ELECTION 2020
GHENT—The four county villages—Chatham, Kinderhook, Philmont and Valatie—will hold elections on Tuesday, September 15. Village elections were originally scheduled for March 18, but were postponed a few times due the pandemic.
In Philmont and Valatie, incumbent board members are running unopposed for the open seats. In Chatham current trustee Lenore Packet did not run for reelection. There are two open seats in Chatham with two people running: incumbent Melony Spock and first-time candidate Jodie Russell.
In Kinderhook, current mayor Jim Dunham and long-time trustee Rich Phillips are not running for reelection. Four people are running for two open seats on the board: Michael Abrams, Robert Baumeister (incumbent), James Mark Browne and Dorene M. Weir. One person—Dale R. Leiser—is running for mayor. Also on the ballot in Kinderhook is village justice. Current Judge David Dellehunt is running unopposed.
Voting is noon to 9 p.m. in all the villages. Voting in Philmont is at the Philmont Village Hall, 124 Main Street; in Valatie at the Martin H. Glynn Municipal Building, 3211 Church Street; and in Kinderhook at the Village Hall, 6 Chatham Street. In Chatham, which is the only village election run by the county Board of Elections, voting is at the Morris Memorial, 77 Main Street. The Chatham village announcement on the county Election Board website says, “Masks are required.”
The governor originally moved village elections from March 18 to April 28 and then to June 1 and finally to next Tuesday.
An executive order issued by Governor Cuomo in March says, “Any provision of the election law or village law otherwise applicable to the manner of conducting such an election in March, April, May or June, shall apply to the date of the September 15 election. Village officials elected at a rescheduled election held on September 15, shall assume office as soon as the statement of canvass is filed with the village clerk pursuant to section 15-126 of the Election Law or certified by the board of election, and the term of office of such officers shall end as if they had been elected at the time of the originally scheduled election.”