Sue Serino announces run for Dutchess County executive

HYDE PARK — Former state Sen. Sue Serino (R-C, Hyde Park) is running for Dutchess County executive. “I’m excited to be back in the community where I’ve lived and worked,” said Serino in an interview with The Millerton News. “I’d absolutely love to be able to do a lot of the work that I’ve done throughout the years, whether it was the government experience with Town Board, the Legislature, and the state Senate.”

Serino, who lost her state Senate seat in November to Democrat Michelle Hinchey, currently works part-time as an hourly communications specialist for the Dutchess County Office for the Aging.

“Being able to work with the seniors, we have to work on affordable housing, keeping them here, because these are the communities that they’ve built,” she said. “A senior won’t think to pick up the phone and call you but, boy, when they see you in person and you ask how they’re doing, you will hear what’s going on in their lives.”

In regards to business and infrastructure, she said: “I live in Hyde Park; we don’t have a sewer. Years ago, I was able to set money aside for the sewer district in the state. And I’m hoping that, at some point, that comes to fruition — it takes many, many years. But the administration has been working on it. It’s not a sexy thing, but it’s so vital to our communities.”

Of her life experiences, Serino said: “I think there’s a lot to be said for that. I’d been a single mom for a portion of my life and I know what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck, and I recognize that a lot of people are in that situation now and really, really struggling, and we have to be very conscious of that.”

Serino opened a real estate office in Poughkeepsie after she began working in the industry in the 1990s. “I got involved in politics in the first place because of my business and all of the rules and regulations that were mandated upon us, so I’d like to move forward with working with our small businesses, because they are the fabric of our communities, and do whatever we can to help them succeed.

“I’m not the person who ever runs up to the microphone,” said Serino. “It’s not about me, it’s always about the communities. I’m the person who always stayed in the background but loved to do the job, and that’s what I want to continue to do.”