Todora
MONTICELLO – The man who took over Sullivan County’s troubled
Division of Health and Family Services following last winter’s mess
can now drop “acting” from his job description.
The Sullivan County Legislature confirmed Joseph Todora as Commissioner
of the division, on Thursday.
The breakdown that last year resulted in several problems including a
huge backlog of unprocessed HEAP applications, led to the dismissal of
the former commissioner.
Todora assumed the duties last February. The county also brought William
Moon out of retirement to serve as deputy commissioner.
While this year, the operation has made big strides, Todora said the work
is far from done.
“Make sure that our communication is much better and that our work
with the public has been much better, and, healing some of issues that
we have with some of our partners in the community who help us work with
the people who are disabled or poor,” Todora said. “I think
we’re moving in the right direction and I look forward to continuing
that over the next five years.”
The commissioner said a key to avoiding problems is double-checking their
work.
“We’re going to go back and revisit the things that we’ve
already taken care of just to make sure that they stay on track.”
Todora will earn an annual compensation of just over $105,000 a year,
but only about $23,000 is county money. The state picks of $12,600 and
federal money covers the bulk, at about $69,500.
The salary designated for the position was increased significantly a year
ago to keep previous commissioner Randy Parker from accepting a similar
position in Orange County. He was placed on administrative leave a short
time later, then fired.
At that time, County Manager Joshua Potosek elevated Todora, who has over
25 years of human services experience in Sullivan County and New York
State.
