CLICK TO HEAR SUNY PRESIDENT ‘Super Spreader’ Caused Outbreak, Morris Tells Reps DOH’s Bond: ‘It Spread Like Wildfire’; SUNY Cases May Hit 450, Lapin Says By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – The “super spreader” did it. There have been large parties, even larger, at other SUNY campuses, campus President Barbara Jean Morris told the county Board of Representatives this morning. The difference here was the one individual – a “Typhoid Mary” of COVID-19, as county Rep. Danny…
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Otsego County Board - Page 2
EDITORIAL Freshman County Rep Shows Guts, Consistency Let’s give credit where it’s due. In our May 29 edition, County Rep. Clark Oliver of Oneonta was tweaked in this space, along with his fellow Democrats who voted against 59 layoffs without offering an alternative. They ducked a hard decision, thus losing credibility with their colleagues, it was argued. • Last Wednesday, Aug. 5, the county board was considering a measure to set aside New York State’s 2-percent property tax cap –…
County Board Moves Toward Lifting Tax Cap Action Possible At Sept. 2 Meeting By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Facing a fiscal crunch, the county Board of Representatives today took the first step toward freeing itself from the state’s 2 percent property-tax cap in preparing its 2021 budget. At its August meeting, county board Chairman David Bliss, R-Cooperstown/Town of Middlefield, “put the law on the table,” and freshman representative Clark Oliver, D-Oneonta, seconded it. As County Attorney…
STATE HOLDS ON TO MONEY Reps Updated: All Financial News Bad By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – As at every meeting since the coronavirus threat arrived, all the financial news was bad when the county Board of Representatives met this morning. As state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli emphasized when he spoke to the county board last month, the state has yet to decide what funds will be sent out from Albany this year. Reporting on a presentation by…
LETTER from ANDREW STAMMEL Cut Tourism Funding To Prevent Layoffs To the Editor: Last week, the Otsego County Board of Represent-atives made the tragic decision to terminate 59 employees, amounting to hundreds of years of institutional knowledge and public service. While the euphemism “layoff” continues to be used, it doesn’t accurately reflect what occurred. These jobs have been eliminated. To return, multiple committees and the full board would need to re-create, fund and then fill these jobs; an unlikely prospect…
Lonely At The Top CLICK FOR COUNTY BOARD MEETING VIA ZOOM…
Reopen Auto Dealers, Carson To Ask County ONEONTA – Citing the $117 million that car dealerships put into the local economy, Common Council member Len Carson, Fifth Ward, is asking the county Board of Representatives to restart car sales in Otsego County. A former county board member himself, Carson told Common Council this evening he has sent a letter asking his former colleagues to petition Governor Cuomo to allow Otsego County to re-open car dealerships.…
They Love Meg Kennedy, But Debate Bipartisanship By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – When the 9-4 vote affirmed Meg Kennedy as the first woman vice chair of the Otsego County Board of Representatives, Andrew Marietta leaned over and said, “Meg, you know I support you.” The Conservative for Hartwick, Milford and New Lisbon and the Democrat from Cooperstown and the Town of Otsego both shook hands and smiled. But for the preceding few minutes Thursday, Jan. 2,…
CLICK FOR VIDEO OF COUNTY BOARD Partisanship Debated As Board Reorganizes Also, Assemblyman Salka Addresses County Reps …
LETTER from ANDREW MARIETTA Bi-Partisanship Moving Otsego County Forward To the Editor: I’ve driven all over New York State and worked with community organizations and their leaders, and there is a commonality that unites them all: an investment in a better future. The same can be said for Otsego County, where success and momentum are building. Our county has no shortage of dedicated and committed leaders who put service to their communities first and strive to improve them. It isn’t…