“As elected officials on the national level continue to be divided, our goal in the City of Poughkeepsie is to be united,” Yvonne Flowers told an audience at the Poughkeepsie High School auditorium after taking the oath of office as the first African American to serve as the city’s mayor.
Flowers asked for community support and pledged to work on behalf of all residents for the betterment of the city.
Flowers had served four terms on the Poughkeepsie City Council. After defeating incumbent Marc Nelson and another challenger for the Democratic nomination to run for mayor, Flowers won the mayoralty contest against Republican Anthony LaRocca Jr., who is a local school teacher. Nelson had replaced former Mayor Rob Rolison after Rolison moved up to the New York State Senate.
Flowers presented Nelson with a proclamation at the event, praising his work and thanking him for a seamless transition following her victory in the November election.
“Today we take the mantle and begin the earnest work to push the City of Poughkeepsie to its true potential, to unify our city, to ensure it’s a safe place where all are welcome and can thrive,” said Flowers. “I recognize there is a lot of work to do, and I am calling on members of the community to join me in this work and to understand that change can’t happen overnight, but progress can and will be made if we each do our part to help nurture the city we love.”
Flowers is a life-long resident of the city and graduated from the Poughkeepsie City School District. She is a graduate of Dutchess Community College. She went on to work at the college for more than 33 years as its grants and contracts finance officer. She also had served as supervisor of the student accounts office.
Poughkeepsie Common Council members also took their oaths of office during the ceremony, including the new Councilmember-at-Large Da’Ron Wilson. Wilson has worked for the Poughkeepsie City School District for more than 20 years and currently is the district’s executive director of school engagement.
School District Superintendent Eric Jay Rosser said, “Mayor Flowers and Mr. Wilson have done tremendous work for the community, and I am excited about the accomplishments that will be achieved in their new leadership roles.’’
“It is time to diminish the Northside/Southside divide in our city and encourage people from all ethnic and cultural groups to be involved,” Flowers said. “Our goal to improve our city should be united, and united we should provide a platform where we can share ideas, thoughts and concerns with dignity and respect.”
Flowers called for adopting a bipartisan mindset and said she would help create that platform in order to ensure that everyone who has something to contribute will be heard.
Flowers said that housing needs would be a priority under her administration.
“To help resolve our housing crisis, we need all stakeholders involved,” Flowers said. “I plan to create a Housing Task Force to help bring key people from these areas to focus on the housing needs in Poughkeepsie.”
She said that public safety is another area that will receive a lot of attention under her administration.
“People in our city need to feel safe while living, working or just visiting our city,” Flowers said. “My administration and I will work closely with our police department to ensure they have the resources they need to help fight crime effectively and work with our district attorney’s office to ensure repeat offenders are taken off our streets. We will also work closely with community partners that focus on prevention and intervention programs to help reduce crime and gun violence in our city.”
Flowers said she intended to finish modernizing the city’s zoning code to create a blueprint to help encourage and welcome smart and creative development that would increase home ownership, affordable housing options, employment opportunities and develop an infrastructure that help support economic growth.
“We also need to invest more in our children if we are going to make a significant improvement in Poughkeepsie,” Flowers said. “If we are going to build a stronger community, we need to build stronger families. We need to address the root causes of why people are dealing with mental illness, drug addiction, homelessness, criminal activity, lack of education. It is time to help create the opportunities that will help our community build educational and financial wealth and implement the support services our families need to thrive in our city.”
