BILL LIBLICK "Mouth that Roars" in the Sullivan County Democrat

Do Not Stonewall Changes to our Charter

by: Bill Liblick

Will Sullivan County residents have the opportunity to vote on changes in our charter this November? The window of opportunity is ticking very fast.

The Charter Review Commission, appointed by the Legislature has begun to suggest its recommendations. It will be up to the legislature to determine what they will submit to us for a vote, if anything. The dilemma they must decide on is what issues they really want to tackle in this election year.

It has been reported that so far the commission is recommending that county auditors answer to the legislature, the sheriff’s road patrol be mandated, persons elected to temporarily fill vacancies take office after their election is certified, and that there is conformity of budget dates across the county.

County auditors should also be answering to the Treasurer. Our elected treasurer is our elected chief financial officer who has a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers of Sullivan County. He must be included in the process. There are those on the Legislature who would like the position of treasurer eliminated completely, because they want complete control over our government. The only way we can do away with an elected treasurer’s position is if we have an elected fulltime county executive, who would have the treasurer under his auspices.

Including the sheriff’s patrol in our charter should not even require discussion. Sullivan County residents need to be assured that adequate law enforcement is in place to protect our safety and well-being. Mandating the sheriff’s patrol in our charter would do just that

Other items the Charter Review Commission is discussing includes language stating the qualifications for a county manager, an annual review of the county manager, and whether we should have an elected county executive or continue with a county manager.

There have also been discussions on staggering terms of legislators, and whether the legislature should be part-time or full-time. The possible creation of a joint commission of town and county government officials is also being considered.

Our form of government in Sullivan County does not work and we need a major overhaul. One of the solutions to resolve the political mess we are in is for us to elect a County Executive who reports to the people.

We need a form of government such as what we have in New York State. The county executive could be similar to the governor, the legislature could be comparable to the senate, and we could elevate the role of the supervisors to be like the Assembly.

Sullivan County elects a full-time District Attorney, Sheriff, Treasurer, and County Clerk. When it comes for voters to elect an official who is in charge of our entire legislative body there is no position available, all we have is the Chairperson of the Legislature. We need to elect a person who reports to us, someone who is the spokesperson for the Sullivan County.

Everything the County Manager does must be under the approval and guidance of our legislature. Despite what anyone might want you to believe, the political party in control of the legislature often turns the County Manager into their puppet. When someone bucks the system they get the boot, just look at what they did to Dan Briggs.

Our part-time legislative body needs a full time County Executive to oversee it. All of our nine legislators have other jobs. In fact, there is often an overlapping or possible conflict of interest in legislators that have other means employment. For example, one elected official is an attorney for a town planning board, while also representing the same residents on the legislature.

The time is now for members of the Charter Revision Commission to present all their findings to the legislature. Then our elected officials must immediately discuss them, and act on those recommendations or propose their own changes in order for them to be on ballot this November. Revisions must be part of this year’s campaign season, so that we can hear from the candidates. If we do not have that opportunity, then we should remove members of the legislature from office for stonewalling.