REITER SWORN IN AS ACTING EXEC
Succeeds Hein, will serve until winner of upcoming special election is seated
“I’m going to do my best to continue the high standard of government [Hein] always set. I really see it as providing stability and continuing during this time of transition and to be sure our services continue to be delivered.” — Adele Reiter
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> For the first time since Ulster County switched to an executive form of government, there’s a new leader at the helm.
Adele Reiter became acting county executive at the start of Monday and was ceremonially sworn in at 9:15 a.m. by Ulster County Clerk Nina Postupack at the County Office Building in Kingston.
Reiter takes over for Democrat Michael Hein, who stepped down as executive to take the helm of of the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.
Hein became the county’s first executive in January 2009 and was the only person to hold the position before Monday.
Reiter, Hein’s chief of staff throughout his time in office, was the designated successor in the event he didn’t serve out his term.
Reiter took the oath of office in the presence of the men and women who head the various departments in county government. Among her first acts was designating her successors should she be unable to serve: Deputy County Executive Ken Crannell, and then county Budget Director Burt Gulnick.
Reiter, who is to remain in the position until an interim county executive is elected in a special election, said she sees her role as providing “stability and continuity” during a time of change for the county.
“I’m going to do my best to continue the high standard of government [Hein] always set,” she said. “I really see it as providing stability and continuing during this time of transition and to be sure our services continue to be delivered.”
Reiter said she hopes to
spotlight some of what the county government is doing through a series of press releases to be drafted by each of the county’s department heads.
“Right off the bat, I told my department heads this morning I would like them to go back and write me a draft press release about something that’s amazing that’s going on in their department or that they will be implementing,” she said. “There’s a lot of great work going on, and I think it’s important to let the public know.”
Reiter said she also intends to form an advisory council comprising community members who have a “vested interest” in making sure the government stays on the right track to advise her going forward.
How long Reiter will serve as acting executive is uncertain.
Under the county charter, a special election must be held within 90 days of the vacancy in the executive position — meaning, in this case, that a vote should be held by mid-May — but the charter doesn’t state who is responsible for calling that election. County officials had thought it was the governor, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office said on Friday that it’s up to the county Legislature.
The winner of the special election must be seated within 30 days of the certification of the election’s results, according to the charter.
That person will serve through the end of 2019. A new county executive, who will be chosen in the general election November, will take office on Jan. 1, 2020, and serve a full four-year term.
Four Democrats have said they want to run for county executive in the special election: Jeff Moran, a former town of Woodstock supervisor; Marc Rider, a deputy county executive; Pat Ryan, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in New York’s 19th Congressional District last year; and Pat Courtney Strong, who ran unsuccessfully for a state Senate seat last year.
No Republicans have announced they will run.
Ulster County Democrats are scheduled to nominate a candidate at their convention on Feb. 20. The county GOP is expected to nominate someone for the post at its convention on Feb. 23.