Board Hears Concerns Regarding ICE Agreement, Approves Budget

By BILL BELLEN
OTSEGO COUNTY

Following a brief Public Works Committee meeting at 9:50 a.m. to approve a few minor budget transfers, the Otsego County Board of Representatives convened for its December 3 meeting. Representatives David Bliss and Andrew Marietta were both absent at the start of the meeting, though Bliss entered during privilege of the floor and Marietta during committee discussion, meaning all members of the board were present for the final vote on approving Otsego County’s budget for 2026.

Before any regular business could occur, however, a plethora of community members utilized the privilege of the floor to voice their concerns over the recent agreement signed between the Otsego County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As previously reported by AllOtsego, the 287(g) program is intended to allow local law enforcement—corrections officers in this case, in particular—to carry out immigration enforcement on those in custody.

The discussion opened with Bill Hayes, who applauded the sheriff’s consistent commitment to providing law enforcement to the community over the years, but questioned his authority to enter into the agreement with ICE.

Hayes said that numerous federal regulations have been relaxed, meaning there are no longer supervisors from ICE to ensure that local enforcers are following proper procedure. Hayes further questioned whether this would turn corrections officers into warrant-issuing ICE agents and appealed for a closer look into whether or not this act undermined the county government’s authority.

Boyd Richards came to the stand next, echoing many of the sentiments of Hayes and sharing his concerns regarding the representation of the will of the people.

“It seems very contrary to the resolution that was passed in Cooperstown in support of immigrants and recognizing that often justice isn’t served to immigrants here seeking legal status,” Hayes stated. “I understand that Oneonta has also passed a similar resolution. I think the optics of having our sheriff and sheriff’s department involved in ICE in any way is incongruent with those resolutions and the will of the majority of the individuals here in the county.”

Two more citizens followed Richards, each criticizing the lack of qualifications among new ICE agents and the practice of agents using masks and lacking verifiable identification.

Paul Mendelson, one of the subsequent speakers, concluded his address with a personal reflection.

“My grandparents were deported to Auschwitz in 1942. The people who came to the door were just low-functioning bureaucrats doing their job. There will be midterms a year from now, and a lot of what has happened in the last year, and perhaps over the next year, is going to be called to account, and we will be asked to account for what we have been cooperating with.”

As a fourth speaker wrapped up her thoughts, the board moved forward with the agenda for the day. Chairman Edwin Frazier opened by saying that Assemblyman Brian Miller was supposed to attend the meeting, but unfortunately had to reschedule due to contracting the flu. Frazier said that the special presentation would be rescheduled for a later date.

Moving to the committee discussion, Rep. Keith McCarty spoke for Public Works and began by recounting Highway Superintendent Rich Brimmer’s request to extend a 2024 resolution through 2026 to authorize using up to $2,000,000.00 of CHIPS funds toward the bridge replacement project on County Route 58A in the Town of Milford. McCarty said Brimmer further mentioned the Highway Department is struggling for employees to keep snowplows and trucks running through the winter. After finishing his committee meeting summary, McCarty was questioned as to why the Highway Department was struggling to get these plowers. He cited construction workers being incentivized to accept unemployment benefits off-season due to the recent increase of unemployment benefits, as well as not many people having CDL licenses to begin with—even mentioning how the county had offered to pay for people to get their CDL in the past.

Rep. Adrienne Martini represented the Human Services Committee and once more called attention to Community Services Director Jeannette Pavlus’ request for approval to pay a 730 criminal court order of $195,446.79. Martini said that the money was taken from Contingency and transferred to the Criminal Action Line to cover the expense.

According to the New York State Office of Mental Health website, “CPL 730 Final Orders of Observation pertain to misdemeanor charges. Individuals deemed incapacitated are admitted to a state civil psychiatric center under the provisions of the Mental Hygiene Law and their charges are dismissed. An evaluation must take place within 72 hours of admissions. Individuals are then either committed under MHL, converted to voluntary status, or released.”

