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Red Hook Public Library Trustee Candidate Questionnaire

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    Red Hook Public Library Trustee Candidate Questionnaire
    working documentmeeting · 2025-06-23

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Red Hook Public Library Trustee Candidate Questionnaire

Name: Grace Kachigian

Address : 430 E Kerley Corners Road, Tivoli, NY 12583

Telephone : 918‐313‐0189

E‐mail : grace.kachigian@gmail.com; gkachigian@kpmg.com

What are the skill sets that you believe you can bring to Red Hook Public Library?

As a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), I believe I can bring a host of valuable skill sets to the Red Hook Public Library. A few examples include:

  • Financial Management: As a CPA, I am well‐versed in financial management, budgeting, and financial analysis. I can help the library manage their finances, create budgets, and make informed financial decisions.

  • Grant Management: Libraries often rely on grants to fund various projects and initiatives. As a CPA, I can assist in managing grant funds, ensuring compliance with grant requirements, and preparing financial reports for grantors.

  • Internal Controls: CPAs are knowledgeable about internal control systems, which are essential for safeguarding assets and preventing fraud. I can help the library establish and maintain effective internal controls to protect their resources.

  • Financial Reporting: As an experienced CPA, I have expertise in financial reporting standards and can help the library prepare accurate and reliable financial statements. This is crucial for transparency and accountability to stakeholders, such as governing boards, donors, and the public.

  • Audit and Compliance: With a background in auditing not‐for‐profit entities, I can assist the library in preparing for audits, ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and addressing any audit findings or recommendations.

  • Strategic Planning: As a CPA, I can contribute to strategic planning initiatives by providing financial insights and analysis. I can help the library evaluate the financial feasibility of new programs or services and assess the potential impact on the organization's financial health.

  • Cost Analysis: I am able to conduct cost analysis to identify areas where the library can optimize spending, reduce costs, or improve efficiency. This can help the library make informed decisions about resource allocation.

These are just a few examples of the skill sets that I believe I can bring to the library with my educational and professional experience.

Why would you like to serve on the Red Hook Public Library Board?

I value the library in our community and strongly believe it provides an important resource and equity for all in our community. I have personally benefited from library programming – I have taken sewing classes, and checked out numerous books, magazines, and audiobooks but my entire family has participated in children’s story time, borrowed books and toys, attended petite Picasso programs, nature walks, and a host of cultural programs. The library has provided my family with passes to

museums and activities that we may not have otherwise been able to afford. In addition, it has provided an invaluable place to meet other young families and a safe space to bring our entire family to get out of the house. I really appreciate all of the hard work and effort that goes in to making these resources available. Serving on the board is a wonderful chance for me to collaborate with individuals who share a common interest in supporting the library.

In addition, I am a mother to three young children (Mason – 6, Maddie – 4, and Evie – 2) and have a strong passion for education and believe in the importance of libraries as educational resources for children (and adults). Serving on the library board would allow me to contribute to the development and enhancement of library services that benefit my own family as well as the community. In addition, serving on the library board provides a wonderful opportunity for community involvement and a way for me to make a positive impact. I can help ensure the library meets the needs of families and children in the community by actively participating in shaping the library’s policies and programs.

Serving on the library board will be a fulfilling and rewarding experience that will surely allow for personal growth and development along the way. It will provide an opportunity to enhance my leadership skills, gain experience in governance and decision‐making, and contribute to the overall betterment of my community.

What is your vision for Red Hook and how can the library help the Village and Town move into the future?

My vision for Red Hook is for our community to continue to grow our cultural diversity, equity, and inclusion in order to provide a safe and supportive place for all in our charming and historic village. My hope is that our community will feel like home and our neighbors will become family.

Changes between versions

2025-05-08→2025-05-12
substantive change+24 −36

The document was updated with a new report from the Deputy Mayor and additional communications updates.

