Support For March Gallagher

Dear Editor,

This is to endorse Ulster County Comptroller March Gallagher’s re-election. I am the chair of the Ulster County Citizens Commission for Digital Inclusion convened by Comptroller Gallagher, whose efforts recently resulted in a $62 Million grant of public and private money to expand fiber broadband to all unserved locations in the County.

Comptroller Gallager recognized the critical role of broadband access in modern life and in 2022 organized the Citizens Commission to expand access to broadband, digital literacy and digital devices across the entire County. Access to future-proof fiber optic broadband in every unserved location was no small target as the County includes remote, thinly populated areas; rugged terrain; and implicates the other jurisdictions of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Many providers balked at undertaking the task. These and other challenges made the goal of universal broadband daunting to say the least. But daunting isn’t enough to cow March. She never let up, and the County now reaps the benefits: $20.8 Million in BEAD funds, matched by another $41.6 Million from Verizon.

This is not a stand-alone achievement. Comptroller Gallagher has also earned and saved taxpayers over $17 million by: daylighting all county contracts and vendor payments; daylighting all county payroll; and Identifying better county investment strategies.

In addition to continuing to ensure the County’s fiscal integrity, current issues, such as budgetary consequences of federal cuts and our housing crisis complicated by short-term rentals, make the judicious attention of the Comptroller more important than ever. That’s why I urge voters to re-elect March Gallagher for Comptroller.

Jenny Lee
Town of Denning resident