OUR VALUES & PLATFORM
Where We Stand Together!
The Columbia County Democratic Committee’s (CCDC) Platform herein, sets forth our values to promote a stronger citizenry and community through cooperation, unity, and empowerment of its Democratic members and friends.
These values represent our aspirations, under six broad themes, impacting the quality of life of Columbia County residents: Rights and Opportunities, Health and Safety, Climate and Living Environment, Infrastructure, Better Government, and Education. This platform is by no means comprehensive, but rather serves as a continuation of how the CCDC can make a difference in helping our neighbors and improving our county.
Rights and Opportunities
Protecting Workers’ Rights and Economic Security: All workers should be paid a livable wage, afforded family leave, protected from wage theft, covered by fair labor standards, work in safe environments, have equal protection under the law, and have the right to organize into unions and collectively bargain. All workers deserve a future with a strong national economy that creates and/or stimulates new jobs and innovation, raises wages, promotes workers’ rights, and improves job quality and security.
Protecting Women's Rights: Every woman should have the fundamental right to decide all health choices that involve her body and to have the right to access high-quality affordable reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortions, in consultation with her personal physician. Assiduous action should take place to end pay inequality, sexual abuse, domestic abuse and other violence against women.
Guaranteeing Civil Rights: Columbia County prizes our people of many races, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, physical and cognitive abilities, ages, gender, and immigration status. We support the inclusion of all individuals in our community and equity and justice for all. We must oppose discrimination, bigotry, and intolerance based on people’s differences in all aspects of society.
Criminal Justice Reform for All: Columbia County’s criminal justice system must be fair and just while simultaneously ensuring the safety of individuals. The over-representation of people of color in this system and mandatory sentencing incarceration must end. Law enforcement agencies must be held accountable for individual and systemic misconduct, by making data on the use of force and other activities transparent to the community. Effective prevention and intervention programs for the treatment of non-violent young adult offenders must be enhanced and amply funded. The County’s law enforcement agencies should periodically survey residents to assess their degree of trust and accountability in the community. The County should eliminate barriers that prevent formerly incarcerated individuals from successfully reentering society and promote fully funded effective models of drug courts and other diversionary programs to offer non-violent offenders opportunities for rehabilitation.
Protecting LGBTQ+ Rights: Persons who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer and with other sexual identity and orientation differences should be treated equally under the law and in our society and be free from discriminatory practices impacting their human and civil rights, especially related to housing, employment, public accommodations, access to credit, education, senior care, and the right to have, adopt or foster children.
Voter Reform: Each citizen’s constitutional right to vote must be protected. The redrawing of legislative districts must be guided by transparency and public input. Early voting, same-day voter registration and no-fault absentee ballots are important reforms that help ensure maximum voter participation and, once enacted, must be protected against frivolous challenge.
Veterans and Military Service Members: This nation has a moral responsibility to our veterans, reservists, National Guard members, and wounded warriors, as well as to the families and caregivers who support them. The Veterans Administration must fully fund all programs for veterans to provide essential medical care, educational benefits, job training, and services for chronic homelessness and mental health issues, including suicide prevention.
Creating a New Immigration System: America was founded as a country that assimilates immigrants into our society, enriching our character, history, economy and culture. Congress must enact comprehensive legislation to change the quota system, stop the use of local law enforcement to enforce non-criminal immigration violations and/or to deny due process to persons because of their immigration status, establish a legal process to completely assimilate immigrants already living in and contributing to their local communities, and to afford due process to expedite procedures for asylum to those fleeing violence in their native countries.
Ensuring a Dignified Life for Seniors: All seniors should have access to a comprehensive system that ensures they may live an independent, safe, and healthy life in their homes or other living arrangements and accommodates their changing needs as they age. Local government should provide leadership and oversight and help identify financial resources for well-funded, essential, community-based services to assist the county’s aging population. The Medicare Act should be amended to include long-term health care services, and the Older Americans Act should be reauthorized to continue federal support for critical nutritional, transportation, and employment training services. Enhanced programs and services are needed in the county’s judicial system to address the problem of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
Protecting and Expanding Social Security: Social Security is the primary means for a significant number of seniors in Columbia County. Any attempt to cut, privatize, or weaken Social Security, including actions to raise the retirement age, diminish benefits by cutting cost-of-living adjustments, or reducing earned benefits, must be opposed.
