There are many changes afoot in Chemung County government as 2018 winds down. Aside from the announcement by incoming County Executive Chris Moss that several department heads have been let go as described in an article found here, the new Legislature is also making changes as it prepares to begin work soon.

Leadership roles

The Legislature’s leadership appears to be set for the upcoming term, with votes for many of these roles slated to be taken at the organizational meeting on January 1, 2019:

  • Chairperson: Dave Manchester
  • Vice-Chairperson: John Burin
  • Majority Leader: Rodney Strange
  • Minority Leader: Christina Sonsire

The following committee positions have been recommended by (presumptive) Chairperson Manchester:

Aviation

  • Tom Sweet (Chairperson)
  • Mark Margeson
  • Christina Sonsire
  • Peggy Woodard
  • Marty Chalk

Budget

  • Dave Manchester (Chairperson)
  • Joe Brennan
  • Mark Margeson
  • John Burin
  • Marty Chalk
  • Bill McCarthy
  • Rodney Strange

Buildings & Grounds

  • John Burin (Chairperson)
  • Tom Sweet
  • Mark Margeson
  • Bill McCarthy
  • Mike Smith

Corrections & Law

  • John Pastrick (Chairperson)
  • Christina Sonsire
  • Scott Drake
  • Mike Smith
  • Rodney Strange

Health & Human Services

  • Joe Brennan (Chairperson)
  • Christina Sonsire
  • Peggy Woodard
  • Bob Briggs
  • Scott Drake

Highway

  • Rodney Strange (Chairperson)
  • John Pastrick
  • Joe Brennan
  • John Burin
  • Bob Briggs

Multi-Services

  • Peggy Woodard (Chairperson)
  • Tom Sweet
  • Brian Hyland
  • Bob Briggs
  • Bill McCarthy

Personnel

  • Marty Chalk (Chairperson)
  • John Pastrick
  • Brian Hyland
  • Christina Sonsire
  • Bill McCarthy
  • Scott Drake
  • Mike Smith

In addition, (presumptive) Chairperson Manchester has indicated he plans to nominate Attorney Bryan Maggs to serve as the Legislative Attorney. Dick Keyser, who served as the Legislative Attorney for more than two decades, announced his retirement earlier this year. Maggs has been the County Attorney for nearly ten years.

The 2019 Meeting Schedule

All meeting shown on the schedule below are open to the public. The full meetings, held on the second Monday of each month, include a “Public Comment Period” where anyone from the community can speak for up to 5 minutes on matters related to county business.

The organizational meeting and swearing-in ceremony will be held on January 1, 2019 at 1:00. Unfortunately there are a limited number of tickets due to the high number of incoming legislators. I requested that Chemung County live-stream the meeting to accommodate people who are unable to attend, but was told it was not possible. Instead I will live-stream the event myself to the Chemung County Matters Facebook page.

As a side note, live-streaming all public meetings of the legislature is an issue I plan to address shortly after our term begins.

Interesting radio shows

Finally, Frank Acomb has not slowed down in his effort to help share information about Chemung County issues with the public through his radio show called Frankly Speaking! Last Friday Town of Elmira Supervisor Dave Sullivan appeared on the show, and today Tony Pucci, a member of the Town of Veteran’s Zoning Board and a candidate for legislature in last November’s election, was on it.

Recordings of the shows are embedded below:

Town of Elmira Supervisor Dave Sullivan
Town of Veteran Zoning Board Member Tony Pucci 

Happy Holidays to everyone who took the time to read this. I am excited to get to work soon!

–Christina Sonsire