After Debate, Chair’s Appointment Approved But Changes Coming, Marietta Predicts By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com COOPERSTOWN – There was lively debate in open session about the process of choosing new Otsego Now board members. But, after a 20-minute executive session called by board Chair Kathy Clark, R-Otego, county reps at today’s special meeting voted unanimously to confirm Cheryl Robinson, the NYCM vice president, to the board of the economic-development agency. She will succeed the Richfield Springs architect, Jim…
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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.…
Condescending, Arrogant Editorial Fails To Heal Tensions To the Editor: In last week’s editorial, “Republicans Romped. Now, What Are They Going to Do?,” much was made of the results of the recent election for the Otsego County Board of Representatives. It was pointed out that county Republicans did very well, putting the Republicans, with 4,600 weighted votes, well ahead of the Democrats, with 1,627 weighted votes, in the county’s system of weighted voting.…
GOP Challenging Signature Of Voter With Cerebral Palsy Democratic Chair Asks Rick Hulse To Withdraw Lawsuit By JIM KEVLIN • for allotsego.com COOPERSTOWN – Since he has Cerebral Palsy, Patrick Dewey is unable to sign his name: Instead, he uses a rubber stamp with his “mark” above it. That’s not good enough for the county Republican Committee, according to Democratic Committee chair Richard Abbate of Cooperstown. In a lawsuit challenging the petitions of Democratic candidate Andrew Marietta, who is running against Republican county…
Katz: Our Own Rick Hulse Derailed Tourism Assistance Edition of Thursday-Friday, Dec. 11-12, 2014 To the Editor: In the county budget vote of Wednesday, Dec. 3, a bipartisan group of Ed Lentz, Beth Rosenthal, Gary Koutnik, Linda Rowinski, Kay Stuligross, Craig Gelbsman and Janet Quackenbush voted to return $150,000 in bed tax revenues to the municipalities that generate it. They recognized, unlike our own Town of Otsego/Village of Cooperstown representative Rick Hulse, that the town and city of Oneonta, Town…
County Bed-Tax Windfall Should Be Everybody’s Windfall Editorial for the edition of Thursday-Friday, Dec. 4-5, 2014 There seems to be a consensus emerging on one thing: Otsego County’s government, which benefits to the tune of $1.4 million a year in bed-tax revenues, should share some of that with communities that host the bulk of the 500,000 people who visit here each summer. Those communities are the city and town of Oneonta, which together generate 30 percent of bed-tax revenues, the…
Lentz Will Ask Colleagues To OK Tourism-Impact Aid COOPERSTOWN – County Rep. Ed Lentz, D-New Lisbon, said a few moments ago that he intends to make a motion at Wednesday’s county board meeting to distribute $150,000 in tourism-impact aid to municipalities that bear the brunt of Otsego County’s largest industry. “We have significant support,” said Lentz, an attorney and farmer. “Do we have a majority? I’ll tell you on Wednesday.” The communities that generate the largest amount of the $1.4…
Public Hearing On County Budget Planned Monday In Cooperstown COOPERSTOWN – The Otsego County Board of Representatives have scheduled a public hearing for 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, in the County Office Building to hear comment on the proposed 2015 budget. The $103 million document includes a local tax levy slightly over $11 million. That reflected a property tax decrease of 2.4 percent. But given the decision to keep the Cooperstown DMV office and the “Gathering Place” senior site in…
Enough Cuts. Let’s Rebuild Otsego County To The Gold Standard Editorial for the Edition of Thursday-Friday, Nov. 20-21 2014 For the past few months, Maria Ajello, a Town of Richfield widow – her husband, Ken, who died in 2008, was a decorated Vietnam veteran – has been tearfully appearing before the Otsego County Board of Representatives, begging that the tax sale on their home be overturned. County representatives and the county Treasurer’s Office have pointed out, convincingly, that all the…
County Considers End To Cooperstown DMV By JIM KEVLIN • The Freeman’s Journal Edition of Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014 It may not happen, but one option on the table right now as the Otsego County Board of Representatives completes its budget deliberations is closing the Department of Motor Vehicles’ Cooperstown office and consolidating DMV operations in Oneonta. It’s one of a few unresolved issues – in addition to merging Oneonta’s two senior citizen sites into one, at Nader Towers, giving…