Acevedo enters Blooming Grove supervisor race, citing local character and responsiveness

Blooming Grove’s next supervisor race is likely to hinge on how the town handles growth, spending and basic services after Councilwoman Cathy Gregg Acevedo stepped into the contest for the town’s top job. With the supervisor seat set as a two-year office, the race will decide who steers budgets, zoning and day-to-day government in a community already wrestling with land-use pressure.

Acevedo has lived in Blooming Grove for more than 20 years and served six years on the town board, including three as deputy supervisor. Her run gives voters a choice between continuity and a fresh test of town hall’s responsiveness, with Acevedo positioning herself as a local insider who says government should answer more directly to residents and protect the rural character that still defines much of the town.

The race is also becoming a referendum on which local fights matter most. Blooming Grove has posted public notices this year on a proposed six-month moratorium for battery energy storage system applications, a two-lot subdivision hearing, a special meeting and a public hearing tied to town business. In 2025, the town also dealt with zoning amendments, a ridgeline overlay amendment and a proposal to repeal and replace the zoning bulk table, all signs that development rules remain unsettled.

Those disputes come against a broader development backdrop in southern Orange County. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has described Clovewood as a proposed 600-unit residential subdivision at 505 Clove Road in South Blooming Grove, with applications involving water withdrawal, wastewater discharge and incidental-take permits. The project has drawn years of concern over traffic, water, environmental impacts and open space, and it remains one of the clearest examples of how growth pressure is reshaping local debate.

Acevedo’s challenge will be to define how she would govern differently from current Supervisor Robert C. Jeroloman, who was elected Nov. 4, 2025 and is listed by the county as holding the seat through the 2026 cycle. County Board of Elections records also list Acevedo as Blooming Grove Council Member, Ward 1, with a term expiring in 2026, underscoring that she is moving up from an active town board seat rather than returning after time away.

Orange County’s planning department says its work spans land use planning, transportation, transit, education, resource management, agriculture, open space, grants and economic issues, a reminder that Blooming Grove’s supervisor race will not be just about personalities. It will help determine how the town responds to the development pressure already visible from South Blooming Grove to the hills near Schunnemunk Mountain and the corridors leading toward Washingtonville and Monroe.