Cunningham, Kahng Face Off for Legislature Dist. 3
By Holly Crocco
Republican Joseph Cunningham and Democrat Kathy Kahng are both seeking to represent the Town of Kent in the Putnam County Legislature, District 3.
Joseph Cunningham
Joseph Cunningham said he isn’t interested in protecting the political establishment or growing government. Rather, he wants county government focused on the basics: keeping taxes down, delivering quality services, supporting safe communities, and making sure taxpayers get their money’s worth.
“I’m running for Legislature to cut property taxes and work on sales tax reform to put money back in our pockets,” he said. “The most important thing to me is the affordability in this county. It has been much too expensive to live anywhere, especially in District Three.”
A Lake Carmel resident of more than 30 years and a graduate of Carmel High School, Cunningham is a small-business owner who said Lake Carmel, Kent, and Patterson deserve a strong voice in county government – “someone who will show up, listen, and fight to make sure our communities get their fair share of attention and resources.”
Cunningham said he will oppose pay raises for elected officials and demand the same fiscal discipline from county government that families and small businesses have to practice every day.
“Before politicians ask taxpayers for another dollar, they should prove they’re spending the dollars they already have wisely,” he said. “This county needs a good leader, it needs a strong leader, it needs somebody who knows a thing or two about money – someone like me… I want Putnam County to remain safe, I want the schools to remain good, I want our taxes to remain low.”
Lake Carmel is home to thousands of Putnam County residents, but Cunningham says too often the community has been overlooked when it comes to investment and long-term planning, so he’ll work with local and county officials to make sure Lake Carmel receives its fair share of infrastructure investment, services, and resources.
“One of the projects I really want to focus on is working with the health department, the parks department, and the town board to make sure we have everything we need to keep Lake Carmel as clean as possible,” he said. “Nice, clean water so we don’t have to close down beaches, so you have the lakes you deserve. Because this town is so near and dear to my heart.”
For too long, Cunningham said Kent has missed out on economic development and commercial investment that could help strengthen the local economy and ease the burden on homeowners.
He said he will work closely with partners in town government and bring together the resources of the Putnam County Industrial Development Agency and Economic Development Corporation to actively attract businesses and encourage responsible development – with a particular focus on the Route 52 corridor.
“There’s vacancies all up and down Route 52,” he said. “It’s unacceptable to me.”
Growing the commercial tax base means more than bringing new businesses to town, according to Cunningham. “It means local jobs, stronger commercial corridors, and a broader tax base so homeowners aren’t expected to carry so much of the burden,” he said.
The candidate supports cutting the county’s share of the sales tax to provide broad-based relief that reaches families, seniors, and small businesses.
“When government consistently collects more money than it needs, taxpayers deserve relief,” he said. “Rather than allowing excess revenues to simply accumulate or become an excuse for more government spending… county government should return savings to the people who earned the money in the first place.”
He also favors a tax-and-share plan in which the town gets more than 1/9th of 1 percent of the county’s sales tax revenue. “We get $330,000 per year for that,” he said, noting, “one fire truck costs $2 million.”
Cunningham said he will make sure the men and women in law enforcement, firefighting, and emergency services have the resources they need to do their jobs effectively, saying, “Putnam County’s safe neighborhoods are one of the reasons families choose to live here.”
“County government belongs to the taxpayers – and taxpayers shouldn’t have to fight to find out what their government is doing,” he said, adding that he will support greater transparency, easier public access to government information, and greater accountability for how taxpayer dollars are spent. “Government works better when the people paying the bills can see what’s going on.”
Kathy Kahng
Kathy Kahng has lived in the Hill & Dale area of Kent for the past 23 years, and since 2015 has served as an HOA board member and chairperson of Palmer Lake jurisdiction. She was appointed Town of Kent stormwater chairperson in 2016, has served on the Kent Climate Smart Task Force since its inception in 2022 and as an elected trustee by the Putnam County Land Trust for the last six years. She is also working to revive the Kent Lakes Association.
Last year, Kahng was appointed to be on the Putnam County Advisory Council for Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley.
She became founding president of Friends of Reed Memorial Library in Carmel in 2025. Less than a year later, it opened a new Reed Community Hub at the former nursery school space at nearby Gilead Presbyterian Church to provide a large meeting space for community groups, and to make library services more accessible. It will also include a jobs training program for Carmel High School students, and a café and used book shop.
“I have always thought we needed a community center around here and am thrilled to have played a key role in making it happen,” said Kahng.
The candidate has business experience working in public and private partnerships in major cities, counties, and transit agencies throughout North America.
“In the private sector, I have worked at companies from startups to major multinational corporations where I have had direct financial responsibility for annual budgets from $1 million to $100 million,” she said. “My project management experience and skills are directly transferrable to working on the Putnam County Legislature, as I will be one of nine legislators who need to collaborate to bring results to our constituency.”
Kahng said lawmakers need to understand what has contributed to such a large unassigned fund balance in the county’s coffers.
“I understand that a lot of it has to do with unfilled positions that have been budgeted from year to year,” she said. “Why are these positions not filled and why do they carry over to the next year’s budget? In addition, changes in sales tax regulations led to a windfall for the county but there has been no plan to adjust the budget based on these changes.”
The candidate also said it is essential to update the county’s comprehensive plan, to serve as a “roadmap” to where the county will be going and how it will achieve these goals through a specific punch-list of activities. “This comprehensive plan will help Putnam County and the towns and villages on zoning, economic development, housing, employment, and infrastructure so the whole of Putnam County is unified in tackling all of these complex issues,” she said.
Kahng said an analysis of the county’s current business and retail markets is needed to give lawmakers the data to help create and implement a plan to smartly attract new businesses and retailers to Putnam County and help existing businesses and retailers maximize their market capacity.
She also said there is a mental health crisis in Putnam County that demands more services.
“I support a mental health stabilization center in Putnam County,” said Kahng. “A stabilization center is not the same thing as a crisis center. We already have a crisis center in Putnam County, it is Putnam Hospital. We also have a Putnam County Mobile Crisis Team – the Legislature just voted to approve funding to allow it to operate 24/7.”
In addition, she said a stabilization center would be for anyone having a mental health episode that isn’t a crisis, where trained mental health professionals can quickly assess and provide appropriate support and counseling.
“Putnam County needs to do its part in helping with the mental health crisis by providing additional financial support to the public-facing mental health professionals at CoveCare, Philipstown HUB, and the Mental Health Association,” she said.
Kahng said she will advocate for better coordination and communication between the six towns and three villages, and the county. For example, she referred to the $500-million-per-year NY Forward grant program for downtown revitalization that has been around since 2018. Although the Town of Kent has applied the last three years, it can’t get past the first round because it’s too small an application.
“I would take Kent’s Route 52, Patterson’s Front Street, and Putnam Valley’s Peekskill Hollow Road and combine them into one application,” she said. “That’s a winning application, and I will continue to work with all the towns and villages to apply annually so we begin to win our share of that $500 million annually.”
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