We need a County Manager

I am cheered by a possible good thing happening at the County level. Yes, that's Columbia County, the Republican-run County you live in. Next week the County Board of Supervisors may vote (full BOS Board Meeting on Aug 10th) on a recommendation from the County Government Committee to move forward to establish an appointed County Manager as the executive officer. This move will set up a central management for the cumbersome County government which should assure some efficiencies and coherence to county operations. Columbia County is currently one of only 9 counties in NY State that have no centralized management, most of them, recently including Greene and Ulster Counties, having made the change. Here, management by multi-committee works slowly and often to cross purposes. The part-time Supervisors are hard pressed to oversee the details of daily management of departments. Germantown Supervisor, Roy Brown, has led a combined group of Supervisors and community leaders who have done the research on the issue, discussed the pros & cons and have come up with the recommendation. You can see their findings on the County website : www.columbiacountyny.com

If you want more information, work your way through the findings. It's a little redundant in their effort to cover all bases and opinions, but their conclusion is that "We need a County Manager."

Those proposing the change are optimistic about the vote next week. The most often asked question is "won't it just be an increased cost that results in no savings?". The study says no, the savings and efficiencies will more than make up for the cost of a manager and any staff. They have set up a list of qualifications for the office that are encouraging, but the change, if voted for, will need constant attention by the public to see that its promise is achieved. This is a step into the 21st Century for the county. One question still to be asked: "Will it be possible for someone to get a County job without changing his/her voter registration to the Republican Party?" This is the state of things right now. Will it change? Keep tuned.

Kay Abraham