Housing Affordability and Homeownership: All residents should have access to safe and affordable housing. Homeownership is a key link to generational wealth and expanding it is critical in closing the wealth gap. The lack of housing that workers can afford is a major barrier to economic growth in Columbia County. Congress, state and local governments must take aggressive steps to increase the availability of affordable housing in our communities to enable residents to become homeowners or finding habitable rentals. The use of discriminatory public policy and private lending restrictions to close off or limit certain groups of people from accessing housing in certain neighborhoods must not be allowed.
Closing the Wealth Gap: The economic inequality among those living in poverty continues to widen, especially when racial and ethnic disparities in wealth and income are considered. Congress must enact legislation to improve opportunities for individuals and families of all backgrounds to achieve sustainable homeownership, provide for greater diversity in federal and state contracting practices, incentivize and expand access to retirement investment programs, increase support for childcare, and increase opportunities for quality jobs and education.
Growing Small Businesses and Jobs: County government in partnership with private businesses and other related entities should support and attract small businesses by improving the county’s infrastructure, such as broadband, roads, and affordable housing; encouraging education and training opportunities; and advocating for and seeking state and federal programs and funding to assist local businesses.
Health and Safety
Securing Universal Health Care for All Citizens: Federal legislation must guarantee affordable universal health care insurance for all Americans. Health care should reflect local needs, assuring appropriate and efficient health care for residents regardless of the municipalities in which they reside. Mental health care should be provided on parity with physical health care, including the treatment of substance abuse.
Combating Drug and Alcohol Addiction: The number of individuals living with drug and alcohol addiction continues to rise in Columbia County, creating a need for quality care, treatment, and intervention, including adequate mental health services and an inpatient detox facility. County leaders should pursue increased funding to support effective drug and alcohol support and assistance programs, as well as model programs and services that support those in recovery. Government leaders should support increased access to evidence-based, age-appropriate, and locally tailored prevention and treatment programs.
Responsible Gun Ownership: Common sense federal and state laws are needed to keep all members of our community safe, including making mental health care more accessible and supporting suicide reduction initiatives, passing laws requiring universal background checks on gun purchases, increasing penalties for people who use illegal guns, and banning assault weapons for the public. Legislation should be passed to require that guns be stored safely in homes. Local law enforcement officials must have the legal authority to search for and remove all guns from possession of persons against whom an Order of Protection has been issued.
Supporting Community Health Centers: Community-based health centers (including mental health and family planning) provide critically important prevention and treatment in underserved communities, preventing unnecessary and costly trips to emergency rooms. County government should create a comprehensive strategy to ensure residents can access these centers throughout the county and are served by qualified, well-compensated primary health care professionals.
Climate and Living Environment
Cleaner Environments and Energy: The climate crisis is the defining challenge of our time and clean air and water are basic rights of all residents. County and local governments, businesses, and community leaders must work together to tackle local climate issues. Bold efforts are needed to produce more electricity from clean energy sources, reduce energy waste, modernize our electric grid, encourage vehicle electrification, and reduce carbon footprints. Other efforts should support “smart communities” – efficiency standards to reduce carbon pollution and expanding clean energy research and development. Local governments should pursue public and private investments to support eco-friendly businesses and create jobs for county residents. Columbia County’s natural resources, including public lands, lakes, waterways, and forested areas, must be protected. Public and private collaboration is essential in ensuring policies and investments that will maintain access to public lands, and strengthen protections for our natural and cultural resources, while harnessing the immense economic and social potential of our public lands and waters. Farmers must be enlisted as partners in promoting conservation and stewardship.
Solid Waste Management: New technologies and innovative approaches for reducing, reusing, and recycling solid waste is needed to meet the 2022 goals of Columbia County’s Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP). County government should focus its efforts on a landfill diversion program. It should be transparent, optimize public and private engagement, aggressively pursue public and private funding to support innovation and expanding cost-effective approaches, establish clearly defined goals and objectives to measure progress, and expand educational and outreach programs to inform and engage county residents in all facets of solid waste management. Periodic reports should be published on the success of the county in meeting its goals.
