Columbia county news

This is excerpted from this week’s The Columbia Paper. Also see www. columbiapaper.com.

Columbia County villages head for polls Tuesday

The four Columbia County villages — C hatham, Kinderhook, Philmont and Valatie — will hold elections on Tuesday. Village elections were originally scheduled for March 18, but were postponed due to the pandemic.

In Philmont and Valatie, incumbent board members are running unopposed for the open seats.

In Chatham, current trustee Lenore Packet did not run for re-election. There are two open seats in Chatham with two people running: incumbent Melony Spock and first-time candidate Jodie Russell.

In Kinderhook, current Mayor Jim Dunham and longtime trustee Rich Phillips are not running for re-election.

Four people are running for two open seats on the board: Michael Abrams, Robert Baumeister (incumbent), James Mark Browne and Dorene M. Weir.

One person, Dale R. Leiser, is running for mayor. Also on the ballot in Kinderhook is village justice. Current judge David Dellehunt is running unopposed.

Voting is noon to 9 p.m. in all the villages.

■ Voting in Philmont is at Philmont Village Hall, 124 Main St.

■ Voting in Valatie is at the Martin H. Glynn Municipal Buiding, 3211 Church St.

■ Voting in Kinderhook is at Village Hall, 6 Chatham St.

■ In Chatham, the only village where the election is run by the county Board of Elections, voting is at the Morris Memorial, 77 Main St.

Chatham’s announcement on the village website says masks are required.

— Emilia Teasdale