|
The charter review commission need not go any further, esteemed Sullivan County District Attorney Stephen Lungen said it all last week – we need a full time elected Sullivan County Executive.
Lungen who spoke bluntly and openly on a wide range of issues to the commission blasted the way Sullivan County government is run. We should all applaud him for his comments.
The creation of the Legislature over the Board of Supervisors was visibly a bad idea, and Lungen is not alone when he states he “never understood the reason for switching the form of government to a legislature in the first place.”
The only problem the Board of Supervisors had was weighted voting, which gave more power to the larger towns. That should have been worked out at the time when our last charter was written. Instead, we have the mess we are in today.
Under our current form of government, there are still Town Supervisors, but they are only responsible for their respected municipality. The extra layer of government which was created is our Legislature. They oversee our County Manager.
Yes, we have a new County Manager. So far, David Fanslau seems to be running our government independently of politics. But, he is new and fresh on the scene.
It has been quite visible that the power of the County Manager has in the past been questionable due to the Legislature.
We all have to look back just a year to see what those in control of the Legislature did to former County Manager Dan Briggs. And, we should never forget how Ira Cohen was fired as our County Attorney, because he did not play politics with those in power.
Lungen rightfully says that the County Manager needs to be the CEO running our government.
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.
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.
Everything the County Manager does must be under the approval and guidance of our legislature. Despite what anyone might want to believe, in reality, the party in control attempts to make the County Manager their puppet.
Our part-time legislative body needs a full time County Executive to oversee it. All of our nine legislators have other jobs as well. There is just so much time they can devote to our governmental affairs.
The Charter Review Commission must listen very closely to District Attorney Stephen Lungen’s words on this matter. They must propose to the Legislature that they include the elected office of a Sullivan County Executive in the new Charter we will be asked to approve. |
Email Bill