CORONAVIRUS EDITION Local Governments Send 50% Of Staff Home By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Following Governor Cuomo’s directive, Otsego County’s government and Oneonta’s City Hall took steps Tuesday, March 17, to send half of their workforce home. Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh Kuch said, because of the size of the village’s workforce, only “One or two” employees will be sent home. “We’re required to do this,” said county board Chairman David Bliss, R-Cooperstown/Town of Middlefield. “We’re not…
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BLISS DECLARES EMERGENCY IN OTSEGO COUNTY Order Brings Local Agencies Into Line With NY Measures COOPERSTOWN – At 10:54 a.m. today, county Board Chairman David Bliss issued a State of Emergency for Otsego County, effective immediately, and remaining in effect for the next 30 days. Also issued was an order in support of the state and county Health Departments’ recommendation on Friday to close schools, which local school superintendents have already announced. Public Health Director Heidi Bond and her staff…
Cuomo Medicaid Plan May Cost County $1.9M Reps Resolution Urges Governor To Keep Zero Cap On Local Share By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Governor Cuomo’s plan to close the state’s $6 billion budget gap includes passing more Medicaid costs on to the counties, county Rep. Meg Kennedy, R-Hartwick/Milford/New Lisbon, told her colleagues at their March meeting this morning. It could cost Otsego County a maximum of $1.9 million, she said, having been briefed as a member…
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…
2019 CITIZEN OF THE YEAR The Kennedy Method County Rep Shepherds In Professional Management, Energy Task Force, More By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com HARTWICK – Leadership gravitated toward Meg Kennedy, to hear her tell her story. She first realized that was happening at an Oneonta Farmers’ Market vendors’ meeting in 2008 or 2009, where a difficult issue was being debated. As the point of decision approached, Tom Warren, who runs the Stone & Thistle Farm, raising meadow-fed lamb…
NEW CHALLENGE: HIRING MANAGER Bliss Anticipates Kennedy Will Lead Recruitment, Too By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – If – as is anticipated – Dave Bliss is reelected chairman of the Otsego County Board of Representatives at the organizational meeting Thursday, Jan. 2, one of his first acts will be to name a committee to recruit the first county administrator. In an interview, he said he sees no reason why county Rep. Meg Kennedy, C-Hartwick, who led the…
CLICK FOR ADMINISTRATOR JOB DESCRIPTION Past And Present Collide In Debate On Administrator Planning v. ‘Dealing With It’ Explored; Also, Redistricting By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Three decades of striving ended today as the Otsego County Board of Representatives, 11-2-1, created the position of county executive. In a half-hour of give and take, it was clear that, despite and lopsided vote, starkly contrasting outlooks remain. “You talk about planning,” said county Rep. Keith McCarty, R-East Springfield,…
VOTE EXPECTED ON COUNTY MANAGER Debate May Focus On Cost v. Benefit At Nov. 5 Meeting By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – The Otsego County Board of Representatives voted in 1993 to create a county manager position. The result was a 7-7 tie, but the weighted voting system blocked the move. A quarter-century plus a year later, a resolution is again headed to the county board, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, and with at least two Republicans, the one…
Treasurer Warns Of Overages, But Chair Unruffled $12M Gap Already Down To $7-8M, Bliss Says As Deliberations Ensue By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Saying he has no “black magic” to fix it, County Treasurer Allen Ruffles has advised the county Board of Representatives it is facing a $12 million gap in the upcoming 2020 budget. “I hear every year that Dan (Ruffles predecessor, Dan Crowell) used to work his ‘black magic,’ and always reduced the budget…
Cows, Goats, Pigs, Oh My! At Junior Livestock Show More than 250 kids presented 650 animals as part of The Farmers’ Museum’s 72nd annual Junior Livestock Show‘s Parade of Champions, showcasing the best of the best in livestock at the end of a weekend of trials and judging at the Iroquois Farm Showgrounds in Cooperstown. Above, Gus Mason, 14, holds Gummy Bear’s Grand Champion Jersey award and the Best Jersey Bred and Owned award . The Grand Champion silver plate…