MICHAEL KELSEY
Born and raised in Hopewell Junction, Mike bought his home in Salt Point in 2005. Today he represents Amenia, Washington, the Village of Millbrook and parts of Stanford and Pleasant Valley in the Dutchess County Legislature where he serves as Vice Chairman of the Family and Human Services Committee and Chairman of the Board of Elections Oversight Committee.
Mike is a young attorney who primarily practices family law and wills and estates. He is an adjunct professor at Marist College, where he has taught the following courses: Introduction to Philosophy, Introduction to Law, Constitutional Law and the Bill of Rights, and Christianity. He is a former teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes High School, is a recipient of the Archdiocesan Bronze Pelican Award for religious formation. He has taught five semesters of college credit-courses to juvenile offenders at Greene Correctional Facility in Coxsackie, NY.
Mike’s primary employment is as Director of Policy and Human Resources and Dutchess Director of Human Services at PEOPLe Inc., a nonprofit agency focused on advocacy and support services for the adult mentally ill. He has been a member of the Mental Health Subcommittee of the Dutchess County Mental Hygiene Board since 2005. In 2011 Mike was awarded the Van Bramer Award for Mental Health Advocacy by Mental Health America of Dutchess County. He served as the keynote speaker for NAMI of the Hudson Valley in 2010.
An Eagle Scout, Mike is an active Assistant Scoutmaster specializing in high adventure. He has mentored over 50 scouts who have reached the rank of Eagle. Mike served as the Properties Chairman of Boy Scout Camp Nooteeming in Salt point and ushered in many safety and program upgrades in this capacity. He presently serves as the Chairman of the Eastern Dutchess Coalition on Youth where he has spoken to seventh-graders at Van Wyck Junior High School about the U.S. Constitution and civic responsibility. He has also spoken on overcoming adversity to all-county S.A.D.D. conference.
An avid outdoorsman, Mike has climbed the 115 highest peaks in the Northeast including the Adirondack’s 46 highest peaks, and New Hampshire’s 48-highest mountains. In 2010, Mike climbed 19,341-foot tall Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest and the world’s tallest free-standing mountain. Mike is a NYS licensed Wilderness Guide, a hiking guidebook editor for the Adirondack Mountain Club, and has written numerous stories and articles and published nature photography in Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies, Backpacker, Canoe & Kayak, Adirondac, Peaked Experiences of New England, Adirondack Life, and National Geographic Adventure magazines. He is frequent lap-swimmer and swim instructor.
Mike graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Theology from Christendom College in 1999 after only three-and-a-half semesters, and from Quinnipiac University School of Law with his Juris Doctor in 2005. He has served as the Chairman of the Dutchess County Young Republicans, as a legislative aide to NYS Assemblyman Joel Miller, assistant to Dutchess County Legislature Chairman Gary Cooper, an Election Specialist at Dutchess County Board of Elections, as well as lector at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Poughkeepsie. He is a member of the Dutchess County Bar Association and the Southern Dutchess Exchange Club. In 2011, Mike was appointed trustee of the Joseph F. Barnard Memorial Law Library in Poughkeepsie.
Mike believes strongly that we only have one life to lead and that we should live it to the fullest in doing good deeds for others. He was influenced incredibly by his parents especially his father who he lost at an early age. After his father’s death, Mike rose to the occasion in the family and through much hard work, financial support, fixity of purpose, and diligent advocacy amid the most trying of circumstances, he was able to navigate the family through many legal hurdles with his father’s estate and provide care for his mother. Much of these experiences impacted Mike and led him to law school and elected office so as to help others succeed in life.
Mike believes in low taxes, small government, local control, and speaking up for the less fortunate in society. He advocates for a humanitarian approach to government – one that recognizes that government exists for the welfare of people.