OSWEGO – In an attempt to restart the county’s purchasing department, Oswego County Legislator John Martino offered resolution FP-5 to appoint the department’s new director. While Martino considered the selection process to be adequate, Legislator Thomas Drumm voiced his disapproval at the legislative meeting yesterday, June 10.
The search committee decided on Holly Carpenter of Fulton who is also the Vice Chairwoman of the Oswego County Republican Party. Martino said Carpenter will do the job with “integrity” and be an “asset” to the county. Drumm, who was a part of the selection committee, vehemently opposed the resolution, as he said it was not really a fair process.
“I was thankful to be invited into the hiring committee for this position, but I quickly found out this was not going to be much of a process at all. In fact, the decision has been in the works for quite some time and that is my understanding. Politics is politics and I suppose the old saying, ‘to the victors goes the spoils’ reigns true on this floor,” Drumm said. “I won’t be supporting the resolution that places the Vice Chairwoman of the Oswego County Republican Party at the head of our county purchasing department. If the candidate before us was willing to vacate these party positions and eliminate any potential conflict of interests, my position would possibly change … but I received zero indications of that.”
Despite Drumm’s opposition, the resolution was passed with 21 approving it, three opposing and one excused for the entire legislative session.
To try and promote local spending and county restaurants, the Oswego County Legislature passed a resolution to create the Oswego County Restaurant Recovery program. Resolution EP-4 on the agenda was passed by all 24 legislators in attendance, a program that will bring $500,000 to restaurants.
The plan is to offer $25 gift certificates for county restaurants to citizens that spend $25 at them. With $250,000 in vouchers and some “small” administrative expenses, according to the memorandum, the $254,000 plan will be funded through the American Rescue Plan Act.
Prior to resolution EP-4 and the motions that took place during this month’s legislative meeting, a public hearing was hosted to offer citizens the chance to speak on EP-3, a resolution which would enter Oswego County into a deer hunting pilot program.
The program allows 12 and 13 year olds with a license to hunt deer using firearms as long as they are under adult supervision. Many of the public speakers supported the resolution, citing the importance of training and teaching. EP-4 was passed with 23 legislators supporting the motion while Legislator Marie Schadt opposed it.
Schadt also questioned resolution HS-1, one that would authorize budget modifications for the Department of Social Services to transition to Compass Traverse. According to the Northwoods website, Compass Traverse is a “cloud-based technology” that will enable real-time collaboration and support remote work using tablets.
According to Legislator Roy Reehil, the upgrades are “deemed necessary” by the department. The cost would be $16,000 above the current cost, according to Reehil, but is “budget neutral” this year due to “vacancies from COVID-19.” Despite this, Schadt was wary of the overall costs.
Schadt also said that she thought the current system was the “end all.” While the legislation ultimately passed, Reehil who presented HS-1 offered reasoning behind the need for the upgrade, saying that it would help with efficiency. Being able to upload documents or photos of said documents in real time right from the field would help caseworkers work quicker and therefore get to more cases.
“This is the tablets that people are using, so this is going to increase certain kinds of efficiencies from the field,” Reehil said. “Caseworkers will be able to upload right from the field, they will be able to collect [information] from our services right in the field. It will allow them not to have to go back to the office to upload information.”
Unfinished business from last session consisted of T-1 and T-2. These resolutions dealt with a pair of Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative (REDI) projects and were moved back to the committee for further work.
The remainder of the resolutions on the agenda passed and include the following:
- PS-1 Resolution Authorizing Budgetary Modification Sheriff’s Office to Accept Revenue from Oswego City School District to Fund SPO Position
- PS-3 Resolution in Support of the Restore Order Anti-Crime Initiative Slate of Bills Introduced in the New York State Assembly
- HS-2 Resolution Authorizing the Creation of Two Positions in the Department of Social Services
- IT-1 Resolution Establishing Capital Budget Project No. B0321 Hall Road Bridge Over Ninemile Creek
- IT-2 Resolution Establishing Capital Budget Project No. B0521 CR 28 Bridge Over Grindstone Creek
- IT-3 Resolution Establishing Capital Budget Project No. B0921 CR 17 Concrete Culvert Over Cotrell Creek
- FP-1 Resolution Authorizing the Creation of One Position in the Human Resource Department
All Oswego County Legislature meetings are held the third Thursday of every month, the next meeting will be held on July 15, 2021 at 2 p.m.
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