Government services will ‘come to you,’ Ryan says

Mobile initiative to start in 2020, exec announces

KINGSTON, N.Y. >> Starting in the new year, Ulster County residents won’t have to travel to Kingston to conduct business with the county government.

County Executive Pat Ryan announced Tuesday that the county will launch an initiative that will bring a mobile unit to areas throughout the county.

The plan addresses one of Ryan’s “Big Five” initiatives — making government more responsive — and is an outgrowth of concerns he heard while conducting the town hall-style meetings he implemented since taking office in June.

“The high level of takeaway I heard was people want to engage with us more,” said Ryan, a Democrat who is in the midst of a reelection campaign against Republican nominee Jack Hayes.

Ryan said his administration will divide the county into “regions” and will have employees from county government set up shop at least once quarterly in each region.

He said the county will work with municipalities to use town halls for the mobile county government services.

Among the entities that will staff the mobile county government sites will be the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Office for the Aging, the Veterans Services Agency, the Department of Social

Services, Ulster County Area Transit, and the Department of Health and Mental Health.

Ryan said he expects the mobile county government services to take to the road in January.

“People don’t have to come to Kingston to get the service they need,” he said. “We’re going to come to you.”

Ryan said that because the services will be provided during normal business hours, there is no expected cost associated with the program.