Letters to the editor — Thursday, October 15, 2026

Roush will bring collaborative leadership

I write in support of Trevor Roush for Pine Plains Supervisor.Trevor, a busy farmer and businessman, wants to make our Town government work more effectively and democratically.His campaign literature points out that our Town Board should work as a team, and that he wants “to bring collaborative leadership to Town Hall, improve communication, and make sure every voice in our community is heard.”

Trevor’s push to improve communication and increase collaboration among Town Board members reflects the shocking lack of communication and collaboration that resulted in Brian Walsh, our current Supervisor, agreeing to a provisional arrangement (and planned expanded contract) with Flock Safety to install cameras in various places in our town.Brian Walsh’s high-handed and dishonest conduct in the Flock affair is now well-known by Pine Plains residents; it resulted in numerous calls for Walsh’s resignation – calls he did not heed.Forcing Walsh out of office would have been a time-consuming process, dragging Town government down even further than his behavior had brought it.Walsh nevertheless seems to think that he deserves to be re-elected.

As Trevor’s campaign material suggests, the Flock affair was the result of Walsh’s refusal to work collaboratively or even to communicate with the rest of the Board.Walsh’s lack of commitment to doing his job conscientiously is also reflected in his failure to attend any, or almost any, County-wide meetings of Supervisors.To make this failure worse, Walsh neglects to inform the other Board members of these meetings, so that no other Board member can attend in his place; our Town goes unrepresented.On many occasions, Walsh even fails to respond to other Board members’ emails seeking information.

I think it is clear that we need a new Town Supervisor --someone who will take seriously his responsibilities to work cooperatively with other Board members and to communicate with Pine Plains residents.Trevor has stated his intention to, if elected, not only increase communication and transparency, but also to “[h]old regular office hours and monthly workshop meetings . . . [and to] bring people together for community projects . . . “Trevor also plans, if elected, to create a town map highlighting local businesses, and to use vacant town property for a temporary community park.

In short, Trevor Roush has enthusiasm for doing the job and doing it with integrity and commitment to improving life for Pine Plains residents.Let’s do ourselves a favor and elect him Pine Plains Town Supervisor.

Amy Rothstein

Pine Plains

Affordable housing crisis needs a fighter

We face many issues in upstate New York, but one of the most significant is the lack of affordable housing. The housing crunch creates a whole range of problems for residents as well as for the health of the local economy.

Young people are leaving the area for other parts of the U.S because they can’t afford to rent or buy a house here. That is leading to a major brain drain of talented and often highly educated residents.

An entire generation is missing out on building home ownership equity – a key source of savings for all income groups.

Local companies and other employers are having trouble luring prospective employees to work here, which makes it tougher for them to stay in business much less expand.

That’s why I was heartened to learn that our congressman, Rep. Josh Riley, is a strong advocate of rural and affordable housing. He helped pass the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act in July, a bi-partisan law that promotes home construction by lowering costs, cutting red tape in housing programs, protecting housing in rural communities and restricting large institutional investors from buying up affordable single-family homes. The law also requires major federal agencies to coordinate environmental reviews regarding housing construction, increases housing density in government Opportunity Zones, and expands a rental- assistance program.

And more, Congressman Riley sponsored the Veterans Housing Promise Act, which remains pending.

While this isn’t going to end the housing crisis, it shows that Riley is fighting what to ease the crisis.

That is why I plan to vote to re-elect him on November 3.

Ellen G. Levy

Co-Chair

Hillsdale Housing Committee