VALATIE—At their meeting on March 7, the Kinderhook Town Board unanimously voted Yes on a Resolution Against Hate. The town follows a majority of other municipalities, including the county Board of Supervisors, that have approved anti-hate resolutions. Kinderhook is the largest town, by population, in the county.
The Town of New Lebanon adopted the resolution in May 2021 and the Board of Supervisors adopted the Resolution Against Hate last July. Several towns passed resolutions last winter, with the Town of Chatham passing an anti-hate resolution in December of 2021 and the Village of Chatham passing the resolution in February. The Village of Kinderhook passed a Resolution Against Hate on March 9.
According to an email from Michael Richardson, founder of Hate Watch, the towns of Clermont, Stuyvesant and Copake have also enacted anti-hate/anti-violence resolutions. His last email from March 11 said that the towns of Claverack, Greenport and Stockport as well as the villages of Philmont and Valatie have not passed resolutions of this kind.
The Town of Kinderhook’s resolution reads like the others, stating that “recently as a nation we have witnessed record high violence based upon a person’s religion, race, gender identities, sexual orientation, nationalities, economic status and political affiliation… the Town of Kinderhook Board continues to maintain that all people of our community have the right to feel safe and be treated equally and with respect and dignity…” and that on behalf of all residents of the town the board maintains “our position that violence of any kind is unacceptable and condemn any act of aggression, hostility or violence against any member of our community based upon race, religion, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, economic status or political affiliation.”
