Dear Nieces and Nephews
Governor Cuomo has directed all counties in NY to submit a “shared services” plan for the “hodge-podge” of municipalities in their respective counties.
It seems that the Gov does not like so many muni’s, especially villages. It is difficult to control these annoying little villages, which are “way too” independent for his taste. Auntie suspects that “shared services” is a precursor to dissolving those villages. In most cases, NOT a desirable goal.
Auntie and the Team do believe that there are some ways to share costs without damage to "Home Rule". That is reflected in some of the plans already submitted.
Sullivan County submitted a plan that calls for the Police in the Town of Fallsburg to use County dispatchers instead of Town dispatchers; for the County to take over administering the Town of Liberty Parks and for the County to provide document storage for ALL of it’s municipalities*.
(Maybe Danny Depew thought of that in his role as the new Assistant County Manager.)
Ulster County has submitted a plan of a shared municipal center for the Village and Town of New Paltz, decreasing costs by millions. Also they plan to consolidate the Public Works and Highway Departments of the Village and Town of Saugerties in a single building to save a significant amount. (Nicely done. And it doesn't whittle away at "Home Rule".)
Orange County has submitted a plan to share the county’s Public Works department car wash with Goshen, Town and Village** Wow!
“Orange County officials have recommended holding off until 2018, in order to refine the ideas, analyze the financial impact and decide how the savings would be allocated among the participating governments. The other two counties will submit their plans to the state this year.”
Almost makes you want to go to this event:
$100! What a bargain! The price of 10 car washes!!!
See you there!!!
*What Town Clerk would like to ask the County Clerk for a copy of the Town's own documents? And how long would the County Clerk have to respond? While this is another one of those efficiencies that saves money on paper, we must consider the additional time and effort as well as the delay on getting information to the end user, eg someone making a foil request. More red tape!
** For those outside of NYS, this “Town and Village” situation may seem confusing or even redundant. But there is more to it than that. Villages traditionally have been formed at the request of a group of residents who believe that the Town government cannot meet their needs or provide services etc. due to logistics, terrain, or wherewithal (eg mountain-isolated community desires accessible, LOCAL government, without having to cross a mountain pass to rightfully address their elected officials; a village government may be able to provide water hook-up to a smaller area but not the whole town etc.or a Town government does not have the capability to govern it’s entire geography but a local village does). What may not make sense on paper will do so when you visit. Yes, there are some redundancies that have evolved over time but that is more due the work, or lack of work, of the people elected to office; not the structure of the government. The theory is that an official should be mindful of it and work towards resolving those issues, not have a directive handed down to them by a power hungry governor who thinks he would be King, er sorry, President.
President CUOMO after President TRUMP? After President OBAMA? No, thank you. And stop electing Presidents with 5 letter names , they seem to be very polarizing!!! LOL! )
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