Chatham Dems Newsletter

Join Us for our Annual Picnic!

Please RSVP: Click Here We’d love to see you!

The August 20th Board meeting commenced with a discussion of the recently approved Correspondence Policy that stipulates that all correspondence submitted to the Town Board will now be considered public record and included as part of the official Town Board agenda packet. In previous discussions, the Board agreed to list correspondence in the Town Board meeting agendas, and to post correspondence under the Town Board section of the website.

There were 17 letters to the Board listed on the August 20th meeting agenda, but the actual letters had not yet been posted on the website. Town Board member Simonetti, who said she was responding to concerns she has heard from the public, clarified that the intention of the policy is to have listed correspondence available to the public at the time of the listing.

She said she would review the process so that this will occur.** She also recommended that correspondence be listed and published twice monthly, at the time of the workshop meeting (first Thursday of the month) and the regular board meeting (third Thursday of the month). Board member Werwaiss agreed and suggested that the meeting agendas might include a segment for discussion of any pressing items in correspondence received by the Board at the time of publication.

**Update: As of Monday, August 24th, the 17 letters received by the Board are posted on the website HERE. Once there, scroll down to 2026 CORRESPONDENCE PER TOWN BOARD MEETING and click any link to see the listed letter!

SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

The Board heard subcommittee reports from all committees.

This segment of the meeting began with Supervisor Collins’ 40 minute report on his activities related to his work for Columbia County and the Town of Chatham. To view his comments and learn more about business at the Board of Supervisors, go to the video of the meeting. (2 segments due to technical difficulties: go to minute 7 on segment #1 and beginning of segment #2).

Other updates on committee work can be found by timestamp (from minute 22 - 58). Substantive reports were heard from the Chatham Agricultural Partnership, Climate Smart/Action Task Force, Communications Committee, Housing Committee, Parks and Recreation Committee, Conservation Advisory Council, Invasive Species Awareness Committee, Traffic Safety Working Group, Community Preservation Fund Advisory Committee, and the Financial Planning & Economic Development Committee.

OLD BUSINESS

Solar Law Committee Chair Eaton reported on the Columbia County Planning Board’s review of the Town’s proposed solar law. Several of the CCPB recommendations are currently being implemented by the Committee. Eaton clarified that developers have a right to ask for a variance outside of the solar overlay zones, but agreed to a revision of the draft law to read: “The overlay zones may be adjusted in the future based on changes to infrastructure and technology.” (delete “and landowner interest.”)

HELP GET OUT THE VOTE

The NY 19 Congressional race is one of the most competitive races in the country this year. Two years ago, our Congressman Josh Riley won this race by 2.2%. In fact, Republicans have targeted this race as one of their top priorities to flip this seat from Democrat to Republican. A win in NY 19 is crucial to Democrats gaining control of the House. With so much at stake – from abortion rights to voting rights to protecting the environment, to democracy itself -your vote and your effort to help get out the vote matters more than ever.

Keeping New York blue means electing our candidates up and down the ballot from the Governor on down to our local elected officials. The New York State Democratic Party opened a campaign office in Hudson at 227 Warren Street on July 25 to support our candidates in the November election, including our Congressman Josh Riley, State Senator Michelle Hinchey, Assemblymember Didi Barrett, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul.

It is up to us to get out the vote-knock doors, make phone calls, write postcards, write letters, plant lawn signs and donate to help our Democratic candidates win!

Sign up to volunteer here:

https://www.mobilize.us/nydems2026/event/986524/

Contact Victoria Seipp if you have any questions at seipp@nydems.org.

Chatham Bridge Brigade to Get Out The Vote

Time

Selected Saturdays

12 – 1:30pm EDT

Location

This event's address is private.

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About this event

This a local Indivisible event! Something new locally in the way of protests--a Bridge Brigade, right in Chatham! And focused on getting out the vote--!

Join the Chatham Bridge Brigade and be a part of a statewide Thruway Banner Project to Get Out The Vote and voice concerns about Democracy, the Economy, and Corruption in Government ahead of the mid-terms. At over 48 locations across the state, folks will be holding banners on bridges across the NYS Thruway on several dates ahead of the elections, from Buffalo to Albany and beyond.

