Long Overdue: Otsego County is Poised to Hire County Administrator

It's taken about five years to gain traction, even though the idea of hiring an Otsego County Administrator has been batted around for years, and at a special county meeting coming up on September 7, the County Board of Representatives will solidify hiring a new county administrator according to AllOTSEGO.

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Otsego County has 14 part-time legislators, all representing different districts in the county but there is no one at the helm of that group to manage everything. It turns out that not having some type of board administrator makes Otsego County unique in New York State.

The role of a county administrator would be to act as the county's chief operating officer and chief budget officer while answering to the county board members. The position was approved near the end of 2019 and the position was planned with a start date of July 2020, but the county experienced a hiring freeze at that time to reduce expenses during the coronavirus pandemic, and filling that position had to be delayed. The board took up that goal to fill the position this past spring and interviews with potential candidates have been taking place since then.

At the upcoming meeting on Sept. 7, not only will the board choose who will become the county's administrator but they will also continue a discussion on hiring between 18 and 20 EMS workers to supplement EMS services in Otsego County since there is a shortage of EMS volunteers currently.

For more on this story provided in partnership with AllOTSEGO, click here.