Rep. Margaret Kennedy and Martini discussed how some counties have begun to stop paying 730s in hopes of a reprieve from the state government, which used to cover some of the expenses of these mandatory defendant mental health competency evaluations. Kennedy encouraged the board not to follow in their footsteps, but to make it clear that it was an issue that should be focused on in the future by the New York State Association of Counties.

Frazier added that some counties have begun to raise the question of whether rehabilitation could be done by local institutions rather than by state institutions to save some on expenses—which he said have doubled since 2021—but that there were no answers on the matter as of now.

Rep. Daniel Wilber shared the minutes for the Public Safety and Legal Affairs Committee, noting that Sheriff Richard Devlin requested approval to contract with SMRT Architects and Engineers for architectural and design services. After listing some miscellaneous budget transfers, Bliss questioned Wilber about the SMRT contract pricing, as well as its specificity on the record, as Bliss clarified that he was under the impression that the contract was specifically for building a new jail.

With evident confusion as to what the resolution entailed, Wilber and others clarified that the agreement was for determining the best location for a possible new correctional facility in the future. He said this agreement was needed due to public safety and correctional facilities taking preference over other future constructions, meaning that it would save the county a headache identifying a location now rather than down the line.

Kennedy began the Administration Committee recap by pulling Res. 380 and Res. 381—resolutions approving the adoption of the 2026 budget and its associated appropriations—for individual consideration. Kennedy invited Otsego County Treasurer Allen Ruffles to speak on the auction of 22 Maple Street in Gilbertsville, a parcel that was foreclosed upon for being at least three years behind on property taxes. Ruffles noted that the auction was pushed back to January 14 and said that the court order is currently in review by a judge, meaning the county cannot post the auction online due to the possible litigation of publishing something without court approval.

Upon the conclusion of committee reports, Frazier said that County Administrator Steve Wilson e-mailed out relevant information and status updates to board members that morning, but that he was unable to attend the meeting due to persisting health concerns. The board agreed to convene for a mid-month meeting on December 15 at 9 a.m. to tie up loose ends for the year. After the dispensation of the reading of a number of petitions of expenses for the 2026 tax roll, the board unanimously approved Res. 382 through Res. 421 of the consent agenda.

Kennedy initiated discussion on Res. 380—the resolution adopting the 2026 budget for Otsego County—by explaining that she had pulled it in order for the board to approve a few final modifications to the budget in various accounts and departments, most of which were just corrections and adjustments for unallocated funds and mistakenly duplicated instances in the budget. Frazier made a point of the fact that these changes resulted in no net change to budget, and that the corrections saved $240,000.00 that would be able to be reallocated into Contingency to bring the account more in-line with years past. The amendment including these changes was approved unanimously, with the resulting final vote on Res. 380A being approved, with Bliss as the sole dissenting vote.

With the 2026 budget approved, Kennedy said that Res. 381 could be proceeded with as stands. It was then approved unanimously. Late Res. A and B were approved unanimously as Res. 422 and 423, greenlighting the contracting with Elevate Incorporated for elevator repairs and the transfer of funds between various county departments for 2025, respectively. A final resolution from the floor by McCarty was adopted as Res. 424, recognizing the Richfield Springs-ODY Girls Varsity Soccer Team for their accomplishments this season, achieving their second-straight Tri-Valley title and being crowned New York State Public High School Section 4 Girls Soccer Champion, a proud first for the team.

Wilber made a final comment that he would like a resolution opposing the upcoming statewide ordinance prohibiting fossil fuel systems in future construction to be prepared for the December 15 meeting. Following this, there was no further business to attend to and the board adjourned for the day.

As noted earlier in this article, the next Otsego County Board of Representatives meeting was specially scheduled mid-month and will be held on Monday, December 15 at 9 a.m. The December 3 meeting can be viewed in its entirety at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXIy3QbwKDU.