Linda Lover is a newcomer to local political candidacy, but not to politics. Lover, a retired teacher and currently vice-chair of the Woodstock Democratic Committee, is one of four Democratic candidates running for two seats on the town board in Woodstock.
Two of the four candidates, incumbent Laura Ricci and Anula Courtis, support town supervisor Bill McKenna. Councilmember Bennet Ratcliff, who is running against McKenna, is supported by the other two, Lover and Michael Veitch.
“The most important thing, of course, is housing. Affordable housing,” Lover said. “All the committees just got a lot of money given to them, and I think that that’s a start. I think they’ve worked really hard on what they’ve been doing, and they’re the best people to know how to go about doing it.”
She said that if elected her focus, having worked on a program to bring senior meals and programs to the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center through the county Office for the Aging, would be on seniors. “We just have to get inspected by the health department, and that’s a wonderful program. It’s going to be seminars. It’s going to be even take-home meals that get sent home with food- insecure seniors. So that’s a great thing.”
She would like the town to have a dedicated senior center. “We do have the most amount of seniors here, Office for the Aging did a study and Woodstock has the most amount of seniors in all of Ulster County,” she said.
Born in Newburgh, Lover graduated from SUNY New Paltz with a degree in art education. She operated a licensed day care and pre-school for 14 years before moving to Saugerties in 1993. There, she established a pre-kindergarten program for a private school, becoming lead teacher.
She teamed with former assemblymember Kevin Cahill, Family of Woodstock and the state Board of Regents to correct a clerical error that had prevented the Saugerties School District’s pre-k program from being implemented.
Linda and her husband Terry moved to Woodstock in 2015. Both are active in various committees and organizations.
Lover is a trustee on the Woodstock Public Library board and a member of the short-term rental revision committee. She was also a member of the Complete Streets committee and Woodstock Immigrant Support.
“I believe Woodstock is at a crossroads,” Lover said. Our town board can be so much better when people’s voices are heard. The status quo isn’t working. Given the opportunity to serve, I will make a difference for all the people of Woodstock.”
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