IT’S TIME TO DO SOMETHING FOR CLAVERACK!
MEET OUR CANDIDATES
Ilze Earner
for Town Supervisor
“I believe a well-run town must operate with transparency, accountability, and community engagement to guarantee Claverack residents’ safety and well-being.” – Ilze Earner
Ilze Earner has a 25-year background in social work, to include teaching graduate students and conducting research. Her work focused on at risk and vulnerable children, and she consulted widely with local, state, and international organizations.
Earner has extensive experience working for and with nonprofit and community-based organizations. She has decades of experience in securing grants, totaling over $10 million for several nonprofit programs and research initiatives to support children.
In addition, Earner was a 4-H club leader and Sunday School teacher, and has become a Master Gardener with Cornell Cooperative Extension. Earner helped establish a Hudson-based nonprofit organization, Safe Haven Horse Rescue, and during the summer, she runs their reading program.
Earner is married with three adult children, all raised in Claverack, and is expecting her first grandchild this fall. In her free time, Earner enjoys gardening, horseback riding, raising chickens, and reading.
Robert Honeywell
for Town Board
“With over 30 years of business law experience, I will put that to use for all Claverack residents – Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. The Board should work for all of us.”
– Robert Honeywell
Robert Honeywell has practiced business law for over 30 years, specializing in bankruptcy law. He knows that making things work, even if you don’t have enough money, requires creativity and tough negotiation.
Honeywell is also a Claverack and Columbia County activist. He provided legal assistance to Farmers and Families for Claverack for the power line fight, and then fought to expand broadband to unserved areas of Columbia County, working closely with the Columbia Economic Development Corporation.
While practicing as a full-time lawyer, Honeywell also co-founded and managed an award-winning nonprofit performance space for over 20 years, developing a deep experience in grant writing, running a staff, and working with landlords and government agencies.
As a Town Board member, Robert will address the issues in a practical, business-minded way to make our town work for everyone - Democrats, Independents, and Republicans.
Peter Hoffman
for Town Board
“As a small businessman, long committed to helping agricultural communities thrive, I bring the perspective and tools sorely needed on the Claverack Town Board and look forward to finding solutions to the needs of our community.”
– Peter Hoffman
Peter Hoffman has been building community, both professionally and as a private citizen, largely through the lens of food, for decades. Hoffman and his wife owned and successfully ran two ground-breaking farm-to-table restaurants during his 26-year career as a chef and restaurant owner.
Hoffman developed many direct buying relationships with local farms here in Columbia County for decades. He advocated for sustainable agriculture and healthy local economies with other chefs, and relishes the opportunity for our community to help make our farms and farmers remain viable for all involved.
Hoffman served on the advisory board of the NYC Greenmarket for a decade and on the Chefs Collaborative board for 14 years, serving six years as Chair. In his role, he successfully wrote and administered multi-year grants for ongoing programming about sustainable food choices.
He has also worked on several efforts to promote sensible development in his neighborhood, and actively consults for food business interested in improving their work culture, sourcing, and messaging.
Hoffman and his wife live in Claverack. Hoffman can often be found exploring Columbia County on his gravel bike and sniffing out the best local ingredients or harvesting them for his garden, still core of his cooking.
Amber D’Amato
for Town Clerk / Tax Collector
“I care deeply about making our local government more accessible and responsive.”
– Amber D’Amato
Amber D’Amato has over 20 years of experience in customer service, with a background in the health and wellness field where she designed and implemented community-focused programs. She also led content creation and customer engagement strategies for emerging small businesses.
As owner of a successful wedding and event planning business, D’Amato has honed her skills to successfully and effectively communicate, manage budgets, and negotiate contracts.
D’Amato is also an organizing force in her neighborhood, communicating with town and county services to address local issues.
She knows the importance of customer service and is committed to modernizing the Clerk’s Office and expanding office hours to make it easier for community members to access the services offered at the Town Office. D'Amato enjoys spending time with her family in Hollowville and loves to sing and play guitar.
THE ISSUES
WE’RE RUNNING TO DO SOMETHING TO MAKE CLAVERACK AS GOOD AS IT CAN BE
WE NEED:
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AN ACTIVE TOWN BOARD
Claverack adopted a Comprehensive Plan in 2008 after extensive community input and expert guidance. Most of its recommendations remain unmet, 17 years later. From forming citizen advisory committees, to developing a Town strategy to attract businesses, preserve farmland, and make housing affordable, to building sidewalks, crosswalks, hiking and rail trails, and a community center, to hiring a grant-writer to supplement the budget with new revenues and keep taxes down … all of this has been proposed for years and none of it has been done.
We need a Town Board that will grab the wheel and drive the Town’s future, rather than fall asleep at the wheel. The Town deserves active, engaged leadership with a vision.
We can do better.
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SMART DEVELOPMENT, NOT ANY DEVELOPMENT
Claverack needs smart, low-impact businesses to create jobs while preserving the Town’s character. The Comprehensive Plan long ago proposed that the Town Board form an economic development advisory committee and a strategy to attract small businesses to fit the Town’s character: in agriculture-related businesses, decentralized tech, medical arts, and light manufacturing. What has the Town Board done about it? Nothing. Now we’re at risk of being the Town With the Pot Dispensary – the idea currently being proposed for the former Jackson’s site in the hamlet.
We need a Town Board committed to pursuing good businesses for Claverack – not to simply reacting to whoever walks in the door.
We can do better.
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AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Claverack, like all of the Hudson Valley, is facing a housing crisis. Home prices and rents are skyrocketing. Supply is limited. Young families can’t afford to live here. Businesses can’t find employees. School enrollments are falling. What is the Town Board doing about it? Nothing. The 2008 Comprehensive Plan proposed that the Board form a strategy to work with non-profit housing groups and pursue grants and tax abatements to support homeownership, rehabilitation of existing homes, and increasing supply through auxiliary dwelling units (ADUs), land trusts, and modernized standards and inspections for mobile and manufactured homes and rentals.
Creative solutions are available, but the Town Board needs the energy and vision to pursue them. Otherwise, Claverack as a community will continue to lose population, young families, and businesses.
We can do better.
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A TRANSPARENT TOWN BOARD
The Town Board is becoming known as the group that shoots first and asks for public input later. Votes are rushed in instant roll-calls of the Board members with little discussion – with the outcome obviously pre-decided – and then the public is asked for comment. Major decisions, including acquisitions of property with the citizens’ taxes, are decided with little public notice – let alone notice to those most affected, as with the recent decision to build a courthouse in Philmont without telling the adjoining property owners. And virtually any decision on significant financial matters is taken in executive session, in violation of the Open Meetings Law.
This pattern must stop. The public’s input should be welcome and actively solicited, not discouraged. The Board works for us – not the other way around.
We can do better.
DONATE
Your donation to the Claverack Democratic Committee will directly support Ilze Earner, Robert Honeywell, Peter Hoffman, and Amber D’Amato and help them win in November!
If you prefer to donate by check
Make your check payable to:
Claverack Democratic Committee
Mail your check to:
Claverack Democratic Committee
PO Box 514
Claverack, NY 12513
All monies benefit the Claverack Democratic Committee. Contributions are not tax deductible. Maximum allowable per person annual contribution amount is $138,600.