The reason New Year’s resolutions are so popular is because they’re so easy to make: the start of a new year is the perfect time to lose some weight, finally make progress on a long-delayed project or make a life-altering change that’s been a long time coming.
But as easy as they are to make, resolutions are also simple to break, probably because if we needed to make changes that badly, we already would have. That doesn’t mean there isn’t any value in setting a course for self-improvement and progress for the coming year, but prioritizing is key. That’s why local leaders, from the county level down, need to be both aggressive and realistic in addressing the needs of the area in 2008.
In the City of Poughkeepsie, 2008 must be the year that the rebuilt Luckey Platt building is finally opened. With the project stalled since a stop-work order was issued last March, city officials need to make finishing the building a priority. Work was halted so that the building could be brought up to code, but business owners and investors who are counting on the project to bring new residents and shoppers to the area are getting impatient. New mayor John Tkazyik needs to make Luckey Platt one of his main priorities during the first year of his administration.
On the county level, the Dutchess County Legislature will be led by Democrats for the first time in 30 years, and they must use this as a chance not only to advance their own initiatives but also to begin fresh dialogue on ongoing issues that the county must address. Like the Dutchess County Jail, where overcrowding has forced the county to house out prisoners in jails all over the state at the cost of hundreds of dollars a day. Whether the answer is an eventual expansion, or alternative-to-incarceration programs (ATIs), the Legislaure must find a way to reduce the costs of housing out and make progress on the jail front.
And when considering the change at the top, Legislature Democrats should use this chance to put politics aside as much as possible, focusing on issues and ideas rather than partisan bickering that has at times consumed the Legislature during the last several years of Republican control. Both sides can share the blame there, but Democrats have a prime chance to show magnanimity while at the same time making real progress if they concentrate on avoiding “politics-as-usual” arguments.
And more than anything, leaders must be mindful of finding ways to reduce the ever-growing tax burden on local residents, or at least responsibly manage the year-over-year increase. Concerns about taxes are foremost in the minds of many who worry about being able to live here long-term. Although the new year is a good time for looking ahead, it’s also the right time to take stock, once again, of what really needs to be done to prepare Dutchess County and its municipalities for the future.