Unelected. Unqualified.
Unfit for Dutchess Comptroller.

Gregg Pulver is not qualified to be Dutchess County Comptroller. He has admitted that he lacks experience for the job. Pulver is a career politician in Dutchess County appointed Comptroller as a political favor by a friend after losing re-election to the Dutchess County Legislature. He was handed the job because of who he knows, not what he knows.

Pulver lost re-election to Dutchess County Legislature after decades in local office.

November 7, 2023

November 20, 2023

Pulver appointed to Dutchess County Comptroller by his friend, Former Acting (unelected) County Executive Bill O’Neill.

Pulver admitted that he lacks financial credentials for the job of Comptroller.

“Pulver, a lifelong Pine Plains resident, also said that his experience is in governing and not accounting and admits that he will be reliant on the comptroller’s staff to keep track of the numbers.”

November 24, 2023

As one of his last acts as a Legislator before becoming Comptroller, Pulver voted to increase the Dutchess Comptroller pay by 30% ($37,520).

December 7, 2023

Pulver admitted that he lacks oversight experience and didn’t know if he could handle being Comptroller.

“Pulver was initially hesitant to commit to running for comptroller this year due to his lack of experience in an oversight role.”

“I came in here not knowing how I would handle some things.”

September 6, 2024

Dutchess County needs a financial watchdog and Gregg Pulver is not the right person for the job.
As a Dutchess County Legislator, Pulver recklessly spent taxpayer dollars while increasing his own pay, cutting services, and burdening Dutchess County residents with higher taxes and rising costs.

Pulver voted to increase tuition at Dutchess County Community College.

July 11, 2016

March 21, 2016

Pulver voted to fund the controversial $274 MILLION Dutchess County Justice & Transition Center, increasing Dutchess County’s debt with the largest capital project in Dutchess County history.

June 11, 2018

Pulver voted to raise his own salary.

Pulver voted to cut $2.5 million from the Health Department during the pandemic.

December 12, 2020

In a controversial last minute budget amendment, Pulver pushed through $25 MILLION in taxpayer dollars, including federal COVID relief dollars, on improvements to a minor league baseball stadium.

December 6, 2022

“I can’t guarantee that this will be totally revenue neutral for the County, but we will come close to this being revenue neutral.”

“Our audit has found that the Stadium’s net operational cost to the County has increased since our last review, with the subsidy more than doubling from ($134,008) in 2017 to ($320,325) in 2022 and an estimated subsidy of ($422,594) in 2023. . . .The most recent lease amendment executed in September 2023 for the full year beginning January 2023 and expiring December 31, 2046, still does not ensure revenues cover current operating expenses, including the cost of debt service for Stadium improvements.”

In a 2023 audit, Former Dutchess County Comptroller Robin Lois found that Dutchess taxpayers were subsidizing a for-profit entity, DBH Hudson Valley, LLC.

“I used to have to put a lot of money down in the ground and hope it germinated,” Pulver said, invoking a metaphor tied to his decades as a farmer. “You hope that the conditions are right to make a crop. Dutchess Stadium is a little like that, you gotta have a little faith.”

After being voted out of office, Pulver voted to give his friends in the Legislature massive salary increases of 56-81%.

December 7, 2023

On the same day, Pulver voted to raise the sales tax on everyday items for Dutchess County residents from from 3.75% to 4%.

December 7, 2023

As Comptroller, Pulver continued to push for the sales tax increase even though he wasn’t in a policy setting position.

Pulver is not known to be a hard worker.

During the pandemic, Pulver shut down the Dutchess County Legislature and refused to hold meetings online in violation of the Dutchess County’s Charter. While collecting a taxpayer funded paycheck, he refused to do his job and prevented others from doing theirs at one of the Dutchess County’s greatest times of need.

2020

Pulver has reduced the number of audits compared to his predecessor.

2024

Pulver currently spends a lot of weekday time having breakfast and coffee with his friends in Dutchess County government, and campaigning at County sponsored events.

Dutchess County’s budget is $601 million this year. We need a serious Comptroller looking after our tax dollars, not a rubber stamp.

Dan Aymar-Blair is the only qualified candidate in the Dutchess Comptroller race.

VOTE.