County Board’s Partisan Divide Comes To Fore Resolutions On Hot Current Issues Blunted, Or Sent Back To Committee By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Partisan perspectives led to lively debates this morning at the February meeting of the county Board of Representatives, but the three related resolutions were blunted or failed to reach the floor. First, a resolution – to chide Assemblyman John Salka and state Sen. Peter Oberacker for a bill specifying New Yorkers can refuse…
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Thank You Seward, Well Done! On Dec. 31, 2020, James L. Seward of Milford – everyone’s “Gentleman Jim” – retired from the New York State Senate, where he had served Otsego County since Jan. 1, 1986. Because of COVID-19, few of his constituents had the chance to say: Farewell – and thank you. When offered the opportunity, many of us – his fellow legislators, community leaders, top corporate executives and businesspeople, and citizens to whom he reached out and helped…
Editorial In COVID Year, Leaders Did Step Up The choice of Heidi Bond, “General in the Fight Against COVID-19,” as we put it, has been seconded by many since the “Citizen of the Year” edition appeared last week. She and her team at the Otsego County Department of Health rose to the challenge. All of us thank her for her tireless contributions in 2020. Otsego County has been lucky in leadership this year. Here are four other individuals who shone,…
10 AYES Vs. 3 NAYS, ABSTENTION Despite Democrat Objections, Bliss Relected As Chair Turmoil Over Oberacker’s Vacancy Continues To Sting By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Democratic unhappiness over how state Sen. Peter Oberacker was replaced on the county board spilled over at today’s reorganizational meeting. County Board Chair David Bliss, R-Cooperstown/Town of Middlefield, was reelected, but the vote was 10-3, plus one abstention. And not before Bliss was criticized for partisanship, poor communication and a lack…
Editorial 15 Years Of ‘Citizens’ Prove: WE Can Overcome “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” William Shakespeare Can it be 15 years since The Freeman’s Journal and Hometown Oneonta, (after its founding in 2008), have recognized a Citizen (or Citizens) of the Year in the final edition of the 12th month? In 2006, Cherry Valley Town Supervisor Tom Garretson, digesting information brought before him on industrial-scale wind turbines, changed his mind and…
This Christmas, Hope Should Be Foremost As We Count Our Blessings, Let’s Stay The Course Last Sunday, www.AllOTSEGO was able to trumpet the news: “VACCINE HERE! 350 Bassett Tier 1 Workers Getting Shots Over Weekend.” Within hours, thousands had clicked throughto read the good news. It – the COVID-19 pandemic – is not over, but it’s on the way to being over. This happy news comes at a time when, as the Gospel of Luke had it, humanity wishes for…
Editorial Heegan, Casale Engergy, Brains, A Credit To County To begin, no one can rival state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, in contributions to our Otsego County. He’s a giant. THE giant, who is retiring at year’s end after 34 years representing us in the state Legislature. He’s primus inter pares – or simply primus. The gold standard. (More accolades coming.) But he’s at the top of a pretty tall pyramid of people with energy and brainpower in Otsego County public…
EDITORIAL 3 Democrats Prove They Believe In Bipartisanship Let’s Call It: ‘Profiles In Fairness’ It’s a bit of a Christmas story, coming out of the Otsego County Board of Representatives, of all things. It involves at least four of Pope Gregory’s “Seven Virtues” – Charity, Patience, Kindness and Equanimity. (The Seven Deadly Sins, of course, have a higher profile.) Famously, talk is cheap, when it comes to bipartisanship (and generally). But three county representatives – Andrew Marietta, Andrienne Martini and…
Democrats Back Away From Coup Control At Hand, But ‘It Wouldn’t Be Fair’ By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com Democratic county reps this week were one vote away from shared control of Otsego County’s $120 million government for the next 14 months. They could have shared fully in who becomes the board’s chair and vice chair. They could have split committee chairmanships. They could have required consensus on every important decision as the county emerges from the COVID-19 threat.…
Editorial If You Want Public Office, You Ought To Say Why Publicly The county board’s Administration Committee set a poor precedent in deciding to interview candidates for state Sen.-elect Peter Oberacker’s District 6 seat in “executive session” – that is, in secret, out of the public view. The county attorney, Ellen Coccoma, last week advised the Admin Committee when it interviewed the Republican candidate, Jennifer Mickle, that whether to do so in public or not was optional, up to the reps.…
