Long Day

Lots happened yesterday.

It wasn't a surprise, as three of the most interesting and influential Committees met, all in the same room, one after another: Strategic Plan Implementation Committee at 8:30, Administration at 10:00, Budget at 2:00 (scheduled for 1:00, but Admin went on a little long...). I am on all three, so it was a long day.

The StratPlan and Budget Committees' purpose are clearly indicated in their names; Admin is like the Ways and Means Committee of the County, providing general oversight and approval for most actions to be considered by the full Board (it is also the policy-making arm of County government).

A quick dip into each meeting, to pull out one thing of consequence. The Strategic Plan committee is taking the Plan and moving it into the implementation phase, mostly by prioritizing issues and sending them off to the proper committees. However, yesterday the Committee decided to keep the issue of the County Manager and do some research into how to proceed, including inviting comment from officials working in similar counties. This is good news, as it is the first actual action on the subject, other than the fact that the Salary Study will include a slot for this position.

The Admin Committee has a widely-ranging agenda each month, and if you can only attend one meeting a month, this is the one to go to. It's as close to the place “where the sausage gets made” as any, although “the sausage” tends to get made, to at least some extent, behind closed doors. Transparency is a topic I hope I can explore in an upcoming post.

At any rate, the Admin Committee, at my request, had a conversation with County Attorney Ellen Coccoma about a series of suits that a number of other NY counties are bringing against pharmaceutical corporations regarding the opiod epidemic. New York counties are to a great extent responsible for public health, mental health and addiction services, so the cost to the county in dollars (not to mention the human cost) has been significant.

There has clearly been wrongdoing on the part of the pharmas, and they can clearly be faulted for a large part of the problem. The question is, can their culpability be articulated in the lawsuits in such a way that they are held legally responsible? That is still to be seen. There is some similarity to the lawsuits that the states brought against the tobacco companies all those years ago, although in those suits, victims were harmed while using the product for its intended purpose, whereas in the case of opiods, they were misued. However, the pharmas have cheerfully assisted victims to misuse their products for decades. The question for the Admin Committee was whether we want to consider joining the suits. Mrs. Coccoma will contact the law firm that is leading the initiative, and ask them to come and answer our questions.

And finally, Budget. I went into the meeting with two items to add to the budget before we even began: the M&C raises, and the financial partnership with the Susquehanna Animal Shelter. Long story short, the SAS request will go to the Public Safety Committee, who will find a department budget – perhaps the Sheriff – to put it in. And Len Carson, another Rep from Oneonta, along with Treasurer Dan Crowell, have developed a model for an M&C raise, costing somewhere around $150,000, which, although just a start toward parity, is a start. We'll shepherd the raise through Budget Committee and the Board. Count on it.