  • Document date advanced from 2025-05-08 to 2025-05-12
  • Added Deputy Mayor Melkorka Kjarval’s Monthly Reports section
  • Added Village of Red Hook Communications section covering .gov domain progress, WWTP website updates, and a new banner project
  • Added Village and Zoning Review section regarding the 'Gateway North' zoning district and Workforce Housing provisions
  • Added formal sign-off: 'Respectfully submitted, Mayor Karen Smythe'
Show red-line diff
## **Village of Red Hook ’ Mayor s Report April 2025** ## PERSONNEL Our Building/Planning & Police Clerk, Lara Hart, who is a full-time employee, is out on medical leave for the next few months. I will be proposing that we hire the Town Planning Clerk Katie Khakhar temporarily, to fill in for as long as is needed. For the Police Clerk work, we’ve discussed for the past year the idea of hiring a separate part-time person to be the Police Clerk. I am working with Lt. Hildenbrand to develop a job description. ## WIIA – WATER PROJECTS: **–** Financing We have received confirmation of the additional financing. Still waiting for a closing date, which is likely to be in June. We won’t be able to finalize all the projects until then. Only small punch list items remain outstanding. ## SEWER PROJECT I: The major outstanding item is the Single Audit. We are still waiting for the final audit from the audit firm. And there is still one final MWBE report from Carver Construction to be filed with EFC. The JanMar ’25 report was filed but Carver didn’t make it a final report so there will be at least one more. ## WWTP OPERATIONS: Trustee Bradley-Rickard will have an update. We have had two public information meetings, one on April 3[rd] and the second on May 1[st] . The next one is scheduled for June 5[th] at 7pm. In the meantime, updates will be posted to the Village website where, thanks to Deputy Mayor Kjarval, we have a new page where all of the information related to the WWTP operations can be found. ## BENNER ROAD COALITION: On May 1[st] , Town Supervisor McKeon and I met with a smaller group from the Benner Road Coalition – a group of local residents that live around the sub-tributary and the tributary to the Saw Kill River into which our WWTP discharge flows. This was the beginning of a discussion around how the Village and Town can work together with the residents to discuss a way forward together to look at and assess the health of the wetland and tributary. ## SAWKILL WATERSHED COMMITTEE (SKWC): ## This committee met on Wed. April 23[rd] . - They discussed the recent samples that were taken – 15 sites, done by 17 volunteers. The results will be discussed at their May meeting. - The Benner Road Coalition asked SKWC to write a request for a full environmental review of the site. The SKWC confirmed that they are focused on the water. More discussion of a further look at the history of that site. The Benner Road Coalition is looking into naming the tributary. - May 17[th] – there will be an event at Montgomery Place starting at 10:30am. Meet at the Welcome Pavillion. There will be 3 stations addressing birds, eels & amphibians – reviewing data sets including historical information. Lunch will be provided. There will be two more events this year – one in September about land use & history, the last one in December where they will introduce the database they have been working on. - The group discussed the future structure of the SKWC. The Good Work Institute was introduced as a potential fiscal sponsor. This would allow the SKWC to apply for grants. - The group discussed the water monitoring program. It’s been going for 10 years. They will discuss in the future whether to continue. What areas to monitor, etc. ## RED HOOK LIBRARY (RHPL): The RHPL had their April board meeting on April 17[th] . The board approved their strategic plan at their March meeting. You can find their strategic plan on the RHPL website in the March 2025 board packet. Included on the April agenda was discussion of an MOU between the newly formed Friends of the RHPL and the RHPL Board. The Friends of the Library will be hosting a table at Apple Blossom where they will be selling books. For more information, you can find their board packet on the library’s website – redhooklibrary.org/board-of-trustees. ## RED HOOK TOGETHER: I attended the May Red Hook Together meeting held on May 1[st] at the Red Hook Community Center. There was no set agenda. The meeting was an opportunity for those attending to share upcoming events and information. - Apple Blossom was mentioned. The