The race for mayor of the City of Poughkeepsie has been quiet since the announcements last spring, but it is about to get interesting. Two Democratic candidates face a Sept. 18 primary, and the winner will square off against Republican councilman John Tkazyik (3rd Ward) in the general election.
Both the incumbent mayor, Nancy Cozean, and challenger Fred Knapp, who represents the City of Poughkeepsie on the Dutchess County Legislature, have said they kept their campaigns free from personal attacks with an eye toward unifying the Democrats for the general election.
Neither Cozean nor Knapp fits a precise mold as a Democrat. Cozean is a self-described moderate, while Knapp describes himself as “very progressive, very people-oriented” and “fiscally conservative but socially liberal.”
Two Common Council Democrats, Penny Lewis (5th Ward) and Mary Solomon (6th Ward) supported Cozean with their presence at her announcement in April.
“She’s done quite a good job in my opinion,” said Lewis, who cites Main Street revitalization, continued work on the waterfront and new businesses as achievements on Cozean’s watch. “The last four years, we’ve done quite a bit here in the City of Poughkeepsie under her leadership,” she said. Lewis said Cozean had encouraged beautification and crime-fighting (with the Weed and Seed program) in Lewis’ Northside ward.
Cozean’s detractors accuse her of making a good impression for the cameras but lacking follow-through. Tkazyik’s campaign slogan, “Poughkeepsie needs a work horse, not a show horse,” is a reference to this perception. Supporters say she keeps busy, as Cozean herself attests: “I work full-time at this part-time job,” said Cozean. She was on the scene of the recent fuel tank fire by the Hudson River, offering her assistance and promising to declare a state of emergency, she said. She likes to be out in the field with city workers: “It gives me a real perspective of the needs [of the city] and how best approach those needs,” she said. Council chairman Brian Doyle (D-4th Ward), a supporter of Knapp, has acknowledged Cozean’s hard work for the city.
Doyle is among the other three Democrats on the Common Council who have publicly backed Knapp. “While he comes forward with very distinctive ideas, he also is committed to building consensus, bringing together people of differing views and engaging them in moving the city forward. I think that it is very important that we have someone who is going to unite the community toward the betterment of the city,” said Doyle.
Knapp’s detractors, including Cozean, question his stance on the issue of the county sales tax, which brings millions to city coffers annually. Knapp voted against keeping the tax at its current level during a legislature meeting on Sept. 10. Common Council member Erik Haight (R-2nd Ward) advocated maintaining the tax at that meeting: “We may disagree philosophically on the sales tax,” he told legislators. “However, at the end of the day, [not implementing it] can only mean a tax increase” for homeowners.
Knapp calls the sales tax “an unfair, regressive form of taxation,” but he spoke of a misperception on his position: “My votes have been characterized” in a certain way, he said, “and that’s not actually what the position is.”
He described a multifaceted stance: Taxing clothing, he said, is a mistake that hurts low-income people, as is maintaining a sales tax rate increase. (An increase of .75 of 1 percent went into effect several years ago, and was extended by the legislature this week, for a total of 3.75 percent. Democrats on the legislature said sunset legislation on the increase was ignored.) But since the sales tax is a reality, “the city should get a larger share,” he said, “since the city allows the county to [impose the tax].”
The cities of Beacon and Poughkeepsie are the only municipalities with the authority to impose a sales tax, but they agree to pass that authority to the county in return for a share of the revenues. Knapp says boosting the shares of the lower-income cities would improve the progressiveness (and fairness) of the tax.
“It has been my position since February 2005 that the city has been delinquent in not demanding enough sales tax revenues from the county,” said Knapp.
Improving the city
Knapp emphasizes the need for services – for schools, youth, and the elderly – in order to narrow disparities of wealth. He urges greater resource-sharing with city public schools. While he acknowledges that operating the schools is “clearly the purview of the school board,” he rejects “the conception that they have to be independent and non-cooperative.” He says school buildings could be transformed after hours into “community centers” for education. Bus service, particularly for seniors, also needs improvement, according to Knapp.
Cozean emphasizes the positive impacts that attracting new businesses can have on employment. Jobs are needed, she says; so too is job training. She says her Cottage Street Enterprise Project is intended to invigorate the Northside industrial corridor with manufacturing jobs alongside homes in pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods. She hopes to encourage job training programs to employ neighborhood residents.
Cozean also advocates attracting businesses and investors to the city in order to grow the tax base. According to her campaign literature: “A shrinking number of taxable properties results in increasing the tax burden of property owners. The ratio of tax-exempt properties in Poughkeepsie – 47 percent – is one of the highest in New York.”
On crime
Both candidates talk about the need to prevent crime with education and activities for youth.
Neither Democrat has pledged to direct more financial resources into public safety –– though Knapp seemed not to rule it out, saying he would seek counsel from the city administration, the rank-and-file members of the police force and citizens. Cozean emphasized the success of cooperative efforts, like the Operation IMPACT program, which emphasizes cooperative law enforcement efforts, and the county’s system of mutual aid during emergency response. The Weed and Seed anti-gang initiative, funded federally, is another example of cooperative efforts, she said.
Dollars in, dollars out
Knapp wants to explore selling Poughkeepsie’s water to other municipalities for revenue, calling for “serious community dialog about how much of those revenues can be used in the general operating budget.” He also said that with continued development, “hopefully the [tax] base will go up.” Another source of revenue would be — as discussed above — an increased share of the county sales tax for the city, according to Knapp.
Cozean says that by state law, revenues from water sales go into a designated fund reserved for water uses. To use them elsewhere in the budget would be “against state law,” she said. She wants to encourage businesses to relocate into the city to generate tax revenues. She has also advocated on behalf of the city for the county to maintain sales tax and mortgage tax to fill city coffers and has criticized Knapp in her campaign materials for voting to oppose maintaining the sales tax at current levels.
Different approaches
Cozean emphasized her optimistic approach to leadership. “What you can expect from me is pretty much what you’ve seen in the past four years,” she said. “Countless projects still need to be addressed,” she said, citing development, the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, watershed flooding issues, and easing residents’ tax burdens. “My style is to look at it positively as opportunities to move the city forward. I’m very much a moderate – very balanced as to how to go about doing that,” she said.
Knapp called for change. While he said he bore no personal animosity toward Cozean, he cited a need for greater transparency and citizen input at City Hall, as well as a focus on services for residents. “I’m seeking to become mayor because I think there are a wide range of issues and concerns not addressed by her administration,” he said.