City Promotes Mattice
To Administrator Position

By GREG KLEIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

ONEONTA – The city of Oneonta has promoted Greg Mattice to fill the position of city administrator.

Mattice, who has been with the city since 2010 and has been the city engineer for about half of that time, was approved for his new position by the city’s Common Council Tuesday, April 20.

The administrator position is a revised position in the city, an attempt to turn the autonomous city manager into an employee for the council and mayor. George Korthauer resigned as city manager in January 2020, about six months before his three-year term was set to expire. In the aftermath, city officials said they had not had a good track record with managers and wanted to reform the position.

The new position, which was created at a special meeting in October, was designed to have less power and independence than the city manager position.

Mattice was a member of the Otsego County’s Energy Task Force and in 2017, Oneonta Mayor Gary Herzig gave him the key to the city in appreciation of his efforts in keeping the city safe during winter storm Stella.

“I know that both the department heads and the council are both looking forward to working with you in that role,” Herzig said. “We are very excited to have you in this role.”

Mattice, who will begin in his new role July 1, will make $110,000 a year.

“It is obviously very exciting for me,” Mattice said. “I am looking forward to the challenge. It is a little different challenge, but I feel comfortable moving into it.

“It is a great place to work and that’s a big part of why I am interested in the job,” he continued. “We have made a lot of progress and I am looking forward to continuing the work.”

Herzig said Mattice’s first assignment will be to replace himself and refill the city engineer position.

The city also unanimously appointed Tim Cuozzo to the position of civilian dispatcher at an annual salary of $31,767. Both hirings passed unanimously. Council member Scott Harrington, R-Sixth Ward, was not at the meeting.

Herzig said the past week was a sad one for the city, following the passing Tuesday, April 13, of Oneonta native Al Colone.

The city officials held a moment of silence in Colone’s honor at Tuesday’s meeting.

Colone, who was the founding president of the former National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta and a columnist for Hometown Oneonta and The Freeman’s Journal, was a “big idea person,” Herzig said.

“The city of Oneonta lost a true friend last week with the passing of Al Colone,” Herzig said. “We’ve lost somebody who really did dedicate his life to seeing Oneonta become a better community.”

The meeting was held via Zoom, because of the coronavirus pandemic, and can be viewed on YouTube.