Red Hook School teacher’s union will have a booth and Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, will be there at some point to honor Martha Strever, NY’s longest serving educator, a math teacher at LMS. - The Town has a Drive Electric event on 5/10, public hearing on the proposed waterfront park on 5/16, shred day on 6/7 – limit of 3 legal boxes per town resident. - Red Hook Responds has moved from the Elks Club to Christ Church in the Village - VFW & VFW Aux will be offering CPR training on the Christ Church lawn on 5/10, and the Memorial Day Parade will be held on Mon, May 26 – kicks off at 10am. The VFW also collects old flags which they then properly dispose of for you - Red Hook Library – mentioned the Tour de Red Hook which was this past Sunday 5/4. On 5/17 they are having “Books & Brews” at Lasting Joy. And Summer Reading will be a competition between Rhinebeck & Red Hook. - RHCSD – Budget Vote is on May 20[th] from 12-9pm. There will be a Budget Expo on 5/8 from 5:30- 6:45pm which will showcase many of the elements of the school budget. A budget hearing will follow at the BOE meeting at 7pm. And there are 4 candidates for the 2 open board seats. They will be presenting at the BOE meeting as well. - Bard CCE – There will be international students on campus over the summer. They cannot work off campus but they can do internships. Bard will be hosting some new students in late July for a preorientation. New First Year Students arrival day is Aug 8. All others arrive at the end of August. - County Legislator Kris Munn shared a few updates from the County including a food package reduction law that is being worked on in Albany with a County version in the works. - County Health Department was at the RHCC with their mobile health unit. We were all invited to take a tour. Respectfully submitted, Mayor Karen Smythe Deputy Mayor Melkorka Kjarval’s Monthly Reports May, 12th, 2025 **Red Hook Together** meets every first Thursday of the month. Last month's meeting took place at the Red Hook Community Center on May 1st, Mayor Smythe attended. **Village of Red Hook Human Relations Committee:** meets every first Thursday of the month at 7 pm in the Village Hall conference room. May’s meeting was canceled since it conflicted with the Village Sewer Info session on the 5th. Due to an unavoidable scheduling conflict, tomorrow's Tuesday May 13th, Indigenous History Project Gathering, has also been canceled. Questions about the project can be emailed to: mkjarval@redhookvillage.gov ## **Village of Red Hook Communications:** Progress on the .gov domain has continued, working with our IT consultant CMI Tech, and our website platform provider Civicplus, we have been able to get an updated statement of work (SOW), to switch our domain over to the .gov address, which is before the board for approval at this meeting. The WWTP Operations Update page has gone live at: redhookvillage.org/WWTP . Additionally the Mayor will be adding semi-weekly update summaries to the page, as well as a copy of the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) Permit as was requested at the last info session. The next info session is Thursday, June 5th, 2025 at 7pm in the Village conference room. At a meeting with Bard College and the Dutchess County Human Rights Commission, on May 2nd at Tivoli Village Hall, there was discussion of replacing a damaged “Welcome Bard Students!” banner that had been previously displayed across Route 9. The Village will design and order a new banner to replace the worn banner for installation in front of the Info Booth parallel to route 9. The Town Supervisor has offered for the Town to pay for the cost of the banner itself. The Mayor and I measured for the banner on Wednesday, and I will request a quote for the fabrication of the replacement banner before the end of the week. Ahead of us drafting a social media policy, we are working to gain access to some existing social media accounts that are no longer being used. The latest attempt is to login into the x.com account (previously known as twitter). Progress on the village’s social media policy, communications policy, and google-drive best practices are ongoing. ## **Village and Zoning Review:** There is nothing new to report regarding the draft law regarding proposed changes to the Zoning Code (Chapter 200) to create a new zoning district entitled “Gateway North” and to establish Workforce Housing provisions applicable to new development. Links to the 2/26/25 drafts posted
2025-05-12→2025-05-12
substantive change+10 −34

