PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE

Monday, March 10, 2025 - 9:30 AM

Kenneth Hughes, Chairperson

Ike Tyler, Vice-Chairperson

Chairman Hughes called this Public Safety Committee to order at 9:30 am with the following Supervisors in attendance: Clayton Barber, Chris Clark, Robin DeLoria, Derek Doty, Shaun Gillilland, Charlie Harrington, Kenneth Hughes, Steve McNally, Jim Monty, Cathleen Reusser, Favor Smith, Matthew Stanley, Davina Thurston, Michael Tyler, Joe Pete Wilson, Meg Wood and Mark Wright. Matthew Brassard was excused.

Department Heads present: James Dougan, Emily Evatt, Judy Garrison, Roy Holzer, Mary McGowan, Mike Mascarenas and Heather Sheehan. Miriam Hadden, David Reynolds, Matt Watts and Dan Woods were excused.

Also present: Michael Langey, Josh Favro, Krista Moran and Thomas Murphy.

HUGHES: Good morning everybody. I’d like to call this public safety committee to order on Monday, March 10 at 9:30. If you would all please rise to salute the flag. Good morning everybody nice to see everybody here this morning. We will start off with the Veteran’s office report. Mr. McNally, anything from Veterans?

MCNALLY: No.

HUGHES: Thank you. Okay, County Sealer, Dan Woods is excused this morning so we will now move onto Board of Elections. Mary, good morning.

MCGOWAN: Good morning everybody. On your desks I left a little pamphlet showing you all the dates of election happenings. Right now we are in the petition period. We’ve seen a few of you come by the office. The other thing is the 21^st Congressional seat we still do not have a date on that yet. We still waiting to hear what Stefanik will be doing and we’ll let you know as soon as we hear that. The other thing is the petitions, it’s petition period normally when they come to us we look them over right then when they bring them in because there are so many of them out there right now. We will not be reviewing them during the petition period.

MORAN: That will be March 31 to April 3 so if anybody would like their petitions looked over and just to be sure everything is okay you would have to come in before the filing period so prior to March 31^st.

MCGOWAN: We do not review the signatures but we do review the top, the header and down by where the witness statement is and we look at the dates and towns. Things like, Wadhams would not be acceptable, New Russia you need to make sure you have the right towns on the petition also but that is the stuff we look at but other than that, any questions?

HARRINGTON: I’ve been told that for example, if there were two candidates from the same party that they could utilize one petition, is that correct?

MCGOWAN: Yes, they can as long as the two seats are open and they are both listed.

HARRINGTON: Thank you.

MCGOWAN: I’ve seen a petition where a supervisor and county clerk were all listed on the same petition.

REUSSER: Mary, our town clerk is not going to run for her seat. What does if anything, the Board of Elections do to make the general public aware better? How does a candidate for any position who is not running make the general public aware? Is there a process or is it just they are not running and you could end up with an empty seat?

MCGOWAN: I think the party are the people, the caucus should be the ones that are being proactive and looking for candidates. We don’t look for candidates ourselves so it has to be the parties themselves, Independent, Republican, Democrat.

REUSSER: Very good, thank you.

HUGHES: Any other questions for Mary this morning? I was not here last week but pleased to see Roy Holzer returning to the Essex County team so I just want to put that out there. Anybody else for Mary, Board of Elections? I think we are good. Thank you very much.

Moving onto the District Attorney, Michael.

LANGEY: Nothing today.

HUGHES: Any questions for the District Attorney’s office? Okay. Now moving onto emergency services.

FAVRO: Good morning everyone. Are there any questions on our report for February?

HUGHES: Questions for EMS?

GILLILLAND: Can you give us an update on the on call program?

FAVRO: Yes I know that Michael has met with Willsboro/Essex. I’ve met personally twice with the Town of Keene. We have a letter of interest from the Town of Keene, Keene/Keene Valley there seems to be a lot of interest in it. Wednesday we are going to nail down the rest of the stipulations on what we are expecting and we are meeting with Mike on the 18^th to finalize everything.

GILLILLAND: So you got a letter of interest from Willsboro/Essex too right?

FAVRO: I believe so yes, with an update list.

GILLILLAND: I would suggest that when you are putting these two towns together this is kind of like the beta test for the program and just make sure the documentation and stuff you have is will be used as a template for any of the towns basically make it policy.

