OTHER VOICES: The First Steps

Editor’s Note:  Here are excerpts of remarks delivered by Cooperstown’s new mayor, Joseph J. Booan, Jr., at the Village Board reorganization meeting Monday, April 5.

Tonight we transition into a new Board of Trustees.  ... As we begin, let us define where we are and where we want to go:

1.  Audit
It is important that we completely understand our financial status as we come to a conclusion of budget development for the FY 10-11 year. To that end, I have attended a meeting with our auditor to better understand our financial status …  I will be working with our treasurer and trustees over the next few weeks to finalize a budget that is appropriate for our needs. (Budget has to be adopted by May 1.)
I look forward to a collaborative partnership with the Otsego County Treasurer’s Office, Dan Crowell, in an attempt to begin a dialogue with the county and subsequently other towns in the county to explore ways to provide more cost effective services. 

2. Status
 I will be making committee assignments in a few minutes for the Trustees to examine and approve.  I have made recommendations to the committee structure and ask that each appointed chair or trustee representative undertake the following actions:
A. Conduct initial meetings of their respective committees with the goal of defining mission:  a set of priorities that are central to the operation and function.  Decisions will be based and focused around each committee’s stated mission.
It is imperative that each committee set both short and long term goals; goals that we are to accomplish within the next three months, goal that we want to have accomplished by this time next year.  I will hold committees to these goals and measured outcomes.  I will provide each committee recommendations prior to their first meeting to help facilitate this assignment. 
We will review the missions of our committees to determine likeness and whether we can consolidate our efforts in a more focused manner.   I ask that mission statements and goals be developed no later than our June 2010 meeting.
B.  I want each committee to provide an updated inventory of assets, the status of assets, and any schedule to upgrade, alter, or improve these assets. ...
C.  We will need to determine over the next few months if our structure is efficient, or if we have continued to create an expanding bureaucracy that may have lost its sense of mission, and therefore has become less effective. 

3. State of Village
I believe that we should set as a goal the objective of producing a status report to our community.  Once we have completed our budgetary process, entered into the new fiscal year, and I have received an updated mission and status from our appointed chairs and representatives, that we will be able to produce to our community, a “State of Our Village” report.  I will set a goal of August 2010 to release this report.