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The Cornwall-on-Hudson Village Board meets twice a month on Monday nights. It holds a Work Session on the second Monday of the month and a Business Meeting on the third Monday. The mayor and trustees hold two-year terms.
James Kane Mayor
First elected in March 2010, Mr. Kane has served as Village Trustee for almost six terms, three of which include his appointment as deputy mayor. James’ professional background includes being a former prosecutor, legal counsel, partner in his own law firm and as an energy advisor in the electric industry.
James grew up in Orangetown, Rockland County, New York and is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island in 1987 and earned his Juris Doctorate from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1990.
Upon graduation, he proudly served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office from 1990-1997 prosecuting street crime, financial crimes, labor racketeering, and writing and arguing appeals before the First Dept. Appellate Division and New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. Later he was senior legal counsel and acting general counsel in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Office of the Inspector General as well as senior legal counsel in a Moreland Act Commission. James then spent seventeen years in private practice with his two partners based in Pearl River, New York. Currently, he is a senior energy advisor with the New York Power Authority.
He also proudly served in the United States Army Reserve for 28 years, first serving as a platoon leader in the 812th MP Company, 306th MP Battalion, 800th Military Police Brigade, Orangetown, NY and after spending 13 years in the MP Corps, he branched transferred to the Judge Advocate General’s Corps in 2000. From 2014-2015 he was deployed to Bagram, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Freedoms Sentinel with Task Force-435 and USFORA. As Officer in Charge of the Legal Cell, he was charged with training, advising & assisting the Afghanistan National Army, Afghanistan judges, prosecutors and court personnel in the prosecution of insurgents captured on the battlefield and sustained court and base operations.
Jim has one child, Michael, a 2020 graduate of Cornwall Central High School who is a plumber's apprentice and currently deployed to AFNLA with his civil affairs U.S. Army Reserve, and two black labrador retrievers call Hudson Street home.
Bill Braine Village Trustee
After his childhood on Long Island, college at SUNY Albany (B.A., ’91), and ten years in New York City, Bill Braine chose Cornwall-on-Hudson to raise a family.
Bill’s wife Claudia Depkin, born in Cornwall Hospital, is Director of the Haverstraw King's Daughters Public Library and the current President of the New York Library Association. Together they moved to Cornwall in 2006. Their two children are a proud graduate and current student in Cornwall schools.
David Carnright Village Trustee
Trustee David Carnright has lived most of his life in the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson. Dave attended Cornwall schools and graduated from Cornwall Central High School in 1971.
Mayor Brendan Coyne appointed Dave to fill a vacancy on the village board in 2012. Dave ran for trustee in 2013 and has served on the board for eight years.
Dave started working for Fry Copy Systems after graduating high school and remained with the company till 1980. He next worked at Nepera Chemical Company in Harriman.
In 1985, Dave went on to work for Central Hudson Gas and Electric. After 31 years, Dave retired in 2016 as chief gas mechanic.
It is here in Cornwall where Carnright met his wife, Louise. They have been married for 40 years and have raised four children. All of their children have gone through the Cornwall School system.
Dave has been an active member of the community. He served nine years on the Cornwall school board. He is president of Cornwall Youth Football and served more than 20 years on the Cornwall Little League Board. He has also served on the Cornwall Independence Day Committee.
Lori Beth Paliotta Village Trustee
Lori Beth Paliotta is currently serving as a Village Trustee appointed in September 2023 to replace Richard Gaillard. She is a proud graduate of Cornwall High School, class of 1996. Lori Beth was born and raised in Cornwall and chose to stay in her beloved community to raise her family with her husband, Gregg who is also a Cornwall graduate and has owned a small business in NYC for the past 25 years. Having five children ages 6 to 18 years old has given her vast experience with youth, home, family, schooling, and community needs. Lori Beth’s involvement in our community is extensive; she is the current COH PTO President, COH Drama Co-Producer, Girls on the Run Coach for over 10 years, Cornwall Youth Committee member, Cornwall Community Coalition member, past Cub Scout den leader, and a passionate mental health care advocate.