The 100th Assembly District (AD) is as diverse as Frank Skartados

The 100th AD encompasses farms, inner cities, both new and old suburban
developments and an extensive mix of light and heavy manufacturing – a
district where some view it as a place to live and work, while others
view it as a place to raise a family but have to commute to distant
locales to work; and still others view their local neighborhoods in
the last stages of decline – going nowhere. Frank Skartados believes
that no one view of the 100th fits all – that each community has
different issues that must be addressed with understanding. Yet, some
issues transcend the whole Assembly District and they must be addressed
too, but as one entity.

Using the property tax as the primary source for funding our school
system is disadvantageous for our society and is counter-productive to
its development. Frank advocates for a phased-in program that uses a
cap or circuit breaker to deal with the present property tax crisis,
and to look at the long-term funding issue by having the state assume
the funding of education through a mix of income and sales tax and
other broad-based funding to meet our educational needs. He has
commented that “Unless we focus on a permanent solution to funding our
school systems we will fall farther behind in developing a future
economic base for our State.“

Thinking ahead with a new idea

Just as Frank has grown his business by looking at the public’s needs,
he believes we must do the same in government and look at things that
are not on our current Assemblyman’s radar. A crisis that is on the
edge of the horizon for many communities in the Mid-Hudson Valley is
the growing need to protect our water supply and the environment as we
process raw sewage. The Towns of Lloyd and Marlborough along with the
Cities of Poughkeepsie and Newburgh are balancing the need for business
and residential growth against the cost of expanding their sewer and
water infrastructure. Frank is proposing that the State study the
advantages of consolidating sewer districts and the building of modern
sewage treatment plants that recycle the effluents, as is done in
Europe, Asia and Southern California. Such forward-thinking will help
avert future water shortages and, at the same time, be more
cost-effective for local communities.
 

Impact of Stewart International Airport on our area’s economy and our area’s way of life

Stewart could be the economic engine that will move the 100th AD and
the surrounding communities ahead. But how these communities today are
affected must be tended to. Planned growth that should deal with them
is either missing or hasn’t been presented yet to the communities of
this district. We cannot let this dynamic project go forth without
community involvement nor let planning be trumped by private interests.
The State must assume a key role to earnestly work with all interests
to devise a plan that works for all.

Farming can still be the economic engine for job and economic growth in the Hudson Valley.

Frank Skartados believes that augmenting the farming industry with
value-added farm products – adding the business of food processing to
basic vegetable-and-fruit farming, like making apple sauce from apples
– can easily be done. This part of the food economy has never really
been aggressively developed in the 100th AD with the exception of wine
production. Considering the high cost of transportation and the
advantage of our District having: the Culinary Institute of America,
the innovative food incubator program of Foodworks in Poughkeepsie,
three major colleges with business management programs, and one of our
largest markets in the world in nearby New York City, it is logical
that the Mid-Hudson Valley is a prime area for this kind of food
industry expansion. As an Assemblyman, Frank will bring people
together to find state programs that can aid and, if non-existent,
fight to get the State to provide them.


Frank is leading by example

Frank is converting his farm in Milton (in the Town of Marlborough)
into an aquaponics farm, where plants and fish are grown and raised
together in an integrated system using fish waste to feed the plants.
Although aquaponics farming is new to most farmers in the region, it is
currently being done successfully in other parts of the country and the
world. We, in the Hudson Valley, must make sure we are not left
behind. The key to aquaponics farming is the environmental-friendly
use of solar, geothermal and wind energy to grow produce year-round.
The use of such innovative methods can save the farming industry in the
Hudson Valley, plus preserve the land for future generations.

But in some instances the future is here, since we are now being
confronted with both a shortage of technicians to install and maintain
green energy systems, and the issue of net-metering – in which
residents, farms and businesses can sell back their unused renewable
energies to the power grids. Frank wants to totally remove the current
(low) cap on how much can be sold back, so that consumers can get a
fair deal instead of having a resale restriction.
 

More technical training is needed

Not every child wants to go to college – some for financial reasons,
others feel that their future will be better served by getting good
technical training that leads to good paying jobs. The State, in
conjunction with local government, has a responsibility to promote
those kinds of jobs, especially now when there is a disconnection
between what industry needs and what skills are being taught to people
by educational institutions or apprenticeship programs. The future of
our area is dependent on tackling the dire need for good paying jobs.
If this is accomplished then a lot of splits in our society can be more
easily addressed.