ULSTER COUNTY Incoming county exec starts transition process
Ulster County Executive-elect Pat Ryan and his transition team on Monday began the process of him taking the helm of the county government next month.
Ryan, a 37-year-old Democrat from Gardiner, won a special election for the job on April 30, the result was certified on May 10, and he becomes executive on June 9.
On Monday, he met with a 17-person transition team — headed by Acting County Executive Adele Reiter, who has been serving since Democrat Michael Hein stepped down in February to take a state post — to map out steps for the coming month and the remainder of the year.
The gathering, only the start of which was open to the public, included county department heads; representatives of town governments, law enforcement and environmental groups; civil rights advocates; and public service coordinators.
“There are two things we’re trying to solve at the same time,” Ryan said. “One is how do we keep this government running and functioning and ultimately serving the people at the highest possible level through the 25 departments and divisions that we have. The other thing that we want to do ... [is work out] how can we implement some big ideas.”
Ryan said members of the transition team are being asked to take a “deep dive” into how county departments are functioning and what can be done to improve services.
He said the group is “a diverse team of people, who are coming from all different angles, that’s big enough to get the work done but small enough that we can actually have a functioning kind of team here.”
For now, Ryan is assured the executive’s job only from June 9 until Dec. 31, the end of Hein’s current term. Ryan must win again in November — in a rematch against Conservative Jack Hayes, who he defeated by a 3-to-1 margin last month — in order to secure the four-year term that starts Jan. 1, 2020.
Of his goals, Ryan said: “We have to ultimately hold the line on the tax burden that we’ve put on our residents, and that has to be a top priority . ... We need to operate as effectively as possible and be a steward of taxpayer dollars.”
Ryan also wants to enact a “green new deal” for the county with a goal of transitioning to 100 percent use of renewable energy over the next decade.
He said the initiative must be carried out “in partnership with the business community and other parts of the community, as well as ... our educational institutions, to set up a green jobs training program or academy.”
Ryan also wants to bring economic diversity to the county “in a way that actually lifts everybody with us” without jeopardizing growth in existing industries.