LETTER from SHEILA ROSS

Could ‘Citizen Of Year’

Be County Administrator?

To the Editor:

Where will you find a person who would know all about all 24 departments in the Otsego County system?

The department heads will be giving the manager the information that he or she needs.  The department heads know the laws, state mandates and the ins and outs that apply to their departments.

We have a county treasurer and deputy that do a great job with the budget.

I see that the board is putting out the cost will be $150,000 for the manager. I bet this person will have a deputy and secretary so it could be over $200,000.  The manager is just another layer of government.

Think about it: If the board gave one of the board members a raise, but not $150,000, and the job of working with all the department heads and taking information they need back to the full board, it would be less cost to taxpayers.

Look at the City of Oneonta.  It is on a third manager in a short period of time. The county is much larger, with a lot more different departments and covers many more miles than the city does.

The unfunded mandates are going to keep coming from New York State and this board will have to deal with where all the money comes from for the unfunded mandates.

SHEILA ROSS

Fly Creek

Sheila Ross is retired Otsego County Republican elections commissioner