Hudson Valley Lawmakers Want Answers On Shady $6 Million Deal

There are some big questions about how Dutchess County spent millions of tax dollars on a camp.

A new audit is raising some serious red flags about how Dutchess County spent residents' money on a camp in Pleasant Valley, and now county legislators are demanding a full investigation.

Dutchess County Legislature Wants Answers

Dutchess County Legislature Chair Yvette Valdés Smith is "calling for a deeper investigation" into Dutchess County's 2022 purchase of Camp Nooteeming and its relationship with the for-profit Pathfinder Academy.

The camp was purchased for $4.2 million under then-County Executive Marcus Molinaro.

According to the Dutchess County Comptroller's Office, since the 2022 purchase, the County has spent more than $600,000 in upgrades to the property, and another $1.2 million was set aside to pay Pathfinder for professional services and rental fees tied to running the camp.

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Officials tell Hudson Valley Post that's nearly $6 million total in taxpayer money, spent on a property that, according to legislators, most Dutchess County residents aren't even allowed to use.

“In 2022, when the County moved to purchase Camp Nooteeming, then-County Executive Marcus Molinaro assured the legislature that the property was being acquired to increase free outdoor opportunities for Dutchess County youth,” Yvette Valdés Smith stated. “From the very beginning, the County Executive’s office misrepresented the nature of the purchase and minimized and outright hid the extent to which taxpayer dollars were being used to prop up a financially unstable for-profit entity. I want to thank Comptroller Dan Aymar-Blair for his office’s thorough audit.”

Legislators are also questioning who actually benefited from the deal. Legislator Brendan Lawler, who chairs the Legislature's Budget Committee, said County Republicans had no business using public money this way.

Legislator Brennan Kearney put it bluntly, saying the Legislature "was sold a bill of goods" and that it's time for some honest answers about who this purchase was really meant to serve.

Both the Comptroller's audit and Chair Valdés Smith point out that Pathfinder Academy is a for-profit entity that was described in the report as financially unstable, raising more questions about why county taxpayer dollars were used to keep it afloat.

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