Sullivan voters should decide form of government

Posted 6/21/17

J.J. Hanson, co-chair of the Sullivan County Charter Review Commission, gave a surprisingly effective and convincing presentation to the county legislature on June 15, making the case that the county …

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Sullivan voters should decide form of government

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J.J. Hanson, co-chair of the Sullivan County Charter Review Commission, gave a surprisingly effective and convincing presentation to the county legislature on June 15, making the case that the county should switch from a government with an appointed county manager, to one with a county executive who would be elected by all of the residents in the county.

This has been a topic of discussion off and on for years. For many years officials in Sullivan County resisted the suggestion, and the biggest reason was the cost. A county executive would need his or her own legal representation and staff.

Hanson’s presentation made the case that, in fact, such a change could eventually result in a budget savings for Sullivan County taxpayers.

According to the report the charter commission gave to the legislature when Ulster County adopted an executive form of government, it was able to reduce the number of county employees from 1,800 to 1,300 and reduce the budget from $363 million to $330 million. The layoffs were done through attrition. While there’s no guarantee that Sullivan could achieve similar savings, such reductions could probably only be achieved by a county executive who has won a county-wide contest.

As things stand now, it’s not easy to make changes at the county level.

Even though the county manager, Josh Potosek, is considered to be professional and effective in his position, if he wants to make significant changes to county government he must have a buy-in from a majority of the legislature in a process that can sometimes seem cumbersome. A county executive would have more power to make changes and would be held directly accountable by the voters.

Under the envisioned change, a county executive would also have another check on their power, via the creation of an elected comptroller, who would be tasked with auditing the county’s finances.

The legislature would also remain in place, and it too would serve as a check on the county executive and retain most of the functions it now has, but the county manager position would be abolished. And that seems to be one reason that some legislators might object to changing to an executive form of government.

On the other hand, if the switch is made, it might well be that an existing legislator would run for the position of county executive.

Another reason for adopting a county executive form of government is that it would give the county greater weight when competing with other counties for state resources, such as grants. This argument was advanced by Dr. Gerald Benjamin, who served as chairman of the Ulster County Legislature and also as chairman of Ulster’s Charter Commission. Now that Albany doles out many grant dollars through the regional councils, a case could be made that Sullivan is put at a disadvantage by being the only county out of seven in the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council without a county executive.

There are some members of the community who wish to turn the clock backward 24 years and return to a board of supervisors. But the inequities that existed in that system back then, would still exist. Further, no county that has left the board of supervisors behind has ever returned to it. So it seems that the only realistic choices are to stay with a manager or move to an executive.

The members of the charter commission have asked the legislature to allow the voters to decide the matter. The legislators may decide that they don’t like the idea, and if enough of them feel that way, they will have the ability to block the vote.

It’s not clear, however, why they would want to. If the report from the commission is true—if the move could actually save money in the long run, and if the only power the legislators would be giving up is the ability to hire the county manager—allowing the voters to decide the matter would seem to be the best option for everyone.

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