County Broadens Residency Requirement for Appointed Dept. Heads

Schoharie County Administrator Korsah Akumfi has been reappointed for another two years. Photo by Chris English.

By Chris English

SCHOHARIE COUNTY _ In an effort to better attract and retain quality personnel to serve as appointed department heads, the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors has made the residency requirement a little easier for people in those positions.

At the Friday, Aug. 16 BOS meeting, members voted to allow an appointed department head to live either in Schoharie County or a contiguous (bordering) county. The former rule required department heads to reside in Schoharie County, or move there within six months of taking the position.

Many supervisors felt that led to the loss of some talented people.

"We have probably lost some good candidates because of having to live in Schoharie County," said Supervisor Earl VanWormer III of Esperance. "I've always thought it was a good idea to get the best people."

Many other board members agreed with those sentiments, but not everyone thought expanding the residency requirement was a good idea.

"It's the wrong way to go," said Supervisor Philip Skowfoe Jr. of Fulton. "People in those positions make good money, and after coming here and making that money they would leave work and go spend it to support other counties. To me, if we're good enough to come here and work, we're good enough to live here. If there is an emergency, county department heads need to be accessible."

The discussion before the vote at times touched on ideas like appointed department heads could work remotely, or perhaps letting them live anywhere in New York State. However, it came back to just broadening the requirement to allow residency in a contiguous county.

"I don't think we want a department head working remotely, they need to be here," said Supervisor Jeffrey Haslun of Richmondville.

"Maybe we expand it in the future, but this is a step in the right direction," added Donald Airey of Blenheim.

In another action from the Aug. 16 BOS meeting, the board approved the reappointment of County Administrator Korsah Akumfi for another two years starting Nov. 1 and extending through Oct. 31, 2026. He has been on the job two years.

The vote was not unanimous, with several supervisors voting against the reappointment. Akumfi said he was not upset by the no votes.

"In my role, it's something you expect," he said in a brief interview after the meeting. "My job now is to reach out to those individuals (who voted no) and find out what their concerns are and make sure I address them. I'm excited. There is a lot of work to do in the county. There are a lot of ongoing projects, so I'm excited about what lies ahead."

According to information from county BOS Chair William Federice of Conesville, Akumfi is the sole administrator in the county and all department heads except the four elected ones report to him.

"When the local law establishing the office of County Administrator in 2015 was passed, it was on the basis of the corporate model that the administrator is the chief operating officer reporting to the Board of Supervisors," Federice wrote in an email to this newspaper after the meeting.

Akumfi currently earns an annual salary of $137,000. He is due, like all appointed department heads, to receive a salary increase of 2 percent in 2025. That would increase his annual salary by $2,740 up to $139,740.