Over the weekend, Hudson Valley-based news outlet The Highlands Current published a piece titled How to Spend $57 Million, exposing Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro’s irresponsible spending of nearly $12 million in American Rescue Plan funds on VIP upgrades to a baseball stadium instead of pandemic recovery.
Molinaro’s reckless spending goes against the Treasury Department’s guidelines for use of recovery funds:
“Large capital expenditures intended for general economic development or to aid the travel, tourism and hospitality industries — such as convention centers and stadiums — are, on balance, generally not reasonably proportional to addressing the negative economic impacts of the pandemic,” the Treasury said.
This local story arrives on the heels of a similar recent New York Times article, Millions in Stimulus Aid, and Clashing Over How to Spend It, also critiquing Molinaro’s frivolous spending of federal recovery funds:
“For more than two hours, residents and Democratic lawmakers implored the Republican majority to address longstanding problems that the pandemic had exacerbated. They cited opioid abuse, poverty and food insecurity. Some pointed to decrepit sewer systems and inadequate high-speed internet.
…
“In the end, the Legislature rebuffed their appeals. It voted 15 to 10 to devote $12.5 million to renovate a minor-league baseball stadium that’s home to the Hudson Valley Renegades, a Yankees affiliate.
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“I was just devastated that we spent the money that way,” Ms. Kearney, the Democratic legislator, said in an interview. “It was such a betrayal of our community. So grossly inappropriate and grossly tone deaf to the needs of the people in Dutchess who have suffered.”
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