LETTER from GARY KOUTNIK County Board Has Honest Folks Trying To Do Best To the Editor: I’ve been paying attention to politics and governance since the Eisenhower administration. It’s always been an important part of my life, from dinners as a boy listening to the news on the radio, and talking about it with my family, all the way to today, listening to and reading about the current Congressional hearings, and talking about them with my wife. So in 2011,…
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Gary Koutnik
UNANIMOUS RESOLUTIONS PASSED Clark, Koutnik, Shannon Praised At Final Meeting COOPERSTOWN — In its final meeting of the year, the Otsego County Board of Representatives today bid farewell to three of its members in unanimous resolutions: • Kathy Clark, R-Otego, former board chairman, was praised for “sincere effort … to represent the county’s best interests,” and — as the first woman to chair the board — “an important role model for young women and girls.” She served six terms, or…
Voters Keep ‘A Brisk Pace’ At County Polling Stations…
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…
Administrator Vote Possible In December $75,000 Put In 2020 Budget, But It’s Unclear If The ‘Ayes’ Will Win By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – A vote on creating a county administrator position may come as soon as December, county Rep. Meg Kennedy, R-C/Mount Vision, told the county Board of Representatives meeting this morning. “This is momentous,” reacted county Rep. Gary Koutnik, D-Oneonta, the board’s vice chairman. “We have a timeline!” Retiring at year’s end, he said hiring…
ELECTION SEASON BEGINS Vice-Chair Koutnik Planning To Retire From County Board Clark Oliver, Young Democrats’ Chair, Looking To Succeed Veteran Lawmaker By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – Today is the first day petitions may be circulated for this fall’s local elections, and a surprise has already surfaced: Gary Koutnik, Democratic vice chair of the Otsego County Board of Representatives, plans to retire. This time of life comes to everyone at different points, but whatever age you are…
Koutnik Votes ‘No’ On ‘Climate Pledge’ Draft As Too Weak But SWECC Committee, 4-1, Forwards Compromise Document To Full Board By JENNIFER HILL • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com ONEONTA – Saying the language “was softened,” County board Vice Chair Gary Koutnik, D-Oneonta, today voted against sending a “Climate Smart Community Pledge” resolution, as revised, to the full board for action March 6. However, his colleagues on the Solid Waste & Environmental Concerns Committee nonetheless agreed to forward the adjusted resolution, 4-1, for…
Editorial for November 30, 2018. Ruffles Takes First Step Against Whack-A-Mole For years now, Otsego County’s annual auction of foreclosed-on tax-delinquent properties has eaten up a lot of oxygen at the county Board of Representatives’ monthly meetings. It’s the Whack-A-Mole of county government, which suggests: There are unresolved issues. So a take-charge presentation by the new county treasurer, Allen Ruffles, at the November meeting was welcome, if partial. First, he declared, having studied the issue, giving delinquent taxpayers four years…
Gary Koutnik COUNTY BOARD OF REPRESENTATIVES, DISTRICT 11 (unopposed) COMMUNITY OF RESIDENCE: City of Oneonta EDUCATION: BS in Education, Bucknell University; MS in Administration, SUNY Albany PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: School Psychologist and Director of Special Education (OCSD) COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Hyde Hall Site Interpreter; Farmer’s Museum Dramatic Interpreter; Glimmerglobe Theater; Catskill Players Executive Committee and VP; Otsego County Democratic Committee Executive Committee; Oneonta Assembly of God. FAMILY: Wife Abbey (married 1979), two sons: Randall (26) and Whitsun (23) PHILOSOPHY OF GOVERNMENT: “There…
County Appears To Retreat On Richfield Homeless Site Koutnik Sees No Action ‘For Long Time, If At All’ By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – County Rep. Gary Koutnik, who chairs the committee that is seeking homes for the homeless in Otsego County, was quick to reassure Richfield Springs neighbors this morning that former Mielnicki’s Restaurant on Lake Street won’t be part of county plans any time soon. “We will not be taking any action on it for…