The Yates County Legislature will hold evening meetings from May through September. The new meeting schedule came following the adoption of new rules of procedures for the legislature.
The resolution was passed by a vote of 10 to three, with James Multer, Steven Webster and Donna Alexander voting against moving the meetings from 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The legislature meets on the second Monday of the month.
In previous discussions about the meeting times, some legislators had raised concerns that evening meetings might be difficult for county employees to attend. Supporters of evening meetings say more members of the public will attend if the group meets after normal working hours.
After the motion offered by Mark Morris was passed, Chairman Taylor Fitch said, “Everyone should be back from the southland and the weather should be better, so they can attend the meetings.”
During committee reports Tim Dennis, chairman of the finance committee, announced that the committee will hold a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. March 16 in the Legislative Chambers to discuss the renewal of the Occupancy Tax. He pointed out the finance committee always meets in the evening and the public is welcome to attend. He said the Finger Lakes Economic Development Center will give a quarterly report in April.
Other business on the legislature’s agenda Monday included:
• Civil Division Accreditation: Thomas Mitchell from the New York State Sheriff’s Association Institute presented Yates County Sheriff Ron Spike with a plaque in recognition that the Civil Division of the Sheriff’s Office is accredited. That means the division has met 121 benchmarking standards for operating a civil division.
Mitchell said the accomplishment is one of the hardest to achieve because in most counties, the civil division is very small. “This is a really big task and a really big effort,” he said, telling the legislators, “You can rest assured, when this work was done it was done by independent people. It was a thorough evaluation of your office.”
The process of accreditation was carried out by Sheriffs from chautauqua and Broome Counties, explained Mitchell.
Mitchell added, “It comes down to your officers know they are doing a good job; you know they are doing a good job and the public knows they are doing a good job.”
Spike said, “This gives me an opportunity to recognize my best assets — my employees.”
The Civil Division joins law enforcement, 911 dispatch center, and court security as divisions of the Sheriff’s Office to earn accreditation. The Corrections Division is the only area yet to be accredited.
