By Dave Lucas
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-998489.mp3
Poughkeepsie, NY – A big day for Dutchess County - Marc Molinaro was sworn in as the 7th Dutchess County Excecutive. WAMC's Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Dave Lucas was there and files this report.
Marcus J. Molinaro was sworn in this morning as Dutchess County's seventh County Executive at an Oath of Office ceremony at the Marist College McCann Center in Poughkeepsie. At the age of 36, Marcus Molinaro will take office as the youngest County Executive in Dutchess County history when his term begins on January 1, 2012.
The ceremony was originally planned to be at the Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home in Hyde Park, but was moved to the larger McCann Center venue to accommodate the more than 800 confirmed attendees.
County Executive-elect Molinaro's Oath of Office Address theme was "Who are we as a people and how ought we to live?"
"I believe in our capacity to solve any problem and overcome any challenge," said Molinaro. "I know we have the ability to define the future of our county, inspire the best in us; and without doubt, reinvent democracy - and, that is how we expect to lead."
Hundreds of family, friends and supporters filled the McCann Center for the ceremonial event. The Honorable Albert Rosenblatt, retired New York State Supreme Court Justice, administered the Oath of Office to the incoming County Executive, with his 7 year old daughter Abigail Faith and son Jack Henry (2 years old) by his side. Local, state and federal elected officials, including all County elected officials, and several local religious leaders took part in the ceremony.
Marcus Molinaro was first elected to public office at the age of 18 in 1994, serving as a member of the Village of Tivoli Board of Trustees. The very next year he became the youngest mayor in the United States. He was re-elected mayor five times and elected four times to the Dutchess County Legislature, where he served as Chairman of the Budget, Finance and Personnel Committee and Co-Chairman of the Commission on Child Protection. For the past five years, he has served in the New York State Assembly as the representative of the 103rd District. Molinaro is a graduate of Dutchess Community College and the PACE Land Use Law Center Community Leadership Alliance.
"I am honored, humbled and inspired to have so many join me to today as we begin to write this next chapter in our county's history. Today has been a wonderful way to celebrate our new beginning and now I am eager to get right to work on January 1st, 2012, moving Dutchess County toward all that we have to accomplish for the future," concluded Molinaro.