FAVRO: Okay.

MASCARENAS; Just to give the board quick update on this for those that are not on the committee might not be aware, when the county adopted this system a number of years ago we recognized very early on that in order to keep this affordable for the long term we needed to figure out a mechanize to pay people for almost volunteering. We decided to do that with per diems and/or on call and that on call system really had never taken off despite several efforts and contacts with all the local emergency squads. Recently we’ve had a couple that are kind of taking interest in this and it’s a good thing. The carrot really for the local emergency squads is that the county will pay the cost for any per diem and/or on call so that makes it a little easier locally in terms of having to raise that money. The benefit is you don’t have a full time employee with full time benefits and all those things rather somebody that gets an on call stipend then if they are activated they get their shift based upon what their level of certification is so an AEMT would get an AEMT rate, EMT so on and so forth. It looks like we’ve got a couple of communities that really want to try this. What we haven’t done and what Josh is referring to is rule setting really, we need to really say, okay we’ll allow for this you need a driver, you need a EMT on call but not the whole squad right for the whole weekend etc. so we need to be able to set limits within our own program area and make those determinations so we are moving forward with that. It will be lots cheaper and hopefully that will catch on.

HUGHES: Thank you.

MONTY: Perimeters would be the same regardless of what emergency squad it is. Am I correct? It won’t be different from Etown/Lewis vs. Keene vs. Schroon Lake anyone that utilizes this the perimeters of those people would be the same, correct?

MASCARENAS: Yeah, if we are going to dock perimeters then yes, the rules would be the same across the board. Like I can envision like having again, one driver, one EMT your paramedic whatever that may be on call per shift. The shifts could be different for somebody but no more than that so the cost would be the same right? If I need 24 hours of coverage I can do that at three shifts of eight, I can do that with two shifts of twelve and my cost doesn’t change but those perimeters in terms of how many can be on call at any given time should be fairly consistent across the board in my opinion.

MONTY: I agree and the pay scale for those positions would be.

MASCARENAS: Well, that’s the beauty of it. You already have one established so they would be on the county payroll in that regard.

MONTY: Yes, thank you.

MCNALLY: What’s that rate currently Mike? Per hour?

MASCARENAS: Right now our contracted rate is $3.00 an hour for any on call and then again, if you were actually out you would get your rate.

MCNALLY: We started off and we are up to currently now $75.00 a shift.

MASCARENAS: So if you were 24 hours that’s what that would be.

MCNALLY: For a twelve hour shift we are up to $75.00.

MASCARENAS: Anything outside of that we would have to negotiate with the union so it’s a contract thing with us.

MCNALLY: If you are going to dangle a carrot make sure it is a good size carrot or you will be redoing this a year from now.

MASCARENAS: Absolutely.

HUGHES: Other questions?

WRIGHT: Switching topics, is that tier III training still set for this Thursday?

FAVRO: Yes, it is from 9 to 12.

WRIGHT: Thanks.

HUGHES: Any other questions?

FAVRO: I do have a couple resolutions. The first one is going to be a resolution recognizing national public safety telecommunications week, that’s April 13-19, 2025.

RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING NATIONAL PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATIONS WEEK AS APRIL 13-19, 2025. Tyler, unanimous

FAVRO: And the second resolution is to increase revenues A3989 426800 (insurance recovery) and appropriations A3989 541001 (auto supplies and repairs) in the amount of $10,836.83 from insurance recovery money to pay for damages to a vehicle hitting a deer.

RESOLUTION AUTHORIZNG A BUDGET AMENDMENT IN THE EMERGENCY SERVICES DEPARTMENT INCREASING REVENUES AND APPROPRIATIONS IN THE AMOUNT OF $10,836.83, NYMIR INSURANCE RECOVERY VEHICLE/DEER. DeLoria, Stanley

HUGHES: Discussion?

MONTY: What vehicle was this?

FAVRO: Nissan Altima.

HUGHES: Any other questions, concerns? Being none, all in favor, opposed – carried. Thank you Josh, very much. Moving onto the Sheriff’s office. Mr. Murphy, good morning come on up.

MURPHY: I don’t have anything.

HUGHES: Anything for Mr. Murphy and the Sheriff’s office this morning? Super easy, there you go. Great job. Tell everybody you worked hard. Coroners, no coroners this morning. Probation.

