After two terms, Newburgh mayor steps down
“You can”™t run for office unless you can devote 100 percent of your time to it,” said Nicholas Valentine, who has been a member of Newburgh”™s Common Council and was elected twice as mayor. He”™s not looking for a third term or any other political office.
A few private-sector opportunities have opened up for Valentine, ones he declined to expand upon, but said they would interfere with mayoral duties. “I thought the time was now, rather than later, to announce I”™m not a candidate … it will give others more time to decide whether they want to jump into the race.”
As of this week, Common Council member Christine Bello, a Republican, and Judy Kennedy, a Democrat and four-year resident of the city, have announced they intend to run for the office. Valentine expects there will be more people stepping forward now that he”™s withdrawn his candidacy.
Mayor Valentine, who will become just plain Mr. Valentine Dec. 31, said he”™s most proud of the city”™s charter review currently ongoing, something he said he pushed for when elected eight years ago.
“It will be on the referendum this November. Some of the rules and regulations the city is mandated to follow are outdated ”“ it has not been changed since 1918.”
He”™s also glad to have been part of the discussions and decisions on  waterfront revitalization, although the Crash of 2008 has put the brakes on the plans Leyland Alliance has for the 30 acres of Hudson River shoreline  the city owns. “Our plan is an excellent one. The fact that the developer has not been able to start work is the economy”™s, not the builder”™s fault.”
Valentine critiqued situations where he felt he fell short. “It took me time to learn to have patience with the bureaucracy ”“ the system works so slowly. With a business in the private sector, you see things happen much more quickly. In government, it”™s a drawn-out process that can be very frustrating.
“I”™m not happy about the city”™s budget or our financial situation or the number of jobs we tried to create and can”™t achieve. Our crime rate has gone down from 2010, but is still high.”
The brouhaha over the city”™s courthouse, the gaping hole developer Robert Carchietta left in the middle of Broadway and the tax hike city residents were hit with weigh heavily on his mind.
“The city”™s tax increase is terrible. We went year after year not pushing for any kind of  increase ”“ now, we”™ve ended up paying the price. We didn”™t want to raise the water rate ”“ now that is up 30 percent, along with the tax increase. Elected officials have to look at finances from all aspects and make decisions based on long-range planning; we were never quite able to make it happen.”
One thing Valentine would like to see happen before he steps down is having a developer chosen to revitalize mid-Broadway, where Carchietta bought an entire block, leveled it in anticipation of the site being chosen for the new SUNY Orange, only to see his property bypassed. Carchietta declared bankruptcy and the rubble-strewn fenced lot now belongs to the city. “We have a request for qualifications out for that block. I”™d love to see a developer chosen and see something positive start to happen on the site before I go.”
Hudson River cities have become partners, trying to revitalize their waterfronts and their urban areas. “Ours is second to none ”“ mayors of all the cities meet on a bimonthly basis at Pace University in Westchester. Â There”™s a spirit of cooperation in it, and it is shared by our state and federal officials ”“ truly, a bipartisan effort to make our cities better places to live.”