Day of Decision Nears on Gun-Sanctuary Vote Legal Opinion Expected; Resolution In Hand By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com Pending a legal opinion on proposed gun-sanctuary status for Otsego County, members of the county board’s Public Safety & Legal Affairs Committee are expected to consider a resolution on the matter when it meets at noon Thursday, Dec. 10. “I haven’t seen that opinion,” county Rep. Andrew Stammel, D-Oneonta, a PSLA member and an attorney, said Monday, Dec. 7. “The…
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Ellen Coccoma
PSLA MEETS THURSDAY Gun-Sanctuary Resolution To Go Before Committee By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – Below is the text of the resolution that would declare Otsego County a gun-law sanctuary, where the state’s SAFE Act would not be enforced. The resolution will be considered Thursday by the county board’s Public Safety & Legal Affairs Committee. Dan Wilber, R-Burlington, committee chairman, hasn’t been available to discuss the matter. Scheduled for noon, the meeting may be viewed via Zoom…
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.…
Public Must Be Included In Commission To Review Sheriff, D.A.’s Procedures George Floyd Death, Protests Prompted Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 203 By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – County board Chairman David Bliss will be appointing a committee of about a dozen people, including members of the public, to review “policies and procedures” at the Otsego County Sheriff’s Department and those governing the district attorney’s investigators. Bliss and County Attorney Ellen Coccoma yesterday briefed the county board’s Administration…
COUNTY BOARD REORGANIZES Bliss: Appointments Aim At ‘Continuity’ Meg Kennedy Emerges With New Status As Chairman Of Both Administration, IGA By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – She went into today’s reorganizational meeting of the Otsego County Board of Representatives already with the greatest clout under the weighted voting system. But Meg Kennedy’s rising stature was quickly affirmed. She was nominated and elected temporary chair of the reorganizational meeting, presiding over the transition of the chairmanship from Kathy…
CLICK HERE TO READ TEXT OF OPINION Opinion Affirms Board Chair’s Right To Name Committee Chairs COOPERSTOWN – County Attorney Ellen Coccoma today released her opinion sought by county representatives to settle a dispute on naming county Board of Representatives’ committees, and she affirms the status quo. “The board chair has the authority to appoint committee chairs and … a committee does not have the authority to choose its own chair,” the county attorney concluded. Last week, two committees – Health…
CHALLENGE TO ‘PAST PRACTICE’ AT END Gelbsman Assumes Chair Of Admin Without Incident…
GILBERTSVILLE PROPERTY Couple Who Lost Farm To Taxes Sues County By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – The gavel fell in August 2014, but ripples from that Otsego County tax-delinquency auction are still being felt. A Long Island couple who that day lost their farm in Gilbertsville – their intended retirement home – are now suing the County of Otsego and the county Treasurer’s Office in federal court for what may be more than $15 million in damages.…