News & Updates
Shandaken Dems Nominate Sarah Engster for Town Justice
April 5, 2024
The Shandaken Democratic Committee is incredibly excited that Town Democrats have chosen Sarah Engster, our endorsed candidate, to run for the position of Town Justice this November. We are confident that Sarah is the ideal candidate to represent Democrats’ values and to serve our community with integrity.
Sarah is a resident of Phoenicia, where she lives with her husband Ben Kern and daughter Elke. She has represented our region in the Democratic Party’s judicial delegation, vetting our party’s candidates for state Supreme Court judgeships, and is a founding board member of the Phoenicia Farmers Market, where she volunteers on Sundays. She has a deep commitment to our community and a keen understanding of the local issues that matter to us.
Sarah's qualifications are extensive. She is a proud member of the New York Bar and a graduate of Albany Law School. During Law School, Sarah worked for the Albany County Public Defender's office and clerked for Judge Christine Clark (one of our judicial district's Appellate Court judges). These experiences brought her a deep working knowledge of the intricacies of our legal system.
Sarah has extensive experience arguing a full range of cases across local, county, and state courts in our region. This has equipped her with a broad practice base that makes her particularly well prepared to serve as our Town Justice.
We look forward to electing her in November.
Thank you for working towards beautiful tomorrow for our town.
Shandaken Democrats Move to Primary Election System
February 12, 2023
For years, the Town of Shandaken’s Democrats have had a proud tradition of nominating our local candidates to run in the general election through the holding of in-person caucuses. For us, these Democratic caucuses have been beautiful community-building events. They have provided a space not only to meet potential candidates, but also to meet our neighbors and share our experiences with each other.
As time has passed, our community has seen changes. More and more of our community members are unable to attend in-person caucus events every year. The reasons are varied: Be they later and longer work shifts, unpaid caretaking responsibilities, lack of transportation, physical ailments, or other scheduling conflicts, many of us are unable to meet the attendance requirement of the caucus, and subsequently are excluded from participating in choosing our local Democratic candidates.
Because of this, the Shandaken Democratic Committee is proud to announce, that starting this year, the Town of Shandaken’s Democrats will begin using the primary election process to select our nominees to run for local office.
Transitioning the selection process for our nominees to the primary system will vastly expand who can participate in selecting our party’s candidates. While our last town caucus had fewer than 70 attendees, our most recent town primary for federal office had over 300 Democrats participate. This change will unite our local candidates on the same primary ballot with candidates running for the Democratic nomination for non-local offices. Registered Democrats will now be able to participate in this important democratic process via Early Voting, Absentee Voting, or In-Person Voting at their regular polling place.
This also means that local candidates will now get on the primary ballot the same way all other candidates at the county, state, and federal level get on the primary ballot: by petitioning registered Democratic voters. Any candidates interested in running for local office who want more information on how to petition are greatly encouraged to reach out to either our Town’s Democratic Committee Chair, James Amenta, or Ulster County’s Board of Elections.
Furthermore, our Democratic Committee wants to double down on our commitment to the community-building spirit of our caucus events. We are in the process of planning in-person candidate meet-and-greets as well as other events where you’ll be able to connect with like-minded community members in the same spirit of Democratic camaraderie.
We hope that you are as excited for the benefits and opportunities of this change as we are. Thank you for joining us in our efforts to build a beautiful and better tomorrow for our town.
-The Shandaken Democratic Committee
Candidate Luncheon
July 20, 2022
On August 15th our neighboring Democratic committee in Olive will be hosting Josh Riley for a fundraising luncheon. Josh is a candidate in the August 23rd Democratic primary for the 19th congressional seat, and has been endorsed by the Ulster County Democratic Committee. Register for a ticket at: JoshRileyforCongress.com/Aug15
The deadline to buy tickets is Aug 8, 2022.
Sheriff Endorsement!
January 27, 2022
The Shandaken Democratic Committee has endorsed Juan Figueroa for re-election as Ulster County Sheriff!
We believe Sheriff Juan Figueroa is the right person for Ulster County.
Check out Sheriff Figueroa’s Accomplishments:
Launched: “Ulster County Sheriff's App” (GooglePlay/App Store)
Supported the Green Light Bill that allows undocumented immigrants to apply for drivers licenses.
Terminated cooperating with ICE.
Created ORACLE - To steer addicts into treatment rather than incarceration. With a $900,000 grant, the team now includes a social worker and two peer advocates who work with officers.
Created AVERT: “Anti-Violence Effort Response” to prevent violence, provide “second chances”, and expand educational, vocational, and employment opportunities for young people, particularly in communities of color. It includes gun buyback programs, mental health services, GED classes, and job training.
Civilians appointed in oversight positions: 1) Discovery Coordinator: responsible for timely admission of evidence to defense attorneys and prosecutors 2) URGENT-an inter-agency task force on narcotics and gang activity-appoints an attorney to ensures legal warrants and arrests.
Ulster County Sheriff's Department is the most diverse staff in county government: First African-American Superintendent of Corrections, first female Detective Sergeant in the Criminal Division, and first female Superintendent of Corrections.
Recently initiated a policy: during a 14-day warning before eviction period the Sheriff's Office connects the evictee with Department of Social Services and Family of Woodstock.
You can donate to Juan's campaign here or or send check to Committee to Re-elect Juan Figueroa at 120 Plains Rd, New Paltz, NY 12561.
Website: www.juanforulster.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/juanforulster