Scimone excited for future

WAMPSVILLE, N.Y. >> With one four year term as county administrator under his belt, Mark Scimone is less than two weeks into his second term in the position and excited about Madison County’s prospects moving forward.

The county is working to establish a success plan that would strategically align the municipality’s resources in order to provide taxpayers with a more service and value, a plan that would consolidate county, town and village courts into five regional courts, and the county has proposed that the towns of Eaton and Smithfield, alongwith the village of Morrisville share one highway garage and equipment with the county instead of constructing separate garages for each.

“Why build four different garages when we can build one?” Scimone asked.

All that is in addition to the $20 million Madison County Courthouse renovations required to bring the historic building up to ADA compliancy.

“I really believe Madison County is a leader in all these things we do,” Scimone said. “To be part of that is really exciting.”

All of these projects represent strategies for helping the county live up to its greatest challenge: continuing to provide services residents

expect while keeping taxes low and stable.

One of the hurdles standing in the way of Madison County meeting this challenge, Scimone offered, is finding ways to cut costs while the State of New York applies external pressure with mandates. He cited the fact that 40 percent of the property tax collected by the county goes to offset Medicare.

“I think that’s always going to be the biggest challenge facing county government,” Scimone said of the mandates.

Consolidation of various services and departments is not a foreign concept to the county. In fact, the Madison County administrator believes the departmental consolidations that have taken place since he assumed the post represent “the biggest accomplishment I was directly involved in here.”

During Scimone’s tenure, the employment training and grants coordinator departments were both absorbed into the planning department. The Stop DWI standalone department head was absorbed by the sheriff’s office before being eliminated. The weights and measures department was consolidated into the public health department, and the county historian was moved under the county clerk’s department. The Madison County Real Property Tax Department was absorbed by the county treasurer’s office and with some services being outsourced to Onondaga County, and the former central services department dissolved into a portion of the building and grounds department.

“We’re always looking for new ways to consolidate,” Scimone said.

Scimone also mentioned the overhaul of a previously paper-based government to a more efficient computer based system, changing a 35-year operation and digitizing thousands of pages worth of documents and securing county-wide dispatching as amajor accomplishments.

When asked about how he perceives his role within the county government, Scimone did not hesitate before saying his job is to administer policy set by the Board of Supervisors. While he enjoys working with Madison County Chairman of the Board John Becker, Vice Chairman Dan Degear, and the rest of the board, he also noted the benefits of having an administrator that to run day-to-day operations in a political landscape that could present changes based on election results.

“Continuity, that’s important. That’s a good thing. Anything could happen with politicians,” he said.

Scimone views himself as a resource for the men and women elected to represent their towns on the Madison County Board of Supervisors. During his tenure, he developed a Board of Supervisors orientation to help newly elected politicians acclimate to the policies and procedure at the county.

Reflecting on the county’s accomplishments during his time as administrator, Scimone was quick to defer credit to others, the county’s various department heads and employees in particular. He also acknowledged the leadership roles taken on by bargaining heads and units in a process that can be contentious at times as both sides work to create deals that leave both parties satisfied.

“Our department heads and employees in providing the best services at the best value for our taxpayers,” Scimone said. “The county is only as good as the department heads and employees that work here. We have a really great team here. I really believe Madison Cuunty is a leader in all these things we do.”

Scimone has a Bachelor’s degree in human resource management. He was first employed by the county as a personnel technician and then later promoted to assistant personnel officer in a five-year stint at the county that ended in 2004 when he left for a job at SUNY Upstate as a personnel recruiter. From there he was the assistant director of human resources at SUNY ESF before returning to the county in 2009 as a legislative affairs coordinator. Following a stint as the administrative assistant to the county’s first ever administrator, Paul Miller, Scimone has served as administrator since 2013. He was unanimously elected to his second four year term in February.