SHEEHAN: Good morning everyone. You have my report and I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.

HUGHES: Okay Heather is here for any questions for the Probation Department. Going once, twice. Okay, there you go. Awesome, have a great day. Keep up the good work. We’ll move on now to the Public Defender, Emily. Good morning.

EVATT: Good morning everyone. I have a resolution, approving an increase of $2,500 per year for after hour on call attorneys in the Public Defender’s office. The money is to be funded by the Hurrell Harring settlement with indigent legal services funds.

RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AN INCREASE OF $2,500.00 PER YEAR FOR ON CALL ATTORNEYS IN THE PUBLIC DEFENDER’S OFFICE WITH FUNDS TO COME FROM HURRELL HARRING INDIGENT LEGAL SERVICES FUNDS. Wright, Tyler

HUGHES: Questions?

MCNALLY: Does this require union negotiations?

MASCARENAS: No, this is an exempt class of employee.

MCNALLY: Is this going to open a can of worms?

MASCARENAS: Potentially. We’ll see. I’ll let you know when I get back.

EVATT: If you would like me to speak to that. Currently the on call attorneys who are taking part of this are being paid $2500 for the year. I’m asking to increase that by $2500 if you were to pay the on call panel attorney’s their rate $158.00 an hour you would pay more in one week than you would pay us in a year.

MCNALLY: Right but on the other hand, their life away from the office is no more valuable than somebody in another department that’s on call.

EVATT: Sure. Their life is not more valuable, no.

MCNALLY: I’m just saying that any increase like this could come back to us in other departments that have on call programs.

EVATT: Exactly true.

MCNALLY: I just want us to be prepared.

MASCARENAS: I agree.

GILLILLAND: So, you have a group of on call attorneys that do that and getting $2500 now and it will be $5000 right?

EVATT: For the year, yes.

GILLILLAND: For the year to do that so, what is the management to make sure they are going equitably between the on calls?

EVATT: Sure. So, we have a calendar system all the attorneys in my office including myself are on call on the rotation it turns out to be once every five weeks and we have an on call phone that rings all the Judges have our phone numbers and if they miss one attorney, they call the next one and someone will fill in for that person.

GILLILLAND: Do you have an estimate of how many calls by your people they take in a year?

EVATT: By the year? I would say they get at least two a week.

GILLILLAND: Two a week. Okay so 100 a year?

EVATT: Easily.

GILLILLAND: Thank you.

MONTY: How many attorneys do you have Emily on call?

EVATT: There’s five, including myself.

HUGHES: Emily, could you remind the committee about Hurrell Harring?

EVATT: Sure, I’d love to. Hurrell Harring was a settlement through the State of New York where four counties were sued because they weren’t providing adequate legal services to people who were languishing in jail. Those counties were sued and then they paid out over $4 million dollars from the State to those indigents who were underserved. By providing counsel at arraignment we are able to move cases through the system easier, faster and better resolutions, avoid people languishing in jail over night or over the weekend for charges they shouldn’t be held on at all and then it protects their county from potential law suits from those people who feel like they’ve not served adequate justice.

HUGHES: Thank you. Thirty seconds, nice. Any other questions for Emily this morning? We have a motion and a second on the floor, all in favor of the motion signify by saying aye, opposed – motion carries. Anything else?

EVATT: No, thank you very much.

HUGHES: Thank you very much. Have a great day. That concludes our agenda. Is there anything else to come before this public safety meeting?

GILLILLAND: A word to the wise, as you know a lot of Federal funds are going away and as you know the State is looking at a $252 Billion dollar bloated and constipated budget and normally we think when the budget grows like that the counties gain from it but every year that I’ve been involved every time it bloats it gets more constipated and doesn’t come down to us and they start taking things away such as AIM funding in the past and other things like that and as the State gets these Federal cuts they are going to turn these cuts around now when these things, Hurrell Harring and other things they come down with the candy of the money and no budget impact on us but it also come down with the mandate and when they cut, the candy goes away and the mandate stays and I don’t know of any program in Albany right now they are going to DOGE the mandates so just understand that a lot of these things that when we are voting on them over the next several months and it comes down there’s no impact, stand by. That’s just my thought. Thank you.

