LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — “Are you ready for the 19th?” supervisor Gary Maas asked Charter Commission member Larry Richardson at the opening of the October 11 Cochecton Town Board meeting. Richardson replied, “I’m psyched.”

The two were referring to an October 19 public hearing before the Sullivan County Legislature at which the findings of the two-year Charter Commission will be presented. Richardson noted that a public hearing is not always the best forum for introduction of new thinking, but was hopeful that it will be well attended and that the information provided there by the commission will find its way into public dialogue.

Richardson went on to explain how and why the commission had reached the conclusion that Sullivan County would work better under an elected executive than under its current appointed manager. “When you take politics out of the equation, government works much more efficiently, so it seems odd that electing an executive could do that. But Ulster County has proved that it works.”

The commission used Ulster as a trailblazing example of elected executive success, in part because it has many characteristics, challenges and resources in common with Sullivan. But, more importantly, the two counties have shared a common path: large-scale dairy producers and successful tourist destinations in the past, both have since fallen on hard times and struggled with industry reinvention. Before changing to an elected executive, Ulster had a system of government similar to Sullivan, headed by an appointed manager.

Each year since Ulster elected its executive, county taxes have dropped.

Richardson attributed that to the power Ulster vested in its executive. All department heads serve at the executive’s pleasure; the contract of each is renewable annually, based on performance review. Moreover, each department and department head is charged by the executive with specific responsibilities. Richardson had earlier noted that testimony before the Charter Commission repeatedly mentioned confusion, inefficiency and unnecessary expense in Sullivan County government resulting from responsibility overlap between and among departments.

Lastly, the Ulster executive answers only to the electorate, not to other politicians, as is the case with an appointed county manager. Richardson said a manager’s hands may be tied both by his political appointment and by the need for political consensus before making even routine business decisions. And that, said Richardson, is why some in county government may oppose the change to a county executive. It is also why Richardson urges the public to attend the hearing and make their voices heard, a sentiment echoed by Maas.

The town board announced three public hearings, beginning at 7 p.m. on November 8, immediately preceding its monthly meeting. An unsafe property will be considered at 7 p.m.; an application for expansion of the Lake Huntington sewer district will be discussed at 7:10 p.m.; and a proposed 2018 town budget will be presented at 7:20 p.m.

Agendas, meeting minutes and other town information can be found on the town’s newly redesigned website, https://townofcochectonny.org.