Brett Yarris, For Us

Elect Brett Yarris as your District 5 representative in Putnam County, NY.

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For The People

For too long we have allowed ourselves to be conditioned to think only about party when we talk to our neighbors. That has shaped our experiences to be adversarial, and shaped us to lose sight of what matters locally, and, what it means to be a good neighbor. We can get back to that.

I am committed to People, Not Politics or party ideaology, no matter how much some may want to steer the conversation there. I am in this race, not for you or for me, but for us, The People.

Issues I’m Campaigning For:

END “TAX AND HOARD” POLICY

For years, Putnam County has been sitting on an unassigned fund balance that has now ballooned to over $90 million—money collected from taxpayers but left uninvested in our communities. I call this practice “Tax and Hoard.” Instead of putting that revenue to work fixing our roads, improving our infrastructure, supporting emergency services, or helping our towns grow, something I have many times advocated for directly to our legislature, the County continues to hold onto it with no clear plan. As your legislator, I will fight to end Tax and Hoard by restoring fiscal responsibility and ensuring that your tax dollars are actually used to deliver results—not stockpiled while our needs go unmet.

End Government Dysfunction

When government is working against itself, it is NOT working for you.

Putnam County government is broken—not because of divided government, but because even under one-party control, our leaders can’t agree long enough to get things done. I’ve stood up repeatedly at legislative meetings to call out the dysfunction and demand cooperation. Time and again, I’ve urged my colleagues to put people before party and come together around common-sense solutions. That’s why I launched the For The People party—because we deserve leadership that doesn’t play political games, but actually delivers results. Government should be a service, not a spectacle.

Fight For Transparency

Transparency isn’t a talking point for me—it’s been a cornerstone of my work since day one. I’ve fought on the floor of the Legislature to guarantee public speaking rights at all meetings, to make agendas and documents accessible to residents, and to end the pattern of closed-door decisions.

Too often, county government operates behind a wall of silence, treating public input as optional. I believe whether it is the government infringing on the rights of our farmers, or the public’s right to be heard, you have a right to know what’s happening in your government and to have a voice in it. That’s why I’ve consistently called for codified transparency policies—because democracy only works when the people are not just allowed, but invited, to participate.