Category Archives: Uncategorized

There are resolutions that fix roads. There are resolutions that allocate funding. There are resolutions that directly affect the daily lives of the people who pay the taxes. And then there is Resolution No. 2026030. The Dutchess County Legislature has introduced Resolution 2026030 to formally oppose a proposed federal immigration detention or processing facility. TheContinue reading “Resolution 2026030: Governance or Grandstanding?”

Every now and then, the U.S. Supreme Court hands down a ruling that doesn’t just tweak policy — it redraws the boundary between government and family. This week was one of those moments. In a 6–3 decision, the Court granted an emergency application brought by the Thomas More Society in Mirabelli v. Bonta, effectively shuttingContinue reading “Valley Viewpoint: The Supreme Court Just Drew a Line — And It’s About Parents”

You know, I probably do need to get out more often. Most people unwind with Netflix. I apparently unwind with 16th-century Jesuits. I just finished reading the Examen of St. Ignatius Loyola, and something in it stopped me cold. Ignatius makes a point that feels almost uncomfortable in its clarity: prayer must be followed byContinue reading “Before You Say “I’m Praying for You””

There are lessons I didn’t learn in school. I learned them in courtrooms.In boardrooms.On subway platforms waiting for a downtown train.Behind a radio microphone before sunrise.In the quiet after arguments.In the stillness of walking the dog when the world finally shuts up. And somewhere along the way, I learned how to find my voice. NotContinue reading “What I Learned the Hard Way”

“It’s gonna be a tough next 18 years.” Those were the words my friend’s daughter was forced to hear in a recent divorce proceeding. Not spoken in sorrow. Not said with regret. Said almost as a promise. He was referring to their little girl — still young enough to need bedtime stories and reassurance —Continue reading “Grace Is Cheaper Than Litigation”

There are moments in New York politics when something big is happening — but it’s happening quietly. No rallies. No floor debates dominating the evening news. No headline screaming “Your Taxes Are About to Go Up.” Instead, it’s tucked into budget language. An opinion piece this weekend in the New York Post laid out whatContinue reading “VALLEY VIEWPOINT: The $100 Billion Question No One’s Talking About”

When a Marist College poll drops numbers like this, it isn’t background noise.It’s an alarm bell.Let’s stop dancing around it.Chuck Schumer — Senate Majority Leader, permanent fixture on cable news — is sitting at just 27% “excellent” or “good” among New York voters.Sixty-five percent rate him fair or poor.Forty-one percent say poor.That’s not mild dissatisfaction.That’sContinue reading “The Empire Is Cracking — And Voters Just Said So”

Over the course of my career, I have reviewed thousands of spreadsheets. Revenue projections. Compensation models. Benefits renewals. Payroll registers. Insurance exposure. Bonus accruals. Workforce plans. Every organization obsesses over the visible balance sheet — assets, liabilities, margins, cost controls. We debate capital expenditures and operating expenses. We scrutinize EBITDA. We forecast risk. But thereContinue reading “The Balance Sheet You Can’t See: Human Capital”

Up here in the Hudson Valley, we understand something instinctively: if you belong to something, it means something. You belong to a fire district — you pay into it. You belong to a school district — you vote in it. You belong to a country — you shape its future. That’s why the debate overContinue reading “Valley Viewpoint: Citizenship Is Not a Suggestion”

If you’ve been reading Valley Viewpoint for any length of time, you know a theme runs through my writing like a fault line beneath the surface: The growing absurdity of our justice system. Not the ideal. The ideal is sacred. Equal justice under law. Blindfolded. Balanced scales. But the execution? Increasingly political. Increasingly detached fromContinue reading “How Absurd Does Justice Have to Get?”

Here in the Hudson Valley, we talk a lot about clean air, affordable power, and reliable energy — because bills and budgets matter to real people who heat their homes, fill their cars, and feed their families.This week in Albany, a leaked memo from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) setContinue reading “When the Green Energy Future Comes With a Hefty Price Tag”

There was a line in the State of the Union that should have united the entire chamber — Republican, Democrat, independent alike.President Donald Trump declared a nationwide war on fraud and put Vice President J.D. Vance in charge of leading it.Not a war on political opponents.Not a war on speech.Not a war on imaginary enemies.AContinue reading “Finally — A Government That Treats Fraud Like a Crime”