Infrastructure
Broadband: High-speed internet connectivity is a key necessity for economic success, social mobility, education, health care, and public safety throughout Columbia County. Given federal and state funding, county-level leadership needs to prepare and implement master plans that would ensure a reliable and affordable broadband build-out, enact broadband requirements for new construction, and support a coordinator of the county’s broadband efforts. All households in the county must have access to high-speed broadband and access to anchor institutions providing free public Wi-Fi.
Public Libraries: Since the 19th century, public libraries have provided individuals and communities free access to information, knowledge, and services fundamental for their education, cultural enjoyment, and economic progress. Life in a democracy relies upon this free exchange of ideas, abhors censorship, and thrives with the inspirations gained from diverse texts, visual materials and programs provided as a free public service to all people. As anchor institutions in cities, towns and villages, public libraries merit full non-partisan political and financial support for motivating the development of civic literacy, expanding cultural interests, accessing medical resources, sharpening awareness of environmental conditions, and supporting economic stability based on principles of equity.
Investing in Rural Communities: The county’s rural and agricultural economy should be strengthened by advocating for policies and increased federal and state funding to support the next generation of farmers, especially farmers who engage in environmentally sustainable agricultural practices. Programs should be encouraged to protect and enhance family farms, as well as expansion of local food markets and regional food systems. Agricultural workers deserve fair and just protections. Rural water, sewer, and broadband infrastructures should be improved to make rural businesses more competitive.
Improving the County’s Infrastructure: The Federal Infrastructure Act provides states and local governments significant funding to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure by updating and expanding our roads, bridges, dams, public transit, airports, and passenger and freight rail lines, and building 21st century energy and water systems, modernizing our schools, and expanding high-speed internet access. These fiscally responsible and necessary investments will help create secure, good paying jobs and boost economic growth.
Improving Public Transportation: A well designed public transportation system must address the needs of its residents, especially, according to the Federal Transportation Act, seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, and individuals with limited incomes. The development and implementation of Columbia County’s, long-overdue Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan is essential in meeting the needs of its residents. The residents of Columbia County must have access to a quality system that ensures better use of transportation resources, greater access to well defined routes within the county, expanded hours, safe vehicles, and well-trained drivers.
Better Government
Good Government: County and town governments should function efficiently, fairly, and in a transparent manner. Government officials should engage the public during government meetings and fully comply with New York State’s Open Meetings Law, ensuring meeting agendas and all related information are electronically available in advance of all government meetings. Governments should afford the public hybrid options (video/face-to-face) for participation in meetings and should make available public access to the minutes of all meetings within a reasonable time.
Making Taxes Fairer: All Americans, businesses, and corporations must pay their fair share of taxes. Congress should eliminate loopholes that allow the wealthy and companies to dodge their tax responsibilities and change the tax code to fairly spread the cost of government across all taxpayers.
Education
Quality Early, Elementary, and Secondary Education for All: Quality education is a basic right, and a strong, well-funded public education system is an essential feature of our democracy. Schools should be safe and supportive environments for students and educators and include school-based health services. Public education programs should afford students a range of options to achieve a high school diploma that prepares students for 21st century opportunities and citizenry. All children ages three to four should have access to high-quality, well-funded, early childhood programs. State programs should be funded to recruit and prepare educators, support professionals, and specialized staff to address the shortage of school personnel.
Access to Affordable College Education: The high cost of post-secondary programs have resulted in putting a degree out of reach for many students and resulting in staggering student loan debt for most others. To reduce student debt, government policies should be implemented to create loan forgiveness programs, to refinance loans at the lowest rates possible, to expand access to income-based repayment, and to provide eligible students opportunities to attend public colleges tuition-free.
Additional information on the Columbia County Democratic Committee is available at:
Website: https://www.columbiacountydemocrats.org/
General Information: info@columbiacountydemocrats.org
Issues Committee: issues@columbiacountydemocrats.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/columbianydems/
Mailing Address: PO Box 507, Ghent, NY 12075
Revised March 2025