Vote to keep Red Hook Town Board Member Mckeon working hard for you.
Polls are open from 6AM to 9PM on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009.

Experience

McKeon has a proven track record of getting results ...

Robert shares some ideas with
Congressman Scott Murphy.

• Robert McKeon - a tireless worker - Chair of Red Hook's Agriculture and Open Space Committee.
• As Director of TREND, Robert has been building consensus about tax reform with other Town Town Board Members throughout the Hudson Valley;
• Robert spearheaded many of the Town’s most effective and widely accepted land preservation efforts.
• He successfully lobbied for a Purchase of Development Rights program that met with overwhelming voter approval in 2003.
• He has shepherded a Conservation Easement and a Community Preservation Fund -- a first in Dutchess County!
• His farmland preservation initiatives are the role model for the rest of the Hudson Valley. Robert has long been an effective servant of our community. He is a sought after speaker on planning.

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Partnership

Councilman candidate for the Town of Red Hook, Robert McKeon discusses the need to get beyond party labels with Village Trustee Ed Blundell.

Robert believes that partisan politics has led to decision-making that is at best flawed, and often times is suspect.  Votes along party lines are the norm. We need to get beyond this.
And Robert will continue to work with officials of all levels, all registrations to ensure that Red Hook's future is being decided in the community's best interest.

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Reforming Taxes

Robert takes every opportunity to let lawmakers know about the needs of our taxpaying middle class. He lead the speakers at a press conference in Albany in 2008.

“Tax reform is essential if Red Hook is to remain affordable for everyone. As Town Board member, I will continue to oppose the burden of ever-higher property taxes which threaten our families."

Ever-higher taxes are not only forcing conversion of our farms, they are also making impossible for many in Red Hook to hang onto their homes. Robert will raise the pressure in Albany for a new, fair tax system.

As Director of TREND (Tax Reform Effort of Northern Dutchess), Robert has been building consensus about tax reform with other Town officials throughout the Hudson Valley. In 2005, he joined with others to form Northern Dutchess's largest tax reform group. Since then he has led forums in Red Hook, Rhinebeck, Milan, Clinton on important aspects of changing the school funding to a newer, fairer system that ask those who can to pay.

Robert has been invited to speak on cable TV and frequently is a radio show guest on the topic of tax reform.

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Robert is recognized as the Hudson Valley's leading community farmland advocate; he is regularly invited to speak to Town Boards and community groups in the valley.

Hudson Valley Hero

Scenic Hudson named Robert McKeon“Hudson Valley Hero” for 2007 in recognition of his pioneering efforts to preserve Red Hook's heritage.           

Even before he had any appointments to community groups or town committees, Robert began to work for the town. The passage of the town's PDR program has been credited to many, but certainly his leadership made it a possibility. His financial analysis of the costs of doing nothing were instrumental in convincing others to consider protecting what attracted so many of us here in the first place.

While others have been talking about the two most important issues to the residents of Red Hook: taxes and open space; he's been busy hard at work.

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Personal Qualities: Effective, Persistent, Dedicated

"Somewhere around implementation time, it becomes a real challenge to move a community forward." 

Persistent, partnering, Robert leaves no stone unturned in looking for solutions.

Red Hook needs a strong leader to address the challenges and secure its' bright future. That requires effective leadership.  It begins with education. Finding steps that will lead to solutions that will work.  And continues with reaching out to the community on the issues.  Listening for consensus.  And moving forward.

Sounds easy.

The reality is that it requires a tremendous amount of work. Robert is a tireless worker.  His effectiveness is recognized by elected officials on the town, county and state level - where he is well known and well respected.

When Robert advocates for something that the consensus of the community wants he doesn't stop until it is finished. He is a persistent advocate that we can rely on to get the job done! Standing up to pressure from either political parties or special interests can often be difficult.  But Robert does it, and he does it well. 

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