LEGISLATURE STUFF - Eventually on the Wind

CATSKILL - “We’ll try to hold him back,” says Greene County Legislature member Charles Martinez (District 2, Coxsackie), speaking of Shaun Groden who is daydreaming of hopping on a chopper.

Groden is the county administrator and lawmakers, earlier this week, approved a resolution extending his contract by a year.

At Groden’s request, his current three-year pact will now stretch through the end of 2026 with no change in salary or benefits.

There is a catch, of course. The extension also means Groden intends to ride off into the Harley Davidson sunset sooner than Martinez wants.

“Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had some good county administrators but this guy is the best. A real professional,” says Martinez who also heads the legislative Finance Committee.

Martinez could try to lure Groden with one of his own vintage automobiles but the county boss has a greater calling. Seven grandkids.

Groden just saw his son’s three sons over the July 4th weekend, visiting from the West Coast, and his two daughters each have two children.

At least that’s the way he sees it and forever will, which tells you a little something about the man in the office where the county buck stops.

“My son’s boys are eight, six and four so we spent the weekend jumping off docks,” Groden says, laughing, noting he needs to travel to the Rochester, New York, area to be with his other four grandies.

One of them is there in spirit. “I lost one grandson. He was diagnosed with cancer at four months old and he made it to age three. I still always say I have seven grandchildren,” the county boss says.

Groden will turn 70 by the end of his new deal, wanting to stick around until then to coddle a pair of major infrastructure projects.

Lawmakers have already initiated the creation of.a Justice Center wing on the county courthouse, needing room for the district attorney and public defenders offices as well as the State Office of Court Administration.

That nearly $30 million job should be wrapping up next year, with a second project in the works for a new Community Services complex in the town of Cairo, eventual-home to the county Mental Health Center.

Land was recently purchased at the former Cairo Fairgrounds for that job that could also include offices for the Soil & Water Conservation District, Records Management and Veterans Reintegration.

“I want to be able to finish those two large constructions, then maybe I can jump on my motorcycle,” Groden says, not clarifying whether the chopper exists in reality or merely imagination.

Either way, he has the county’s fiscal engines rumbling smoothly, according to legislature chairman Patrick Linger.

“In my mind, our county has never seen someone with Shaun’s capabilities. His number one priority is the survival of Greene County,” Linger says. 

“Shaun likes to say he drives the bus. We tell him where to go. He plans conservatively as our legislature wishes him to do.

“What he does best is present us with all the options available to us and then we make the decisions. He is very involved but also allows the department heads to run their department.

“It’s amazing how his brain works,” Linger says. “Give him one second to put one file away in his brain and he’s already on to another.”

Since coming on board in January, 2011, and literally getting his feet (and famously colorful socks) wet during Hurricane Irene that same summer, Groden has effectively kept we mules of taxation in the forefront.

“He has the foresight to put money aside,” Linger says. “We will be able to pay cash for the Community Services building. No bonding,” on what is expected to be an eight-figure expenditure.

Numerous special Reserve Funds have been set up on Groden’s watch, keeping the annual tax levy unmoving, one of his favorite topics.

Asked to reflect on his record over the past thirteen years, the county boss instead shifted the subject, noting his succession plan is even now being put in motion, “making sure there is an easy transition,” Groden says.

“The biggest thing is I already know is we - again -  will not have a tax levy increase in 2025,” marking the sixth straight year of steadiness.

“And unless the State pushes some unforeseen expenses down to us, I am projecting no rise in 2026,” Groden says.

“I’m still not sure what I’ll do on Monday mornings,” after retirement arrives. “I won’t be watching Dr. Phil. I don’t hunt or fish.” So what are the odds those seven grandkids might have a say in the matter?