Dolores Peluso, a Village of Ellenville resident for nearly twelve years, and county resident for at least twenty, is running against incumbent Jane Eck as the Republican candidate for the position of Town Clerk for Wawarsing. Currently doing fill-in work for Family of Woodstock, Peluso believes that her years of experience in human services, case management, and as a legal secretary, qualify her to take over the position held by Eck for more than twenty years.

“I want to provide public service for the community that I care about, that I’ve been involved with ever since I’ve lived here, and just being someone of assistance,” says Peluso. “So public service is an ideal place to continue that pursuit, as well as my passion for being involved in law and politics.”

Peluso, who earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication with a minor in law and politics, thinks that a good town clerk should be able to provide non-partisan, non-discriminatory, and friendly service to the people of Wawarsing.

“The town clerk position is not about party affiliation, it’s just about doing a particular job well for all the players involved,” says Peluso. “I would go out of my way to provide the public service rather than be annoyed, let’s say, from my own experience [going to Town Hall]. From my campaigning feedback that I’ve been getting as well, there have been many, many individuals making comments that have supported my own experience. To my understanding there’s even individuals who no longer go to town hall in Wawarsing for licenses because they don’t even want to deal with the personality that is there.”

Peluso is willing to step up to this new opportunity because she believes, “it really is time for a change.”
In addition to her experiences and academic credentials, Peluso is also a qualified paralegal and notary public, and she believes that providing the notary services, currently absent at the Wawarsing town hall, ought to be standard operating procedure for the clerk’s office.

“That should be a public service that’s offered at our town hall free of charge.”

As for November, Peluso seems pretty confident that her message of non-partisanship and friendly service is making people think twice about her opponent.

“I appreciate the support that I’ve been getting on the campaign trail and I just hope that it translate into the voting booth.”

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