Hudson Valley Politician Resigns Amid Sexual Harassment Claims

A longtime Hudson Valley politician abruptly resigned following amid sexual harassment allegations.

Update: More allegations were brought against Tyner and he responded to the allegations.

Early Wednesday morning, Dutchess County Legislator Joel Tyner resigned. He shared his resignation email on Facebook:

Chairman Pulver/colleagues--  I hereby resign my position as county legislator for Clinton and Rhinebeck-- it's been my pleasure to work with you all over these last 15 years...

The Dutchess County Democrat who represented District 11 didn't provide more details about his sudden resignation but added,

...but it's time for me to step aside, let someone else
have this position-- and time for me to work on myself.

The email was sent around 1:20 a.m. on Wednesday. Tyner shared the email on his Facebook moments later.

Around 6:30 a.m. Tyner provided a little more information in the comment section of his post.

"I’ve made far too many stupid mistakes and fifteen years is long enough— time for me to step aside and let someone else serve," Tyner wrote.

It's unclear what Tyner means by "stupid mistakes," but shortly after his resignation Hudson Valley Post learned of sexual harassment allegations made by the Facebook group Hudson Valley Feminist Collect against Tyner.

"I can confirm that members of the group have come forth with allegations of sexual harassment by Joel Tyner," the group's administrator Ashely Casale told Hudson Valley Post in an email.

Casale was unable to go into more details about the allegations but said specifics and evidence of the allegations will likely be made public in the near future.

Hudson Valley Post reached out to Tyner about the allegations, but have yet to hear back. We will update this article if Tyner comments.