Credit: Ariana Moore
At 25 years old, Theodore “Teddy” Secor is the youngest serving member of Stanford’s Town Board. Secor was appointed to the board on Jan. 18, after board member Anne Arent stepped down two years into her four-year term. Members of the board tapped Secor to fill the seat until Dec. 31, with the remainder of Arent’s term to be decided by voters in November.
Secor is eager to serve the town he loves. Already, he feels the pressure of what he calls “small town-ism”: a desire to maintain things exactly as they are. But giving into that pressure, he fears, could lead to stagnation.
Secor wants to see Stanford become a better place to live without losing any of its charm. He hopes to accomplish that by making small, meaningful changes, such as improvements in crosswalks and sidewalks. He also wants to install electric vehicle charging stations and implement a composting program. “Taking part in the community feels enriching for me, mentally and emotionally,” Secor said.
“We’re ecstatic to have a younger face on the Town Board,” Town Supervisor Wendy Burton said. “My personal expectations are really high because he’s been so involved with the community for so long, in so many different roles. He’s such a hard worker, and he’s really intelligent.”
Secor was born in Highland, N.Y. and moved to Marlborough, N.Y. in his youth. He and his family then went to Jacksonville, Fla., where his father attended welding school. After his father graduated the family returned to the Hudson Valley, moving into his aunt’s small attic in Stanford. Secor has lived in the town ever since.
While studying in the Pine Plains Central School District, Secor discovered his passion for English. “I went to Pine Plains for the longest stretch of time,” Secor said. “That probably shaped my experience the most, that’s where my most formative years were.”
His dream is to become an English teacher. He has taken classes at Dutchess Community College and SUNY New Paltz but has always stayed rooted in the Stanford community.
Secor joined the Stanford Grange and the Lions Club, which ignited his interest in local politics. In 2019, at 20 years old, he ran his first campaign for Town Board. “This was the first year I went to the caucus and there was some behavior I didn’t care for so I decided to throw my hat in the ring,” he said. Although Secor didn’t win, he wasn’t defeated.
“I realized I got a decent number of votes for someone who really hadn’t had their name out there in the community yet,” Secor said. “People liked me. Wendy Burton became the supervisor that year and she told me ‘you may have lost but don’t go anywhere.’”
In 2019 he ran for Town Board as a Republican. The next year he was not registered with a party. He has since joined the Democratic Party.
Shortly after his campaign for Town Board, he briefly served as the deputy town clerk, when the Town Clerk Ritamary Bell went on vacation. “I got more deeply invested in local politics,” Secor said. “You know you sit around and watch CNN and if that’s your exposure to politics, there’s not an emphasis on local government.”
In 2020, Secor became both a voting member in the Stanford Recreation Commission and the secretary for the town’s Conservation Advisory Committee.
His passion for the environment is evident. In 2021, he became an advocate for the town of Stanford through the program Partners for Climate Action Hudson Valley, an organization that provides support to local communities to address the climate crisis and improve the ecosystems of the Hudson River Estuary Watershed.
Since then, Secor has worked hard to make Stanford a certified Climate Smart Community — a designation given to towns that have taken stock of their environmental needs and impacts, made a plan, and taken actions to enact it — through the Climate Smart Communities Task Force.
When Secor isn’t working for the town of Stanford, he’s likely lost in a book or working on his novel. “Maybe it’s going to be really successful or it’s going to be horrible, but I really don’t care. I just want it published,” he said.
Secor describes his life as “non-traditional.” For now, he makes money doing odd jobs around Stanford, helping out his neighbors in the community where he hopes to make meaningful change.