Download the packet from our teach-in, The Ulster County Legislature: Why Should You Care?
The County of Ulster is divided into 23 Legislative Districts.
Each district elects one person to be a member of the County Legislature. Legislators serve two-year terms.
The role of the county legislature is to:
Enact, amend, or rescind local laws and resolutions.
Set our county government’s administrative policies.
Approve the county budget and authorize spending of our county tax dollars.
General Legislative meetings are typically held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM in the Legislative Chambers on the 6th floor of the County Office Building, 244 Fair Street, Kingston, NY. The legislative calendar lists upcoming meetings.
These meetings are open to the public and also videotaped.
Rules of conduct for citizens who want to address the full County Legislature:
It’s first come, first served.
You get 5 minutes.
You must stick to the subject.
And you can’t attack the character of a legislator or you can be barred from attending future meetings.
People are waking up to national politics — how about local?
Every month, our 23 Ulster County legislators make decisions that matter: about racial justice, the environment, the economy, and how we treat the most vulnerable among us.
Join the Social Action Committee of Temple Emanuel and Ulster People for Justice & Democracy for a teach-in on what our County Legislature actually does, how they do it, and why it matters.
People are waking up to national politics — how about local?
Every month, our 23 Ulster County legislators make decisions that matter: about justice, our environment, our economy, and how we treat the most vulnerable among us.
This November, all 23 legislative seats are up for election. This is our moment to make real change at the local level. Now is the time to learn about your legislator, research their voting record, and make sure they represent your values. If you feel your legislator doesn’t represent you, perhaps you would consider running yourself – or maybe you know of a friend or neighbor who would make a great candidate?
A Quick Look at the Job of an Ulster County Legislator
Every two years, on odd-numbered years, we elect 23 “legislators” to serve as our representatives in the Ulster County Legislature— the legislative, appropriating and policy-determining body of our county. Our legislators make a lot of decisions that impact our daily lives— maybe it’s a job for YOU!
Who can be a county legislator?
Any registered voter can run for the office of county legislator, as long as she or he lives in the district they seek to represent and don’t hold any other elective public office.
What does a county legislator do, in a nutshell?
Enacts, amends, or rescinds local laws and resolutions.
Sets our county government’s administrative policies.
Approves the county budget and authorizes spending of our county tax dollars.
Decides the compensation and benefits of county employees.
Approves county contracts.
Responds to constituent concerns.
What does the job look like, day-to-day?
Legislators attend a LOT of meetings. In addition to the monthly legislative session, they typically serve on at least two standing committees, some advisory committees, and they caucus with fellow legislators in advance of regular sessions.
Legislators read and study documents. Many documents. Hundreds of documents.
Legislators debate and discuss things with allies, opponents, and everyone in between.
Legislators spend time out in public, hearing from constituents, talking to the press, joining in community activities.
What’s the pay and what are the hours?
Legislators make $14,000 per year plus the option of health insurance coverage. They also have the opportunity to build up savings through contributing to the NYS retirement system. Legislators work mostly on weekdays and weeknights (and occasionally weekends) and the number of hours worked each week varies widely from legislator to legislator for a variety of reasons.
How do you get the job?
You CAMPAIGN for it, and that’s practically another job in itself—the job of candidate. Successful candidates, in addition to having the skills to be a legislator: (1) have the time and enthusiasm to knock on doors and make phone calls just about every day; (2) have a good personal network and are able to put together a team to help reach out to voters; (3) have a clear message about who they are and why they are running; (4) can secure endorsements of political parties and organizations, and (5) can raise enough money to win (an estimated average of $10,000 for a county legislator race).
“We need to start engaging at the local and state level in an unprecedented way. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers helped us make political history during the last year. These are people deeply concerned about the future of our country and their own communities. Now we need many of them to start running for school boards, city councils, county commissions, state legislatures and governorships. State and local governments make enormously important decisions and we cannot allow right-wing Republicans to increasingly control them.”Bernie Sanders, June 16 2016
Ulster People for Justice & Democracy is platform-based political organization, unaffiliated with any party, that evolved out of the grassroots group Ulster County Volunteers for Bernie (aka Ulster4Bernie).
As Ulster4Bernie, we coordinated the petitioning effort in CD-19 to get Senator Bernie Sanders on the NYS Primary ballot and secured more signatures than any other Congressional District in New York (February, 2016) and sent two delegates for Bernie to the 2016 Democratic National Convention (July, 2016). We then elected one of those delegates to represent the 103rd Assembly District on the New York State Democratic Committee (September, 2016).
Now as Ulster People for Justice & Democracy, we aspire to bring the energy, enthusiasm and practical experience honed on the Bernie campaign to answer Bernie’s call to “start engaging at the local and state level in an unprecedented way.”
Our Endorsement Process
Local candidates for public office seeking to receive the endorsement of Ulster People should fill out our Local Candidate Endorsement Questionnaire. Our screening committee will contact you following receipt of the questionnaire. The committee will make a recommendation based on platform support and viability as a candidate. Final endorsement decisions are determined by a vote of our voting membership.
LET’S MAKE SURE THAT ULSTER COUNTY DOES NOT GO THE WAY OF NORTH CAROLINA
We all know of the bigoted and retrogressive law passed in North Carolina requiring that transgender people use public bathrooms consistent with the sex listed on their birth certificate. We have a chance to make sure that this never happens in Ulster County.
This Tuesday, the Ulster County Legislature will vote on a resolution to set a public hearing on a proposed Local Law Prohibiting Discrimination On The Basis Of Gender Identity “to ensure certain protection for people whose gender and self-image does not fully accord with the legal sex assigned at birth.” This most deeply affects our transgender friends, family members, and neighbors, but it also sets the tone for Ulster County as a place of inclusion, tolerance, and safety.
As the proposed law says, “The Ulster County Legislature’s intent on creating this local law is to prohibit discrimination against transgender people and ensure full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, services, and privileges to all residents. The Ulster County Legislature further encourages the use of single-sex facilities, such as bathrooms, in a manner that is consistent with an individual’s gender, regardless of sex assigned at birth, anatomy, medical history, appearance, or the sex indicated on one’s identification.”
TAKE ACTION
Attend the Laws and Rules Committee Meeting on Monday (Apr. 17) and/or the Regular Legislative Session on Tuesday (Apr. 18), and add your voice. Ask for a public hearing on the Transgender Anti-Discrimination Law and describe why you believe we must ensure that transgender residents have equal rights to personal identity and freedom of action.
Date: Tuesday, April 18, 2017 Time: 7:00 PM – arrive by 6:45pm to sign up to speak Place: Legislative Chambers, 6th floor, Ulster County Office Building, 244 Fair Street, Kingston
Call or Email Your Legislator BEFORE Tuesday
Ask your legislator to support a public hearing on the Transgender Anti-Discrimination Law and describe why this is so important to you.
If your legislator already supports the bill, thank them for their support. Most Democratic legislators already support the bill, so calls and messages are most needed from people living in districts represented by Republicans.
Not sure who to contact? You can look up your legislative district via the Board of Elections and then look up your legislator here.
People are waking up to national politics — how about local?
Every month, our 23 Ulster County legislators make decisions that matter: about justice, our environment, our economy, and how we treat the most vulnerable among us.
Join us for a teach-in on what our County Legislature actually does, how they do it, why it matters, and how you can have a say.
Featuring a Q & A with progressive legislators, and insights from local activists whose communities have been affected by decisions made by the County Legislature.
Three important resolutions will come to the floor of the regular Ulster County Legislative Session on Wednesday, March 22 at 7pm. Please attend and/or contact your legislators to encourage them to:
