Neuhaus: “We are moving forward …”
GOSHEN – Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus expressed optimism for the county during his 2015 State of the County Address on Wednesday evening. He presented it to a large audience at the county 911 Center in Goshen.
“Orange County is heading in the right direction in 2015,” Neuhaus said. “We are moving forward with economic development, we are moving forward with growing our tax base, we are moving forward with a budget that is slowly getting put in the right direction and we’re looking good on a lot of different things.”
The county executive also said Orange County is “tackling social issues together, which has never really been talked about before,” as well as expanding parks and open spaces. “We’re really getting back into our comfort zone and heading the right direction.”
Neuhaus said the county is cutting county taxes, closing the budget gap for 2015, rebuilding the county seat, fighting welfare fraud, improving the quality of life, working on environmental protection, expanding senior services, continuing to help veterans, conducting narcotics crackdowns and juvenile justice reform.
He also spoke about the county being involved such social issues as bullying, childhood hunger, domestic violence and suicide prevention. Orange County is currently launching a suicide help app for Android and Iphones, as well as combining the social services and mental health services of the county.
Neuhaus said there will be a major emphasis on infrastructure for 2015 and that it will be “the most ambitious infrastructure schedule in over a decade.”
County Legislative Chairman Stephen Brescia said although Neuhaus and he do not always agree, he was pleased with the address and feels many of their objectives are the same.
“I thought it was very poignant, very substantive,” Brescia said. “I thought it was fantastic. I really did. It touched on the issues, the quality of life and what he plans to move forward with in Orange County with the help of the legislature, so, I thought it was fantastic.”
The county legislature and executive have already been holding joint meetings for this year. They agree there will be a great collaboration between the two houses in 2015, the chairman said.
