MONTICELLO – Robert Doherty, who was elected to the Sullivan County Legislature in November, was chosen Tuesday to be chairman of the governing body.
Doherty wants more transparency with county government as he tries to tackle other issues this year.
“There are public issues we’d like to address. Some human resources issues and making the county fiscally sound,” he said.
His goals of making the county fiscally sound will be challenged by Governor Andrew Cuomo. “The governor is going to take the cap off of Medicaid and that is going to be a major issue for us,” he said. “A three percent raise every year is $600,000 a year it’s going to be raised by. Currently, I think we spend $26 million.”
As a matter of public safety, Doherty expects the new Sullivan County Jail to open within the next 6-8 weeks.
Doherty, a Republican, succeeds Luis Alvarez as legislature chairman, and Michael Brooks was chosen as the vice-chairman. Republican Alan Sorensen was named majority leader, and Democrat Ira Steingart will serve as the legislature’s minority leader.
