After some behind-the-scenes jockeying, the nine members of the Sullivan County Legislature united on the morning of January 4. They all voted in favor of making Luis Alvarez the new chair of the legislature.

Alvarez is the representative for District Six, which includes the Village of Liberty and the hamlets of Swan Lake and Hurleyville. Alvarez ran on the Republican, Independence and Conservative lines. He served for many years as a DARE officer with the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, and has been a trustee for the Village of Liberty. He is also a past president of the Liberty Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and the Sullivan County EMS Council, and has served on several boards at Sullivan ARC.

On accepting the position, Alvarez said, “The one thing we can agree upon is the need for change, the most critical component of change is the need for transparency in our government.” He said residents could count on an open door policy for the workings of government.

He added that we wanted to leave the county’s children and grandchildren with a promising future by “encouraging new businesses, existing businesses, and by acknowledging the magnitude of our natural resources–this is a beautiful county.”

Further, he said found out the previous day that he is the first Hispanic in the state of New York to hold the position of county chair, which brought a round of applause.

In other appointments, Nadia Rajsz was elected vice-chair, Alan Sorensen was named majority leader, and Ira Steingart was named minority leader.

The other legislators that were sworn in included Terri Ward, Katherine Owens, Scott Samuelson and Joe Perelli.

County Attorney Sam Yasgur did not attend the swearing in. Legislator Alan Sorensen said that the organizational meeting should be recessed so that lawmakers could have an opportunity to interview candidates to fill that position. Yasgur has been battling health problems for many months.