Dutchess County Executive Deletes Facebook Post After Criticism

Sue Serino has apparently deleted a social media post that elicited an angry response from residents.

If there's one thing we all know about politics, it's that someone is going to get upset no matter what you say. A recent social media post by the Dutchess County Executive, however, was greeted by universal criticism for being "tone deaf".

Social Media Post Angers Dutchess County Residents

On Friday morning, Sue Serino posted a message on Facebook that announced "Executive Order #2025", encouraging residents to shop locally during Shop Small Saturday on November 29.

Serino's post went on to explain why shopping locally was so important.

When you spend $50 at a big box store, you get a new gadget. But when you spend $50 at our local Dutchess County businesses, you get a new gadget and you inject tax revenue directly into our community. That revenue, statisticaly speaking, saves me from having to explain the same budget chart three different ways in next week's meeting.

You are literally improving my week.

So please, skip the major online retailers today and visit our incredible mom-and-pop shops. Help us fund better parks, smoother roads, and maybe-just maybe-buy me the time for a good cup of coffee to get through the afternoon meetings.

You might wonder what's so controversial about encouraging residents to support local businesses. Well, it wasn't the message, but the image that was attached to it that sparked so much anger.

Dutchess County Executive Criticized for Use of AI

Below the message of support for small businesses was an image that was clearly created with AI, depicting a generic town square with people, buildings and vendors selling items under white tents. The poorly put-together image is what many refer to as "AI slop", filled with all sorts of weird errors and distortions.

Due to copyright concerns, we're restricted from posting AI images on our website, but a screenshot of the photo we took of the Facebook post shows an outdoor market with white tents and a banner that says "Shop Small Saturday - Dutchess County". Some of the digitally created faces appear strangely distorted, and a chalkboard has garbled lettering that doesn't make much sense aside from the words "Beacon" and "Rhinebeck".

Residents shot back in the comments, blasting Serino for using an AI image while telling everyone else to support local businesses. Grace Hoey said, "Maybe start with supporting small artists by not using AI!" Sarah Soltish backed up that sentiment, saying, "We can support local without AI! Support local (digital) artists instead."

We did not see a response from Serino in the comments before the image and message completely disappeared from her Facebook page sometime over the weekend.

Resident Carolyn Hochlowski urged Serino to understand that using AI goes completely against supporting local businesses.

Hope you see and understand these coments - using AI is the precise opposite of what I'd expect from a small business support post!

It's unclear if Serino herself or a staff member is responsible for posting the image on her page, but other photos on the Dutchess County Executive's profile also appear to have been created by AI, including a message encouraging residents to vote.

The Election Day image also elicited criticism for using AI, but not nearly as severe as the Small Business Saturday post.