John Penney Appointed to Board of Trustees

Mayor Gary Bassett is pleased to announce the appointment of John Penney to fill a vacant seat on the Village Board.

Penney, who has resided in the village with his wife, Dugan Radwin, since 2008, is the former opinion editor at the Poughkeepsie Journal and works in communications for the City of Poughkeepsie and Dutchess County governments.

Penney is in charge of various communications duties for the City of Poughkeepsie, including writing news releases, handling media relations, editing a weekly newsletter, posting on social media and developing website content.

He also serves on the Community Action Partnership for Dutchess County Board of Directors and the City of Poughkeepsie Procedural Justice Committee. Penney was Chair of the Dutchess County Complete Count Committee, which worked with local governments and community stakeholders to raise awareness about the importance of the 2020 census. He also was a member of the Dutchess County Vaccine Outreach Coalition.

Penney served as the Poughkeepsie Journal’s opinion editor from 1999 to 2018, writing editorials, interviewing candidates running for office, organizing public forums, and handling the letters to the editor, among other tasks.

“John has a considerable history in public service-related endeavors, and it’s my pleasure to appoint him to the board, to join our team which is working hard on behalf of all village residents,” Bassett said.

“It’s my honor to accept this appointment,” Penney said, “I look forward to more conversations with community members about the issues facing the village and its future, and to work with the Village Board toward the betterment of the community.”