“I am running to bring accessibility, accountability, transparency, and vision to the Dutchess County Clerk’s Office.”
The clerk’s office may not be the best-known branch of county government, but it touches our lives in many ways. It’s the place people go to record land transactions, get passports, and become new citizens. It is also the place where Dutchess County residents interact with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
To do all of these jobs well the clerk’s office must have excellent administrative and organizational leadership. Kenya has the skills and experience to make sure government works better, to provide a superior level of customer service, and to bring the clerk’s office into the 21st century.
During three decades of caring for adults with intellectual disabilities, Kenya has held positions of increasing responsibility including fiscal, residence, and program management. As residential program coordinator, Kenya manages more than 85 employees and her work has received outstanding audits by New York State.
Kenya’s Priorities
Improve DMV services by upgrading the appointment system and website to get questions and needs answered faster.
Make services easier to access by bringing them out of central office and into our communities while working within the existing budget.
Kenya earned an associate degree from Iona College and a B.A. in behavioral studies from Concordia College. She and her husband moved to the Hudson Valley, attracted by the region’s beauty and friendliness. They have three children who graduated from Beacon City Schools, along with two grandchildren, so it’s no surprise that kids are one of Kenya’s priorities.
Kenya served on the Beacon City School District’s board of education from 2014 through 2017, including two years as elected vice president. She supports I Am Beacon‘s Class in a Bag initiative, providing backpacks filled with school supplies and helped to launch Youth Equipped for Success, a group that offers youth compassionate guidance and teaches life skills.
Kenya served on the Fishkill Town Board from 2020 to 2021 where she advocated for increased transportation services for senior citizens and WIFI for the town recreation center. Both initiatives required buy-in from the full board which Kenya secured.
Kenya is an advocate of historic preservation efforts including helping to secure funds for Fishkill’s 2021 statue of Daniel Nimham. He was the last sachem of the Wappinger people, a veteran of the American Revolution, and the most prominent Native American of his time in the lower Hudson Valley.