About Mike
Dennis Michael Dvorchak (“Mike”) bought an historic Hillsdale farmhouse in 2003 that he restored with his husband, Tim Stookesberry. He began volunteering for Hillsdale soon after as a member of the Hamlet Committee. Mike’s fundraising abilities helped the Hamlet Committee raise the money needed to create the Veteran’s Memorial, the Town Hall Park, and purchase new playground equipment for the Hamlet Park. He was also integral to working with an outside development firm, Project for Public Spaces (PPS), to create a comprehensive plan to design and develop the Hamlet. As such, he helped organize and oversee community input on the PPS plan, which was adopted into the Hillsdale Town Comprehensive Plan in 2012.
In 2011, Mike became Chair of the Hamlet Committee. During his tenure, he oversaw the grant application for new sidewalks in the Hamlet, one of the significant initiatives outlined in the PPS Plan. Working with the Hamlet Committee, a grant writer, and the Town Board, the proposal was submitted and resulted in a $754,975 grant for the Town.
Mike joined the Columbia County Democratic Committee’s (CCDC) Fundraising Committee in 2017. He became Co-Chair of the Fundraising Committee soon afterward and helped to increase yearly contributions ten-fold by establishing fundraising events and campaigns and use of specialty software to solicit and develop donors. In the intervening years, CCDC has raised close to $500,000 to help local Democratic candidates. Mike has served as First Vice Chair of CCDC for the past two years. In August 2022, Mike received the “Blue Boot on the Ground” award for his work in developing new and improving current Get Out the Vote initiatives that were used in the NY19 U.S. Congressional Special Election in which Pat Ryan scored an upset victory that garnered national attention.
Mike spent most of his professional career in the entertainment industry, first at The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization and the Irving Berlin Music Company working on such Broadway revivals of Annie Get Your Gun, Oklahoma!, Carousel and The Sound of Music. He then went on to an acquisitions role at USA Network, evaluating and negotiating broadcast rights for major motion pictures and television series. Mike subsequently obtained his real estate license in both New York City and the Hudson Valley and is now an independent real estate professional.
“There is a great deal of talent, energy, and community spirit in Hillsdale eager to be tapped for the betterment of the town,” said Mike, “If elected, I plan to reinvigorate the citizen committees that were instrumental in bringing about some of the positive changes seen over the past two decades, such as the sidewalks initiative, obtaining national and state historic designations for the hamlet, and the Town Hall Park. Soon the Harlem Valley Rail Trail bridge over Rt. 22 will be completed and we will see an increase in visitors from the popular bike path. Hillsdale stands to benefit greatly and there's much we can do to support local businesses by making Hillsdale as welcoming as possible, for example, by installing bike racks, amenities for bikers, and way-findings signs.
Among the responsibilities of Town Supervisor is the state-mandated role of Chief Fiscal Officer for the town, which I take very seriously. I vow to keep a steady eye on budgets and expenditures, and to be a good steward of taxpayers' dollars. Also, of utmost importance is representing Hillsdale on the County Board of Supervisors (BOS). The BOS has a large annual budget for expenditures and sets the agenda and priorities for the County. I have built strong relationships through my work with the CCDC that I can draw upon to represent Hillsdale’s interests on the County level.”