Primary Election Date: 09/15/2009
General Election Date: 11/03/2009

Who Am I?

One of the nation’s most prominent of only a handful of experts on microbusinesses, Dawn Rivers Baker is the President and CEO of Wahmpreneur Publishing, Inc., and the editor and publisher of all its media properties, including its flagship publication, The MicroEnterprise Journal. She is a member of the Online New Association and a National Partner of Women Impacting Public Policy, where she serves on its Executive Advisory Board.

She was named the 2003 Small Business Journalist of the Year for the Syracuse District, U.S. Small Business Administration, and has been selected for annual inclusion in Marquis’ Who’s Who in America®.

Dawn’s story is another of those classic tales of finding opportunity in spite of serious challenge. She rose out of poverty through education, earning an ABC (A Better Chance) scholarship that sent her to Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia. From there, she attended Princeton and Columbia Universities, and went on to work in legal administration for The Atlantic Recording Corporation and for premier Manhattan-based law firm Rosenman & Colin.

Dawn came to Sidney in July 1998 with her husband of over 25 years and their four children. She is a parent member of the Sidney Central School District’s Committee on Special Education.

She is also an active member of the Democratic party. She is an elected member of the New York State Democratic Committee, the NYS Democratic Rural Conference and its issues committee. She also currently serves as First Vice-Chair of the Delaware County Democratic Committee and as Chair of the Sidney Democratic Committee.

Why Am I Running?

While in office, I want to bring openness and transparency to Sidney's Town Council; reinvigorate and relocalize our economy, both town and county; reach out to our town's young people and include them in crafting the community's future; launch a renewables-based town power project in Sidney.

Hold Me Accountable!

Economy
Clean energy
Community development

My DFA values:

I am a pro-choice Democratic woman who believes in our social safety nets but who also believes that a thriving economy can solve many problems all by itself. It should not be necessary to cut people off from needed assistance if they get into trouble through no fault of their own; at the same time, I believe that our best road to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is SHARED prosperity. I want to seek resources at the state and federal level in order to implement the policy initiatives I have in mind and still avoid increasing the tax burden on our community.

My Campaign is People-Powered!

Republicans have dominated local politics here for a long time, as is the case with many places in upstate NY. This time, the local GOP will have a primary on its hands for Supervisor and they have dismissed me as a candidate entirely. My plan is to use their distraction to connect personally with as many voters as I can and to ask my volunteers to hold house parties and other events to introduce me to their neighbors and friends.