NEWS
Letter to the Editor Administrator Would Solve Issues
Dear Editor,
When a County Administrator was proposed in January I was not in favor of hiring an additional person to run the business of the county full time. My first opinion was that a County Administrator would be an unnecessary additional expense for the county.
However, as I observed and participated in the debates on the issues facing our county I realized we needed to examine the options.
Fortunately, Chairman Van Glad appointed me to be on the Board of Supervisors Special County Administrator Exploratory Committee. Being on the Special Committee gave my fellow committee members and I the opportunity to meet with elected and appointed officials in other counties and see firsthand what works for them. What we found was the chief operating officer was an indispensable asset to their respective legislative bodies, department heads and other elected officials.
It is the recommendation of the Special Committee that Schoharie County like 54 of the 56 other counties in the state hire a full time chief operating officer. We feel this position is best placed with a County Administrator without any political affiliation. Such an individual should possess appropriate education and work experience in the field of public administration.
As we all are well aware, Schoharie County has faced many challenges in recent years resulting in higher costs to taxpayers and widespread employee relation issues. There is no guarantee a County Administrator would have stopped all of the problems that have come up from happening. However, a proactive and professional Administrator would surely have identified many of those problems early in their development and given Schoharie County an opportunity to abate them before they worsened.
On Friday, October 17th the citizens of Schoharie County will have an opportunity to voice their opinion on the question of whether the County should hire a County Administrator at a Public Hearing on the subject at 10:00 at the Board of Supervisors Chamber at the Schoharie County Office Building. I encourage all who wish to share their thoughts on the subject and to hear other fellow Schoharie County citizens share their thoughts to attend this important meeting which is crucial to the future of our county.
Amber Bleu, Supervisor
Town of Wright