Veteran Tommy Zurhellen Announces Candidacy for County Executive
Local veteran and educator Tommy Zurhellen has announced his candidacy for Dutchess County Executive.
Zurhellen is a Navy veteran and has been an English professor at Marist College for 19 years. He was also appointed to Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 170 from 2017–2021 and is currently the Citizenship Education Chairman for the NY State VFW.
Four years ago, Zurhellen walked 22 miles a day from Portland, Oregon to Poughkeepsie, New York to raise awareness for veterans’ issues; the 22 miles representing the 22 veterans that commit suicide every day.
“That walk was born out of frustration,” Zurhellen said, “Four years later I feel that frustration again, but not just for veterans.” He is tackling issues related to the housing crisis, food insecurity, and expanding his influential work with veterans. “I felt like if no one is going to do it, then I’m just going to do it myself.”
One of the issues Zurhellen is passionate about changing is food insecurity, especially amongst school-aged children. “We think of food insecurity as an urban problem but it’s really an urban problem too,” he said. Zurhellen is creating a program called DSNAP (Dutchess Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) where local food trucks would come to schools before and after hours to provide free meals.
He would also like to get family farms involved by providing free farm stands in places like the city of Poughkeepsie. Zurhellen continued with, “kids need fresh food but there’s no place to get it, so we are going to bring the food to them, at school and in their communities.”
To combat the housing crisis during this recession, Zurhellen is going to create a voucher program to supplement the federal assistance. This would not only help people on fixed incomes like senior citizens afford their rent/mortgage, but it will also help young people who are just entering the workforce get their first apartment/house. “We are going to bridge the gap between what you can pay, and what they are asking,” he said.
Being committed to giving voices to underrepresented communities in Dutchess County, like communities of color and the LGBTQ+ community, the first hire he will make at the Dutchess County Executive Office is for a Chief Diversity Officer.
“When I talk to these communities, it’s like they’ve given up, like no one’s going to listen,” Zurhellen said. “But boy we are going to really listen to all our folks, especially those that are underserved — because it’s the right thing to do.”
He is also the founder of VetZero Ride, a veteran service program of Hudson River Housing which to date has given 3,000 free rides for veterans, to things doctor’s appointments and job interviews.
Continuing his commitment to our veterans, Zurhellen is going to expand the Dutchess County Veteran Services to have veteran outreach and perform similar services to that of VetZero Ride.
His biggest event is on July 22, where Zurhellen is walking 22 miles across Dutchess County, from Poughkeepsie to Pawling, to raise money for the VetZero charities.
Anyone who is interested in donating or getting involved in the campaign can do so at tommy4dutchess.com.
