Mayor Herzog runs to be trustee once again

MILLBROOK — Former village Trustee Mike Herzog is currently serving as the interim mayor of the village of Millbrook until Dec. 31, following former Mayor Rodney Brown’s unexpected resignation a few months before his term was to end on Dec. 31. It was a risky decision to leave his trustee post, as Herzog was planning to run for another term as trustee, a position he has held since 2012, but he offered to do so as no one else came forward.

Given the problems facing the country, and villages and towns across the country, it’s evident that things are not the same as they have been in past elections. New goals and criteria must be met. Herzog is prepared to help the village through the current multi-pronged crisis — now and in the future, he said. 

“In a depressed economy, voters in Millbrook need trustees with the experience to find solutions and funds beyond our small community tax base,” said the Democratic candidate. “I’ve proven I can do that, and will work with other board members to keep Millbrook solvent and moving forward.”

Developing an 8 foot by 4 foot table-top model of the storm drain project when he was a new trustee in 2012, Herzog earned Millbrook a grant from the county in 2013 to purchase cameras to analyze the pipes and sewers. Estimates figure that by doing their own assessments just in 2013-14, the village saved around $50,000. 

Herzog is well schooled in the ins and outs of applying for grants, an invaluable skill for a municipality the size of Millbrook, where grants are often hard to get because the median income is higher than in other parts of the county.

He and his wife, Mary Anne, are both retired school teachers, and have two grown sons who were raised and schooled in Millbrook. Herzog was a teacher in the Dover Union Free School District for 37 years. The two are active in the village and frequently work with the Taste of Millbrook and many other community causes.

Herzog’s experience during his years as trustee has served him well, coupled with some of his other skills acquired as a member of the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), which he has volunteered with since 1972 in many roles, including as contract negotiator and building representative; he served as Dover Wingdale Teachers’ Council from 1972 to 1988; he was chairperson for the DWRA Welfare Trust Fund from 1998 to 2008; he served on the Town of Washington Conservation Advisory Committee; he served on the Wappinger International Council; he’s also been a Board of Elections worker since 2010; and he sat on the Millbrook Board of Education Election Committee from 2017 to 2019. Herzog is also an active member of the Town of Washington’s Democratic Committee. 

Herzog has been active in many town recreation activities throughout the years, coaching, refereeing and managing swimming, soccer and Little League Baseball teams.    

Herzog was born in Huntington, Long Island, but has been in the Hudson Valley area since 1972, when he graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY), New Paltz, with a B.A.; he then acquired a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education in 1975.

“Let me be your voice for a stronger village,” was Herzog’s message to the residents of Millbrook when he ran for Trustee in the 2016 election. 

That hasn’t changed. 

The Millerton News is running candidate profiles throughout the month of October. There are four candidates running for two Millbrook village trustee positions. Look for remaining two trustee profiles in next week's Millerton News.