There’s been a personnel development at Poughkeepsie City Hall as the mayor sets his sights on bringing more development to the city and other issues while also preparing to run for a full four-year term. The city’s Development Director Natalie Quinn left the city as of March 17 and Joe Donat, a former city manager in Newburgh, has been brought in as interim development director. Donat’s career includes a stint as chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who was defeated in the 2022 election.
Poughkeepsie’s Mayor Marc Nelson served as city administrator while former Mayor Rob Rolison was in office. Rolison last November was elected to the New York State Senate. Nelson told the Business Journals that he expects to be in a three-way primary in June for the Democratic nomination to run in November for a full term as mayor.
“Back in November and December I had appointed a transition team to review the organization top to bottom and since I took office in January we’ve been making some subtle changes not so much in terms of staffing but in terms of priorities and refocusing the activities of various departments to be in line with my vision as the new mayor,” Nelson said. “It is certainly part and parcel of all the work that has been going on in the city and will continue.”
Nelson said that new leadership in the mayor’s office as well as on the Common Council gives Poughkeepsie an opportunity to build stronger relations between the two branches of government.
“The development community and investment community look at how we are running the city and what are we doing to facilitate smart, strategic growth,” Nelson said. “Obviously we want to send the right message and we hope that we’re doing that.”
Nelson noted that the council recently adopted an updated Comprehensive Plan for the city.
“We’ve been making progress and I think the change at the senior level is simply focusing on what still is not done,” Nelson said. “We’re in the middle of looking to rezone with some major changes to our zoning code. That work is going to continue. Development is one of the key things we’re going to be looking at.”
Nelson said he had been city administrator in Poughkeepsie since 2016 and he views what he is doing now as mayor as building on what he had accomplished in the administrator’s position. He identified key issues as including development, housing and job creation.
“The primary thing that I have focused on as city administrator and will continue to do it as mayor is restoring the fiscal health of the city,” Nelson said. “We are turning the city around; our finances are strong. We have steadily been chipping away at the general fund deficit. When Mayor Rolison took office in 2016 our deficit was $13.2 million; that’s down to approximately $2.3 million now and we’re very confident that we will be able to completely erase that deficit by the end of this year, early next year. That’s a big milestone for the City of Poughkeepsie.”
