Next Step for the Manor

On Friday, the County Board interviewed Dr. Donald Pryor of the Center for Governmental Research (CGR), a consulting firm. According to their website,

"We work with government, nonprofit and business leaders who drive public policy action and organizational change. We inform and empower leaders by providing fact-based, objective research and analysis and by making recommendations that are achievable."

CGR responded to Otsego County's request for proposals regarding consulting assistance in solving the fiscal problem posed by the Manor subsidy, which will be around $5 million this year. CGR provided an extensive proposal outlining a process in this direction. You can read their proposal by going here, and scrolling down to the bottom (.pdf).

The Board spoke with Dr. Pryor for about two hours, in executive session (because we were considering a contract), and we were all impressed by the services offered. CGR has experience helping quite a number of NY counties make decisions about their nursing homes, and those decisions invovled a variety of solutions, not just selling outright. If we choose to sell, CGR can reach both a statewide and a nationwide market, and help us with any and all of the pieces of this very complex puzzle.

However, when the Board re-convened to vote on the contract with CGR, I voted against the resolution, as did a handful of other Representative on both sides of the aisle. This vote did not reflect any questions or concerns about CGR; I think they will do a fine job of assisting us in the job ahead. I voted 'nay' because I would have preferred to have CGR's proposal before the public, allow some debate, and to allow citizens to speak to the full board at the beginning of the next meeting, which occurs on February 6.

Make no mistake: what we did on Friday, and how we did it, was completely legal and conformed with all ethical guidelines. However, as I said at the meeting, I believe that we need to respect the balance between acting in a timely manner, and bringing the public – for whom we work – along with us carefully, with clear – and sometimes inconvenient – transparency. I'm not sure we got that completely right in September, and I'd like to make sure we work as hard as possible to achieve that balance in the future.