Former Village of Walden trustee and Village Justice Gerald Mishk Jr. is hoping to get back into local government.

Mishk is running against Mayor John Ramos in the upcoming 2023 election in hopes to bring some changes to the village.

“There’s a lot of things that need correcting,” he mentioned.

In his earlier years, Mishk earned his Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice with a minor in Labor Relations. He also worked in carpentry since the age of 16 and has been doing that on and off ever since. In 1983, Mishk started his time with the Middletown Police Department, from which he retired 27 years later in 2010. From 2010 to 2012, he ran his brother’s air conditioning/heating business.

In 2013 he successfully became a village trustee and sat on the board until 2017, when he became the Associate Village Judge until 2021. During his time as trustee, Mishk mentions being heavily involved with many projects, especially ones with the local police. “I went on to become the police liaison and we had great communications with the police,” Mishk stated.

Mishk also mentions many observations made during his time as judge and trustee. “I’m not faulting anybody for doing a poor job, I just don’t think that we’ve gotten as far as we should. I really saw that when I was working as a judge,” mentioned Mishk.

Although Mishk has a list of acts he wants to make happen in Walden, his biggest goal is to reduce taxes. “Taxes have gone up every year in the village, yet the county has lowered them the past two years,” Mishk stated. “Now we’re going to be adding an ambulance district with more taxes and I don’t think many people can afford it, especially people that are maybe seniors.”

Mishk also wants to work on traffic enforcement, grants for the business district, senior programs, stricter code enforcement, infrastructure issues and more.

Another issue he’s passionate about is a better system for garbage pickup. “We need something better than what we have now. There’s people that are leaving cans in the streets and nobody is correcting them,” said Mishk.

An open government is also important to Mishk, who mentions the possibility of a monthly meeting to hear resident’s concerns. “I want to meet with the village residents that have complaints with the village manager at least once a month, maybe on a Saturday, because we get complaints that the village hall doesn’t reply in a timely manner,” Mishk mentioned.

Hardworking and dedicated are the two words Mishk used to describe himself.

“I like to get things done today. Not tomorrow, not next week, not in a month,” said Mishk.

Throughout his time in Walden he has coached Little League, helped construct the Hudson Valley Honor Flight building, built sets for the Valley Central School musicals, was an active member of the Knights of Columbus and an American Legion Montgomery Post 912 member.

Mishk grew up in Cold Spring and relocated to Walden in the early eighties with his late wife.

Together they raised two daughters, Jennifer and Kimberly, who both live in the village.

On top of the mayor position, there are also three trustee positions eligible for the election on Tuesday, March 21 at the village’s municipal building on the third floor.