The Good News

Given the avalanche of crazy that is our country right now, it’s important to pay attention to the positive things that happen every day. Happily, Jess Craven of “Chop Wood, Carry Water” reminds us in her weekly wrap-up of just those things. Her August 23rd installment does not disappoint! If you need a dose of hope, click here.

The tide is clearly turning, as people feel the ill-effects of every single thing this administration does. From tariffs to the rising cost of daily life, our ideas are winning and theirs are losing. And every day more people who believed the lies are seeing clearly that they WERE lies! Americans have never taken kindly to being lied to and fleeced, so this is a kind of perverse good news for Democrats and the nation as we head to the midterms.

One of the shoes designed to drop AFTER the midterms is the cost of health insurance. Republicans own that, and people are already feeling it. Christopher Armitage has some ideas about how states can do what the federal government will not in that arena. He has a new essay on universal coverage, which outlines four models states can use to provide it. A stalwart advocate for public ownership of crucial services such as utilities, broadband, banks and, yes, healthcare services, here’s a taste of what he has to say:

“Fifty years of health care debate has taught Americans to treat universal coverage as a federal responsibility, which means waiting on the one level of government where we have the least influence, fewest accountability mechanisms, and where oligarchs exercise the most control.”

After laying out how state coverage could work, Armitage addresses various probable objections, including cost. As he points out, “[a] payment that replaces a larger payment is not an increase,” which is a fact conveniently omitted when (mostly) Republicans start wailing about how it will be waaaaay too expensive. The truth is that for-profit entities just don’t want to give up the money we pay them, while they deny benefits and pocket the profits. THAT’s too expensive!

As with so much, what this requires is our voices demanding that the government serve US, not corporate interests and big donors. Every bit of good news happens because people like us decided it was something worth fighting for.

It’s our Country — fight for what you want! Make some Good Trouble.

The Bad News:
Surveillance, Data Collection, Control and Data Centers

At the last Town Board meeting, one of the public comments concerned the use—and possible misuse—of Flock cameras. The speaker was impassioned; outraged that these devices are being used almost everywhere to keep tabs on where we go and who we are. She demanded a resolution to keep them out of the Town and out of Columbia County, and promised to keep coming back.

if you’ve missed the debate, Flock camera surveillance is being universally decried as a method of snooping on us. The concerns? Among others, license plate and location information collected by local authorities can be passed along to ICE and Homeland Security. What does that mean? The ACLU has this to say:

“Just think about how much someone could learn about your life if cameras constantly tracked where you drove. They could find out which doctors you visit, what house of faith you worship at, who you visit or drive around with — even which political meetings and protests you attend.”

If you don’t want this kind of surveillance in our Town or our County, please consider writing a letter to the Town Board at Chatham@chathamnewyork.gov, or coming to speak up at the next meeting.

Meanwhile, ICE (and many police departments) are ordering shock gloves to better “control” protesters, and even school kids. These gloves can seriously harm adults, so imagine what they do to kids! Feel free to contact your members of Congress to tell them we don’t want or need this, and that ICE has proven more than once that they WILL abuse whatever tools they have.

In other news, people all over the country have soured on the construction of data centers as well as the intrusion of AI into our daily lives. The only people bullish on this technology are the tech-bro billionaires who seem to care more about money and machines than people. Data centers gobble electricity and water at alarming rates, while emitting a constant, maddening noise and polluting the night sky with lights — all the while providing no public benefit commensurate with these costs.

Governor Hochul put a pause on construction of data centers in New York State, but it’s not permanent. If you want to make it permanent, call your New York State Assembly person (links below) and NYS Senator Michelle Hinchey. Tell them NO DATA CENTERS! We can also ask that of our Town and County governments.

Demanding action is how we turn the not so good news into good news.

Assembly Member Didi Barrett, NYS Assembly District 106, or
Assembly Member Scott Bendett, NYS Assembly District 107

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