Letter to the Editor

A time of change has come

By Mike Jurkovic, Democratic & Working Families Candidate, Plattekill Town Council
Posted 5/18/23

New families are coming to call Plattekill their home . . . families who want new things for their town. New things like sidewalks to and from our beautiful Thomas Felton park. A bike lane to …

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Letter to the Editor

A time of change has come

Posted

New families are coming to call Plattekill their home . . . families who want new things for their town. New things like sidewalks to and from our beautiful Thomas Felton park. A bike lane to exercise and get around on. A business district to patronize for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner, or a friendly after work drink.

These new families want climate wise streetlights to illuminate their not-out-of-the-ordinary activities. These new voices want to be part of climate smart initiatives and safe, affordable housing. They don’t, like most of us, want a new landfill that will wreak more havoc not just our fields and streams, but on our planet overall. They don’t want books being banned as they were in nearby towns. They don’t think it’s such a great leap to provide transportation for our seniors and our disabled.

New families enlivening our town want to be part of Plattekill’s future, not its stagnant, aging past. They want Plattekill (which includes Modena, Clintondale, Ardonia) to be more than a speed trap between Newburgh and New Paltz. More than Dunkin’ Donuts, Hannafords, and Stewarts. And they certainly don’t want their town to be known only as the town bookended by two Dollar Generals.

These simple, American small town dreams are the building blocks for our new Plattekill. They may also have been, at one time, the aspirations of those who have called Plattekill home but found their needs for social interaction or a family outing, in the surrounding towns while Plattekill stayed Plattekill. Nothing to do but drive on through.

A time of change, nothing either side of our unfortunate political divide could consider fringe, has come to Plattekill. That may sound scary or ominous or socialist to some but it truly isn’t. These are the dreams and yearnings of Plattekill’s next generation and the generations to follow. Art galleries, shops, an artisan bakery and tasting room. A bank. (We had one once.)

A restaurant or two. A farm market. Town services and activities for our youth, our seniors, our veterans, our parents. Health and social services for new citizens. Feasibility studies and grants for a central water and sewage system to develop and build a new business district around. Maybe even a new town hall instead of a crowded, aging prefab hut we have now.

The time of change has come to Plattekill and for those first small steps towards an imminent renewal and revival, new faces and new voices must be heard and elected. The old guard needs to change. More importantly, the old guard needs to be trustworthy. For as we have seen nationwide on every level, local, town, school, county, state, there are forces at work that warp the vision of what America is at her destined best: a country of neighbors in small towns and big cities, where voting matters, women choose, and children can go to school safely. Where justice is law and families can have a neighborhood to call their own. To call home.

New faces. New families. New voices. For a new Plattekill.

We need you to join us!

In peaceful accord