LETTER from ANDREW STAMMEL After Vacancy Rift, Bi-Partisan Trust Needs Rebuilding To the Editor: The run of bi-partisanship on the county Board of Representatives has been interrupted by the Republican caucus’ recent efforts to steamroll through a replacement for Representative Oberacker. During my two and a half terms on the county board, cooperation between parties has ebbed and flowed. Since the 2017 election it has been split 7-7 between Democrats and Republican-affiliated members. Thankfully, a bi-partisan governing coalition and leadership…
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Otsego County Board of Representatives - Page 7
Appointing Oberacker Successor Complicated By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Peter Oberacker, elected state senator on Nov. 3, will be leaving the Otsego County Board Dec. 31 at the latest and is blocked by the county board’s Rules of Order from voting on his successor. Absent bipartisanship, that creates a deadlock. There are 6,228 “weighted votes” distributed among the 14 county reps, and without Oberacker’s 534 votes, the Republicans don’t have the 3,115-vote majority to fill his seat…
Ruled ‘Essential Services,’ OFO Shelters Reopened By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – Citing the domestic violence and homeless shelters “essential services,” the Otsego County Board of Representatives and the county’s Department of Social Services have reopened both buildings. “We’re happy that they have reopened and that they are helping these vulnerable populations in our community,” said county Rep. Adrienne Martini, D-Oneonta, chair of the county board’s Human Services Committee. “It’s so important that they be open and…
2nd Amendment Rally Delayed; 2AS Group Preparing Petitions By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com LAURENS – Due to the Coronavis threat and Governor Cuomo’s restrictions on gatherings, the Otsego County Second Amendment Rally planned this Sunday at the VFW Post 1417 on Ellis Road has been postponed, according to Pat Brockway. Meanwhile, the 2AS group seeking to have the county declared a sanctuary where the SAFE Act would not be enforced is continuing to compile petitions, and by March…
Petitions Vie Over Firearms By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN Opponents of turning Otsego County into a “Second Amendment Sanctuary” are faster on the draw than proponents, at least when it comes to petitions. On their behalf, Mary Anne Whelan, the retired Bassett physician, was planning to turn in petitions with “many hundred” signatures to the county Board of Representatives when it met Wednesday, March 4. “We … respectfully ask the county Board of Representatives to declare support…
County Rep Martini’s Book Reviewed In New York Times…
Re-elected Chair, Bliss Focus: Administrator By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Otsego will now have a county administrator. Now, the question is how to fit the new job into the current system, and how to adjust the system for the new job. “We have a few things to iron out,” said county Rep. David Bliss, R-Cooperstown/Middlefield/Cherry Valley, in an interview as he enters his third one-year term as Otsego County board chairman. For instance, who’s in charge…
‘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…
NEW FACES AT 197 MAIN ST. Basile To Seek Raises, Aid For Animal Shelter Editor’s Note: This profile is the first of three on newly elected Otsego County representatives who will take office Jan. 1. By JAMES CUMMINGS • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – Jill Basile saw her future as her father, Bruce, lay in a hospital bed. “During that time I watched a lot of news,” she said. “I decided that I didn’t want to be the person who…
HIRING COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR For Stuligross, Career-Long Dream Coming To Fruition By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – Kay Stuligross has come a long way, baby. Growing up in Oberlin, Ohio, in the 1940s and ’50s, the daughter of a college professor, her mother sometimes wouldn’t vote “because she didn’t want to cancel out my father’s vote.” Raising a family in Oneonta in the 1980s, she and her husband, Hartwick College Economics Professor Jack Stuligross, agreed her time would…
