Letter from Andrew (AJ) Hamill

City In Need of Structure Change

“Less is more” is a key indication that something that needs to be done in the City of Oneonta in terms of its operating structure.

Four Common Council members instead of eight to represent the eight wards would save the city government money and allow the city to hire people that are actually qualified; for example, someone who has their master’s degree in public administration to be city administrator.

The city should keep four committees—Legislative, Finance, Quality of Life/Infrastructure, and Budget—to keep everything in order and to help make sure the city is running smoothly. It should reduce the size of the Finance and Grants departments and reduce the salary for the finance director and city administrator by half or at least by a quarter.

The city government should be using some of these recommendations to help run the city more efficiently.

Andrew (AJ) Hamill
Oneonta