LEGISLATURE STUFF An Unusual Awarding

CATSKILL - An unusual situation called for an offbeat solution when the Greene County Legislature announced its “Employee of the Year.”

County lawmakers, at their 39th Annual Employee Recognition Night, last Wednesday, announced that one of their own, legislature clerk Tammy Sciavillo, was the awardee for 2024.

While her selection was not surprising, given Sciavillo’s lengthy and loyal career, the trick was keeping it a surprise.

Sciavillo, as part of her job, is the person through whom virtually every document and piece of paper must pass prior to becoming official.

It is Sciavillo’s task, therefore, to type up the annual Employee Recognition information which in this particular case involved hers truly.

Slipping into stealth mode, lawmakers “sent her a fake story,” legislature chairman Patrick Linger revealed, following the presentation.

The pseudo story reported the recipient was Warren Hart, director of the county’s Economic Development, Tourism & Planning department.

Hart, who also serves as the deputy county administrator, is in the midst of gradually retiring so the choice was perfectly logical and deserved.

Linger says Sciavillo diligently “typed it up,” with another administrative staffer stashing the imposter in Hart’s conference room drawer.

If the legislature clerk was aware beforehand or not, the jig was up as soon as the award ceremony began, according to Linger.

“Tammy knew something was going on the minute she saw her father walk in the door” to the meeting room, Linger said, good-naturedly laughing.

“She started shaking like a leaf. We felt horrible doing that to her because we count on her for everything but we had to think outside the box.”

Accepting the professional kudos with her customary quiet, the legislature clerk soon thereafter returned to her post, resuming her duties.

Sciavillo began her career in 1994, initially with Economic Development before moving to Human Resources and finally the legislature.

Since the spring of 1999, “every resolution, every minute of every meeting taking place at Greene County government bears testimony to her tireless work ethic, focus and dedication,” Linger stated, reading the award.

“Every agenda, every notice, every advertisement, every local law, every legislative memorandum and countless other documents and emails emanating from the legislature have her fingerprints on them.”

Having been the acting clerk of the legislature for a quarter century, Linger said Sciavillo, “applies a wealth of institutional knowledge every day and willingly shares that knowledge with all other departments.

“You can walk into the legislative office anytime and find her either wearing a headset and carefully typing minutes or searching records from the distant past looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

“She is always amenable to interruption, always with a welcoming smile  and always asking what it is she can do to help you,” Linger said.

“Simply put, Tammy Sciavillo is essential in steering this ship that we all call Greene County and I can think of no one more deserving of this honor.”

Recognition was also accorded to the Greene County “Team of the Year” and the “Chairman’s Award.”

A trio of Department of Social Services workers were named “Team of the Year;” Laura Becker (director of eligibility), joined by Stacey Smith and Maureen Grupe (principal examiners).

The team implemented AI technology during the COVID-19 pandemic to help overcome staffing shortages, earning praise from State officials who dubbed them one of the “Fab Five” counties to go “above and beyond.”

Picked for the “Chairman’s Award” were three county Early Intervention Program staffers; Kelly Kircher (director) with Sandra Dauski and Jillian Fitzgerald (service coordinators).

Linger noted the team has, “remained unwavering in their commitment to serving the community” in the midst of a complete turnover in staff and in-house electronic system failures, severely complicating daily workload.