Two enter race for town board

By CLOEY CALLAHAN
Posted 3/3/21

Town of Newburgh residents and Democrats Terri Blancato-Horton and Donette Smith have announced their run together for the two open Town of Newburgh town board seats, calling this campaign season the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Two enter race for town board

Posted

Town of Newburgh residents and Democrats Terri Blancato-Horton and Donette Smith have announced their run together for the two open Town of Newburgh town board seats, calling this campaign season the “year for women” here in Orange County. The pair have been advocates in the Town of Newburgh since they moved here, but they both see one thing missing – a lack of welcomed community input by the current town board. If elected, they’ve set out to increase community collaboration between the town government and residents.

Living in the Town of Newburgh, Blancato-Horton and Smith have found that it isn’t optimizing its potential. If elected, they plan to push for economic growth that would not only cater to the current residents, but make it a more attractive destination for people to move to.

At the center of this economic growth would be a senior center, a Hudson River waterfront public access point, a defined center to the town with stores and an increase of arts and cultural entertainment, and affordable housing targeted for young adults.

“It’s time – it’s time for Democrats to start taking hold,” said Donette. “For too long, we’ve seen too many things happen without the community being involved in the Town of Newburgh. A lot of decisions seem to be made amongst the board without necessarily telling the community what’s happening.”

Smith has been living in the town for over 17 years, is a licensed clinical social worker, and a regular volunteer for We Are Newburgh. When her son Zane died from an opioid overdose, she jumped to action and spearheaded Keep It Moving, an opioid overdose prevention program, and has been leading narcan training for years in and around the area, giving out more than 3,000 narcan kits.

“The current town board would think that opioids are not an issue here,” said Smith. “Unlike the current board, we can’t pretend that problems don’t exist when they do, like the opioid issue which has gotten much worse since the pandemic.”

Smith and Blancato-Horton have been encouraging the board to participate in Hope Not Handcuffs, which is a nonprofit organization that educates community members about “the dangers of misusing prescription drugs, especially painkillers.” If elected, they plan to work with the nationwide organization.

Blancato-Horton, on the other hand, has also been active in the community ever since her moving to the area 12 years ago. At the county level, she has worked on Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney’s and State Senator James Skoufis’ campaigns. She is the former Vice President of Orange County Democratic Women, Vice Chair of the Town of Newburgh Democratic Committee and a Vice Chair of the Orange County Democratic Committee. Blancato-Horton is an x-ray technician as her full-time job.

Blancato-Horton hopes to shine a light on how the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women as they experienced an additional burden of at-home childcare. If elected, she wants to implement creative ways to offer resources to mothers in the town, like creating an online registry to connect mothers with those willing to babysit. Additionally, she has been pushing for the Town of Newburgh to have its own vaccination location.

“I feel like we’re just not helping these families,” said Blancato-Horton. “These families need help. In the Town of Newburgh, Democrats haven’t been represented in years. It’s been a completely Republican board.”

The pair have set out to reach similar goals – which include everything from stopping the Danskammer power plant to creating pedestrian-friendly sidewalks.

“We’ve worked on stuff together for years,” said Blancato-Horton. “It is just a dream team to me. I’m going to spend the next nine months with Donette and that just makes me feel happy.”

More recently, Blancato-Horton and Smith have been actively involved in Governor Cuomo’s executive order 203 meetings here in Newburgh, which so far has left them feeling hopeful considering the board’s responsiveness.

“Our big thing is Newburgh residents deserve more,” said Blancato-Horton. “We’re really excited about women running across the county. It’s really important that we’re taking up space. We’re not asking for permission anymore – we’re taking it.”

For more information about Blancato-Horton, visit terrifornewburgh.com. For more information about Smith, visit donettefortowncouncil.com.