The document was truncated to remove the Mayor's Report and focus exclusively on the Deputy Mayor's Monthly Reports.

  • Title changed from '2025-05-12 — Mayor's Report — April 2025' to '2025-05-12 — Deputy Mayor Melkorka Kjarval's Monthly Reports — May 2025'
  • Removed entire 'RED HOOK LIBRARY (RHPL)' and 'RED HOOK TOGETHER' sections previously contained in the Mayor's Report
  • Added link to March 13th special workshop agenda for Zoning Code drafts: redhookvillage.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03132025-662
  • Added new section: 'Planning/Zoning' stating reports are delayed until next month
  • Added new section: 'Building Department;' stating reports are delayed until next month
Show red-line diff
future whether to continue. What areas to monitor, etc. ## RED HOOK LIBRARY (RHPL): The RHPL had their April board meeting on April 17[th] . The board approved their strategic plan at their March meeting. You can find their strategic plan on the RHPL website in the March 2025 board packet. Included on the April agenda was discussion of an MOU between the newly formed Friends of the RHPL and the RHPL Board. The Friends of the Library will be hosting a table at Apple Blossom where they will be selling books. For more information, you can find their board packet on the library’s website – redhooklibrary.org/board-of-trustees. ## RED HOOK TOGETHER: I attended the May Red Hook Together meeting held on May 1[st] at the Red Hook Community Center. There was no set agenda. The meeting was an opportunity for those attending to share upcoming events and information. - Apple Blossom was mentioned. The Red Hook School teacher’s union will have a booth and Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, will be there at some point to honor Martha Strever, NY’s longest serving educator, a math teacher at LMS. - The Town has a Drive Electric event on 5/10, public hearing on the proposed waterfront park on 5/16, shred day on 6/7 – limit of 3 legal boxes per town resident. - Red Hook Responds has moved from the Elks Club to Christ Church in the Village - VFW & VFW Aux will be offering CPR training on the Christ Church lawn on 5/10, and the Memorial Day Parade will be held on Mon, May 26 – kicks off at 10am. The VFW also collects old flags which they then properly dispose of for you - Red Hook Library – mentioned the Tour de Red Hook which was this past Sunday 5/4. On 5/17 they are having “Books & Brews” at Lasting Joy. And Summer Reading will be a competition between Rhinebeck & Red Hook. - RHCSD – Budget Vote is on May 20[th] from 12-9pm. There will be a Budget Expo on 5/8 from 5:30- 6:45pm which will showcase many of the elements of the school budget. A budget hearing will follow at the BOE meeting at 7pm. And there are 4 candidates for the 2 open board seats. They will be presenting at the BOE meeting as well. - Bard CCE – There will be international students on campus over the summer. They cannot work off campus but they can do internships. Bard will be hosting some new students in late July for a preorientation. New First Year Students arrival day is Aug 8. All others arrive at the end of August. - County Legislator Kris Munn shared a few updates from the County including a food package reduction law that is being worked on in Albany with a County version in the works. - County Health Department was at the RHCC with their mobile health unit. We were all invited to take a tour. Respectfully submitted, Mayor Karen Smythe Deputy Mayor Melkorka Kjarval’s Monthly Reports May, 12th, 2025 **Red Hook Together** meets every first Thursday of the month. Last month's meeting took place at the Red Hook Community Center on May 1st, Mayor Smythe attended. **Village of Red Hook Human Relations Committee:** meets every first Thursday of the month at 7 pm in the Village Hall conference room. May’s meeting was canceled since it conflicted with the Village Sewer Info session on the 5th. Due to an unavoidable scheduling conflict, tomorrow's Tuesday May 13th, Indigenous History Project Gathering, has also been canceled. Questions about the project can be emailed to: mkjarval@redhookvillage.gov ## **Village of Red Hook Communications:** Progress on the .gov domain has continued, working with our IT consultant CMI Tech, and our website platform provider Civicplus, we have been able to get an updated statement of work (SOW), to switch our domain over to the .gov address, which is before the board for approval at this meeting. The WWTP Operations Update page has gone live at: redhookvillage.org/WWTP . Additionally the Mayor will be adding semi-weekly update summaries to the page, as well as a copy of the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) Permit as was requested at the last info session. The next info session is Thursday, June 5th, 2025 at 7pm in the Village conference room. At a meeting with Bard College and the Dutchess County Human Rights Commission, on May 2nd at Tivoli Village Hall, there was discussion of replacing a damaged “Welcome Bard Students!” banner that had been previously displayed across Route 9. The Village will design and order a new banner to replace the worn banner for installation in front of the Info Booth parallel to route 9. The Town Supervisor has offered for the Town to pay for the cost of the banner itself. The Mayor and I measured for the banner on Wednesday, and I will request a quote for the fabrication of the replacement banner before the end of the week. Ahead of us drafting a social media policy, we are working to gain access to some existing social media accounts that are no longer being used. The latest attempt is to login into the x.com account (previously known as twitter). Progress on the village’s social media policy, communications policy, and google-drive best practices are ongoing. ## **Village and Zoning Review:** There is nothing new to report regarding the draft law regarding proposed changes to the Zoning Code (Chapter 200) to create a new zoning district entitled “Gateway North” and to establish Workforce Housing provisions applicable to new development. Links to the 2/26/25 drafts posted for public review are available in the March 13th special workshop agenda: redhookvillage.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03132025-662 ## **Planning/Zoning,** This month's reports have been delayed and will be prepared for next month's meeting. ## **Building Department;** This month's reports have been delayed and will be prepared for next month's meeting.

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