Mid-month County Board Meeting Includes Emotional Goodbyes to Outgoing Reps
By BILL BELLEN
OTSEGO COUNTY
The morning of December 15 at the Otsego County Board Chambers started early when the Administration Committee met briefly at 8:45 a.m. prior to the primary Otsego County Board of Representatives session set to follow at 9 a.m. Representatives Daniel Wilber and Adrienne Martini were both absent for the duration of the committee meeting, though Wilber would arrive in time to participate in all voting procedures of the subsequent board meeting.
Personnel Officer Penney Gentile used this meeting as a platform to inquire about a number of requests of the committee. She first requested midterm appointment salary approval for a handful of positions—including some department heads—followed by a request to permit an exemption to the residency requirement for the position of county attorney. After beginning a brief discussion, Rep. Keith McCarty spoke out in strong disagreement with the proposal.
“I’m not gonna support this,” McCarty stated. “I think we have a policy, and it says in the policy if we can’t find one in the county, we can get somebody outside the county. We haven’t tried to find anybody in the county for the last couple years. So I just don’t think—do we change the policy for everything?”
Debate between McCarty, Gentile and Rep. Margaret Kennedy ensued, with Gentile explaining how a prospective candidate for the position from outside the county is qualified, while previous searches for similar positions within county borders turned up few results. After some further tense discussion, the request was approved by a narrow margin due to McCarty’s dissent and the absence of Wilber and Martini.
Committee members concluded their brief session by approving the altering of the term of the county administrator so that the position can be staggered with the Board of Representatives terms, with Gentile clarifying this was so that there were never new county representatives coming onto the board at the same time as a new administrator’s appointment. Numerous other salaries were also approved that were already laid out in the 2026 budget, and the meeting subsequently adjourned. Most of these approvals would be held for further review in the late resolutions period of the county board meeting as a series of late law hearing approvals.
The mid-month board meeting began with an approval of the previous meeting minutes and the opening of the privilege of the floor. Mary Anne Whelan of Cooperstown was the only person to use this time to address the board. Whelan shared that she came to ask the board once again to look into Sheriff Richard Devlin’s recent agreement with ICE. She cited a number of problems with this agreement, primarily focusing on economic and legal factors.
“We don’t need protection from immigrants,” Whelan said. “We need protections from ICE. Once they get in here, they’re not going to be easily moved. This village has 80,000 plus tourists every summer. It’s a strong, strong economic pillar of the village. Guess what? A number of them, in 80,000 people, are going to be undocumented, or inadequately documented, since virtually nobody is adequately documented according to ICE. And once it becomes known that ICE is out there picking up our tourists, that’s going to be a major, major hit…I hope the board will address the economic and legal issues, not to mention the ethical and moral ones.”
Whelan went on to cite words from New York State Attorney General Letitia James regarding how all people are given explicit rights by the New York and U.S. constitutions regardless of their legal status in the country. Whelan also noted how according to New York State law, law enforcement agents are not permitted to detain people at the request of federal immigration authorities without a judicial warrant. She claimed that ICE warrants are not credible and do not provide sufficient justification.
With that said, the board moved on and dispensed with the special report and approval of a plethora of tax measures, including 2025 refunds, 2025 uncollectible taxes, and tax rates for the 2026 tax roll to name a few.
Upon this approval, the meeting shifted to the consent agenda, where Chairman Edwin Frazier pulled Res. 430, 431, and 432 for individual consideration. All other items were unanimously approved, which included the resolution Wilber had requested make its way to the agenda for this meeting. This resolution stipulated Otsego County’s support of Congressman Nick Langworthy’s Energy Choice Act and a general opposition to the impending natural gas restrictions that will impact new constructions beginning in 2026. This and all other unpulled resolutions then passed unanimously.
Following this vote, Frazier and Rep. Andrew Marietta came to the front of the room to begin the reading of the three pulled resolutions. Frazier began with Res. 430, recognizing Rep. David Bliss’ 10 years of public service representing District No. 7 (Cherry Valley, Middlefield and Roseboom). The resolution detailed Bliss’ role on a number of committees, as well as his tenure as board chairman from 2018-2023. In a note similarly worded to the two that were to follow, the resolution included a notice of appreciation to him for his years of dedication and service, wishing him well in the future. Bliss came up to shake both their hands and quipped about receiving such a special retirement gift. He thanked everyone he had worked with and expressed his gratitude for their company.
Res. 431 mirrored this process, recognizing Rep. Michelle Catan for her four years serving on the board representing District No. 4 (Town of Oneonta). The resolution noted how Catan would be remembered for her “focus on economic growth and support of local businesses.” Another round of applause commenced as she shook hands with Frazier and Marietta and thanked her colleagues.
Res. 432 closed out the series of acknowledgements of appreciation, recognizing Rep. Donald Scanlon Jr. for serving four years as the representative of District No. 13 (Oneonta City Wards 5 and 6). Frazier shared that he would be remembered for his “quiet manner and interest in Public Works needs and projects.” There was a final round of applause as Scanlon shook hands and thanked everyone in the room.
“I’m going to miss you all,” Scanlon remarked. “Good luck. Keep doing a good job.”
Oral votes unanimously approved the official acknowledgment of all three representatives.
Late Res. A became Res. 433 and moved forward the process of approval for the salaries spoken of at the Administration Committee meeting earlier that morning.
Afterward, Late Local Law F was brought forth to officially establish the salaries and was affixed for open public hearing on January 7 at 9:45 a.m. Late Local Law G, waiving the residency requirement for the county attorney position, was granted a public hearing at 9:50 a.m. the same day.
Finally, Late Local Law H was presented and acted upon to establish the county administrator term changes and will be held open for public hearing at 9:55 a.m., once again on January 7.
With the consent agenda resolved, the board moved into executive session with the county attorney. The board returned to regular session roughly 10 minutes later with no further remarks on what was discussed. Before closing the meeting, Frazier read a prepared statement to close out the year.
“I’d like to extend my personal thanks to all the employees of Otsego County—the department heads, each of you county representatives, especially the committee chairs—for an exceedingly successful 2025. Every year brings unique challenges for us, and each year we have been able to persevere: 2025 was no exception. Hopefully in 2026 we can have the same level of commitment and cooperation to master all the matters that we encounter.”
With a special thanks given to the departing county representatives, Frazier wished everyone a happy holiday season and requested a motion to adjourn the meeting.
The next Otsego County Board of Representatives meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. on January 7, 2026, following the series of public hearings on local law proposals that begin at 9:45 a.m.
The December 15 meeting can be viewed in its entirety on the Otsego County New York YouTube page.
