City Councilman Bob Sklarz to seek re-election

By CLOEY CALLAHAN
Posted 3/3/21

Bob Sklarz announced his run for re-election for City of Newburgh city council ward three. His plans to seek re-election come after him being on the council since 2019 after winning a special …

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City Councilman Bob Sklarz to seek re-election

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Bob Sklarz announced his run for re-election for City of Newburgh city council ward three. His plans to seek re-election come after him being on the council since 2019 after winning a special election to replace Jonathan Jacobson who was elected to the New York State Assembly.

Since being elected in January 2019, he has worked with his fellow council members to stabilize the city’s finances with the hiring of City Manager Joseph Donat and Comptroller Todd Venning. If re-elected, he plans to help “monitor the city’s spending and develop controls to oversee overtime expenditures to ensure the continuance of the fiscal health of the city.” Also in the financial sphere, he plans to strengthen the city’s tax base while also advancing projects.

More recently, one of his more rewarding moments as a council member, was helping schedule appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine.

“We have all been living under the restrictions of COVID-19 for the past year,” said Sklarz. “Being able to help so many, to give them some hope during this very difficult period, is something that I will never forget.”

Sklarz is also a part of the Transportation Advisory Committee, working to “address issues that include making public transportation more accessible and reliable,” finding transportation alternatives and help get residents to employment opportunities. Moving forward, he hopes to work with the council and take a “basic first step” of repairing and improving the sidewalks.

“Further work needs to be done to improve bus transportation and to develop an additional route to provide service so people can get to work along the Route 17K corridor,” said Sklarz.

Sklarz has also been a part of the Executive Order 203 Oversight Committee to introduce police reform initiatives as part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s mandate that has an April 1 deadline.

“I have served on the Executive 203 Oversight Committee since its inception,” said Sklarz. “ It has been my pleasure to work with dedicated community members committed to improving police community relations … this is only the beginning — the committee needs to and will continue its work, after April 1, to monitor the progress of our recommendations and to continue its work towards improving police/community relations.”

Other issues that Sklarz has focused on include having clean and safe drinking water for residents and cleaning up community green spaces, like ward three’s Crystal Lake.

If elected, he plans to help kick-start a new “block captain” program that would be employed for each ward, which would act as a measure to “bolster the connection between the council and our constituents.”

Additionally, Sklarz is looking forward to pushing for “more work to be done to provide more affordable housing for our citizens,” with mixed-use and mixed-income housing initiatives here in the city. He said he hopes to “restore our treasured architecture while maintaining strong and affordable neighborhoods.”

Prior to being elected, Sklarz was the director of human resources for Middletown, Rockland and Rockland Children’s Psychiatric Centers for 30 years. He graduated from SUNY Oneonta with a political science degree. He is married to his wife Margaret McCartney who taught at Newburgh Free Academy for 34 years.