JULY MEETING HELD TODAY County Board Retreats From Threatened Cuts To Promotion Agency By JIM KEVLIN ׇ• Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – After tabling the measure two weeks ago, the county Board of Representatives today rallied behind Destination Marketing of Otsego County, with nine reps rejecting a resolution to reduce funding for its promotional arm from 15 percent to 24 percent. Rep. Andrew Stammel, D-Town of Oneonta, proposed the larger cut for DMCOC, saying, “With the present state of the…
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EDITORIAL Action Needed, And Responsible Majority Acted 9 ACCEPTED IMPERATIVE; 5 DIDN’T Sometimes things have to be done. Imperatives, they’re called. Such is the regrettable layoff of 59 county workers, a decision made May 20, a week ago Wednesday, by the Otsego County Board of Representatives. The layoffs go into effect Monday, June 8, the day county government is allowed to reopen. The vote was 9-4-1, with the nays all Democrats: a veteran county rep, Andrew Stammell, Town of Oneonta,…
COUNTY CLERK SAYS: Numbers Show Why Oneonta DMV Closed By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – When she saw the numbers, it was clear the Oneonta DMV had to be shut instead of Cooperstown’s office, according to County Clerk Kathy Sinnott Gardner. In response to a question from county Rep. Michele Farwell, D-Morris, at last week’s meeting of the county Board of Representatives, Sinnott Gardner drilled down in to the relative revenues generated by the two offices, she said…
Cooperstown’s DMV Is Generating 9 Times What Oneonta’s Does By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – The tallying’s been done, and it determined the county DMV office in Oneonta generates $500,000 in sales-tax revenues annually, a fraction of the $4.5 million equivalent generated in the Cooperstown one, county board Chair David Bliss, R-Cooperstown/Town of Middlefield, said today. The county keeps only 12.7 percent of those revenues, but the proportion generated by each office shows the relative amount of…
Which DMV To Cut? Oneonta, Cooperstown A masked County Clerk Kathy Sinnott Gardner made a cameo appearance at today’s county Board of Representatives meeting to explain why she’s closed the Oneonta DMV office, and said the state Department of Motor Vehicles, looking for funds to fill Empire State coffers drained the coronavirus, is ending reimbursements to counties for services provided. She argued main office should remain open in Cooperstown, the county seat and headquarters of county government. But county Rep.…
59 LAYOFFS ENACTED BY COUNTY REPS Union Rejects ‘Olive Branch’ As Board Seeks To Ease Pain By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO..com COOPERSTOWN – After a 2½-hour executive session, the Otsego County Board of Representatives emerged this afternoon to vote, 9-4, with one absence, to lay off 58 employees, saving $1 million in the face of plummeting revenues caused by the coronavirus threat. The meeting, the second this month, was called specifically to decide on layoffs. Four Democratic county…
If Need Arises, State Considering SUNY Oneonta As Possible Hospital COOPERTOWN – While is hasn’t come to that, county board Chair David Bliss said today that SUNY Oneonta could be converted to a coronavirus hospital if necessary. Responding to a question from county Rep. Michele Farwell, D-Morris/Butternuts/Pittsfield, Bliss said that’s “part of the reason SUNY dorms were cleared and sanitized – in preparation for potential need for more space. “It’s under consideration already; that’s been discussed,” said the Republican, who…
Information Hearing Underway On 2% County Bed-Tax Increase…
They Love Meg Kennedy, But Debate Bipartisanship By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – When the 9-4 vote affirmed Meg Kennedy as the first woman vice chair of the Otsego County Board of Representatives, Andrew Marietta leaned over and said, “Meg, you know I support you.” The Conservative for Hartwick, Milford and New Lisbon and the Democrat from Cooperstown and the Town of Otsego both shook hands and smiled. But for the preceding few minutes Thursday, Jan. 2,…
‘OUR CITIZEN’ ELEVATED TO VICE CHAIRMAN REELECTED BOARD CHAIR, BLISS NAMES 3 NEW COMMITTEE CHAIRS By LIBBY CUDMORE & JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.COM COOPERSTOWN – The Otsego County Board of Representatives, 9-4, with one absence, today elected Meg Kennedy, C-Hartwick/Milford/New Lisbon, as vice chairman. David Bliss, R-Cooperstown/ Middlefield/Cherry Valley, was elected chairman for a second two-year term. Dan Wilber, R-Burlington, nominated “our Citizen of the Year” for the post, a reference to Kennedy receiving that designation last week…