A respectful adieu was afforded Greene County Economic Development, Planning and Tourism director Warren Hart by the Greene County Legislature, last week. Among those taking part were (left to right) legislature chairman Patrick Linger, Mr. Hart, the new Economic Development director James Hannahs, legislative Majority Leader Matthew Luvera, legislative Minority Leader Harry Lennon and county administrator Shaun Groden.
By Michael Ryan
CATSKILL - Over the years, Warren Hart, the director of Greene County Economic Development, Planning & Tourism, has gathered an Easter basketful of respectful other titles.
Hart is supposedly in his final few days as department head and will wince, should he read that flowery reference to his two decades-plus on the job.
So be it. Hart, since coming aboard in the early 2000’s, has helped seed and sow more ventures, that positively and perpetually impact local taxpayers, than any busy little bunny.
“It’s all about the team we’ve put together,” Hart said in a chat, in his typical downplay fashion, after county lawmakers gave him a standing ovation sendoff during their regular monthly meeting on March 19.
Some people in a leadership role might say those words because it sounds fanciful. Hart says it from the heart, which is enough of the gooeyness.
He has always preferred getting down to and sticking to business which is why county administrator Shaun Groden calls him what he does.
“Warren is Mr. Detail. He is in the weeds on every project we do here,” says Groden who appreciates Hart’s skills perhaps better than anyone.
In recent years, he has also served as deputy county administrator, being a trusted wingman and giving seamless backup in Groden’s absence.
Hart is not the lone reason, but he is a paramount example of why Groden has become hellbent on dealing with sometimes unwanted inevitables.
“We’ve been in discussion about him leaving for a while, thinking about a successor,” Groden says. “It’s important to have continuity of operations.
“I bring this up to all the department heads, that we need a succession plan, but we will experience a real brain drain with Warren gone.
“He retired last December but you wouldn’t know it. He’s working fifty-hour weeks and Saturdays which is part time for him,” Groden says.
“Warren knows all the procedural rules and governmental procedures we must adhere to, but that’s just the small part of it.
“The county. losing his contacts and his institutional knowledge, will be a difficult thing to overcome,” Groden says.
“When he isn’t in the office just down the hall anymore, I know I’ll be speed-dialing him anyway, asking him who knows what?”
Legislature chairman Patrick Linger similarly has a sobriquet for Hart, and a tip of the cap, describing him as as Mr. Broadband.
The county, led by Hart, committed to extending 21st Century internet and cell connections to every mountain, valley and river resident.
It was a painstaking deal, needing to consolidate historically independent providers, encouraging the legislature to tap federal money for the task.
“Broadband is his baby,” Linger says, having advanced it from covered-wagon coverage to beam-me-up-Scotty, soon to be available to every address in the county.
Hart has likewise been intricately involved with infrastructure necessities such as the new justice center, mental health building and jail.
“Warren has done so much for the county people don’t even know about, but we do,” Linger says. “He’s a planner, that’s his favorite thing. It’ll be noticeably different around here without him.”
The county, putting the continuity of operations plan to its intended use, has chosen James Hannahs, an in-house, young blood 30-year-old, to follow Hart whom Hannahs has nicknamed, “our Remote Consultant.”
Falling in line with Groden, Hannahs has imbedded Hart’s phone number in all his devices, saying, “Warren saw a lot of promise in me I didn’t even see, always uplifting me. How do you thank someone for that?”
Charles Martinez is the ranking county legislator and the budget finance officer, saying of Hart, “I hate to see him go. I honestly do.
“We are really going to miss him,” Martinez says. ‘Warren took a lot of pressure off Shaun Groden, that’s for damn sure.”
Not quite as certain is what Hart will be doing in the lemonade-sipping, hammock-swinging phase of his life.
“Everybody asks that question. I don’t have any grand plan,” says Hart, words that come as a shock to the sensibilities.
On the other hand, “I will spend time with family, do some volunteer work and do more of what people say they’re going to do in retirement,” Hart says, so there is a stratagem, of sorts.
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