STANLEY: So I just wanted to mention that Mr. Hughes and I went to NACo this past week. I just want to touch on a couple of topics that were really big there mainly Federal funding. There was NACo representatives that were going to sessions and saying a lot of things are being cut then you have representatives come and talk to us during general session and say, well, nothing is being cut so sort of everybody is talking out of one side of their mouth and out the other. I know the state has been talking about during NYSAC that we’re looking to just stay forward, we’ll see what the cuts are going to be and so I don’t think anybody has a clear answer on where Federal funding is really going to be. I mean, I was joking with Mr. Hughes, you know it’s amazing you want to have tax cuts but we want to keep the same amount of services something has got to give and that’s just what Mr. Gillilland said if the Federal Government is not going to pay for it it’s going to go to the State if the State doesn’t pay for it it’s going to roll downhill like Medicaid, we always talk about Medicaid whether it’s going to be on the chopping block or there are going to be cuts made to that so I think there’s a big hold and wait, nobody knows. Another topic that was talked about hugely was municipal bonds whether they are going to stay tax free or start to tax municipal bonds. If they start taxing municipal bonds it’s an extra 2.1% on everything that we borrow as municipal government so that is another thing we really talked about that were on the table once again all the representatives, oh no, that’s just talk we are not going to be cutting that so once again, another hold and wait. Another big topic, AI artificial intelligence is becoming a big part of not only the private sector but government as well so I already talked to Mr. Mascarenas about there are counties in New York State that already have AI policies and I know that he has already been looking and thinking about setting an AI policy for our county as well so those are just some big topics. Mr. Hughes I defer to you if I missed any major topic.

HUGHES: Yeah, the only other things that I can remember that were stuck in my brain were funding of disasters where that FEMA money is going to come from, whether it is going to continue to be funded or not and also the executive orders as well as the constitutionality of those executive orders there’s a lot of dust that’s still settling and nobody really knows the answers so it was good to hear from those senators and congressmen and cabinet members. We heard from the Secretary of VA and we also heard from the Secretary of Agriculture and it was good to hear their perspectives. At least from the Secretary of the State they were obviously skewed towards the ideology of the current administration but they definitely laid out some ideas that were thought provoking and it was good to be in the room. Thank you for sharing what you shared Mr. Stanley. It was good to be on that trip with you.

SMITH: I feel kind of silly, can I just go back to the Coroner for a moment? How’s the new car working out? The car we set up for the Coroners? Has it been used?

MASCARENAS: Yes, I checked in with the Auditors, she gets the monthly reports and it seems to be working out pretty well in terms of that they are utilizing it and less issues in terms of removals so I have heard no issues with removals as of recently since we’ve given them the ability to do those removals with the vehicle so hopefully that will still be the case in a month or so.

HUGHES: Thanks for asking that question.

DOTY: Was Hennepin on any of your agendas?

HUGHES: No. I didn’t hear about Hennepin at all. Nope I think I heard more about Hennepin maybe at NYSAC but it was definitely not a major topic of the conversation.

I’d like to offer the courtesy of the floor to Roy Holzer please. Good morning.

HOLZER: Good morning. I surprise I’m getting the courtesy of the floor and I really appreciate it. I know less is more with this body so I’m going to be really brief. I just wanted to thank the members of this board who appointed me Republican Election Commissioner. It’s a responsibility I take very seriously. Last week I sent you all my personal contact information, my professional contact information and please feel free to reach out to me. The staff at the Board of Elections has been super. I mean, they even gave me an ID last week so I guess they will keep me around a lot but I really appreciate the opportunity. I’m here to work with all of you and with you. Is there any questions you have for me?

MCNALLY: Yes, will you have two polling places in Moriah next year?

HOLZER: We actually had a great meeting with the supervisor of Moriah last week and we did come up with a clear solution to this year’s issue. One of the problems Mr. McNally is we have to file our polling sites with New York State I believe it’s this coming week?

MCGOWAN: March 15^th.

HOLZER: Yeah, so we were really under the gun but we did come up with a compromise where Moriah will have a couple operating voting machines, they will have a backup, we plan on having an onsite coordinator to help keep the election process moving smoothly and I think we have a decent solution to Moriah this year.

HUGHES: Any other questions for Mr. Holzer? I’m glad you passed the background check. Anything else to come before the Public Safety committee this morning? Great conversations. We are adjourned.

As there was no further business to come before this public safety committee meeting it was adjourned at 9:55 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Judith Garrison, Clerk

Board of Supervisors