tuesday in Poughkeepsie. With a few votes left to count Wednesday morning, mathematically, John Tkazyik is poised to spend another four years in city hall. Our John Wagner has the story.
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — After a hard fought campaign, Mayor John Tkazyik and challenger Ken Levinson sit across the table from each other for eight hours, examining every absentee ballot from the first seven wards of the city.
“The only ward we have left is the eighth ward, which is heavily Republican,” said Republican elections commissioner Erik Haight. “[It's] almost impossible for John Tkazyik to lose the mayor’s race at this point.”
“We’ll seal the deal with the eighth ward and we look forward to getting back to work in city hall,” said Mayor John Tkazyik.
In a city of 30,000 residents, 59 ballots have been challenged, 69 are left to count in the eighth ward and Tkazyik is winning by 75 votes.
“It appears either way it goes, it’s pretty much a tossup and I think that speaks volumes about the people wanting change,” said Ken Levinson. “And about me coming into this election virtually unknown and gathering as much support as I have.”
Levinson says he will accept the final vote count without a court battle. In the common council, Democrats won at least six out of eight seats, with the eighth ward still up for grabs.
Levinson says the Democrat message resonated with voters.
“More focus on youth, they want focus on crime, they want better management, they want open and equal government,” he said.
But those on the other side of the aisle disagree on the voter’s perspective.
“I can’t possibly think of how Levinson could spin this as any kind of a victory at all,” said Haight. “The enrollment is so heavily against a Republican candidate, yet Tkazyik has the appeal for Democratic voters to vote for him because he’s done a good job as mayor.”
Mayor Tkazyik says he’s excited to have another term to continue building on the progress the city has made.
“I’ve had the history of reaching across the aisle to get things done and make things happen in the City of Poughkeepsie. And that’s exactly what I’ll do again over the next four years,” Tkazyik said.
Poughkeepsie Mayor John Tkazyik won his re-election bid against Democrat Ken Levinson just four years after becoming the city’s youngest mayor ever. John Wagner has more on this close race. Continue reading →
The City of Poughkeepsie mayoral race is a good battle between incumbent John Tkazyik and challenger Ken Levinson, a contest that has rightly focused on development and crime — and whether the city has made progress in the past few years. Continue reading →
Sometimes it can be hard to remember that there is a city outside of Vassar. Sure, we all know that Bacio’s is across the street and that the Vassar Shuttle will take us to the mall, but that’s pretty much the extent of a typical Vassar student’s interaction with Poughkeepsie. Continue reading →
“…Tkazyik knows what it takes to fight the war against drug and gang violence.”
“…men and women in blue are proud to stand with him.”
Poughkeepsie—The City of Poughkeepsie Police Benevolent Association today announced that it has endorsed Mayor John Tkazyik for reelection as Mayor of Poughkeepsie. Continue reading →
