Legislature approves assessment agreement

YATES COUNTY--The impacts of a manufacturing error in the production of the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine are being seen in Yates County it was explained Monday, April 12 at the county legislative meeting. The timing of the loss of the J&J vaccine is poor, County Health Director Annmarie Flanagan explained, as there is a growing trend recently of young people in Yates County contracting COVID.
"(Nationally younger people have been coming down with COVID more) and we are seeing that trend here in Yates within the past week or two," Flanagan said. "Before that numbers had stabilized, but we are on the increase at this point."
At issue is fatigue with social distancing restrictions and a desire to return to how life was before the pandemic.
"People are tired of staying home, of not being able to be with their friends and we realize that," Flanagan stated. "We just need to get the vaccine out as quickly as possible."
Despite public opposition from Benton Town Supervisor John Prendergast, who spoke during the public hearing, and multiple legislators, the legislature also passed a resolution that allows towns to request the help of a county assessor.
Prendergast and legislator Terry Button said the resolution moved more power to the county and could further separate local residents from their government.
"All government closest to the people is the best government, so when we talk about consolidation of services we don't have to look too far, the state and federal level, all the disappointments with our government we have," said Prendergast. "At the federal government we are about to get run over with fear in the coming years with taxes, at the state level we see all the crap going on and I know all of us are disgusted with it... We do not need consolidation of services."
Legislative Chair Douglas Paddock responded and said if anything the exact opposite was true.
"There is no proposal at all for the county to take over assessing unless the town wants that to occur," Paddock said. "It's a town decision not a county decision."
County Administrator Nonie Flynn agreed with that assessment.
"The background of this resolution is based on one town coming to the county, it's not a power grab from the county, one of the towns came to the county because their assessor left and they were in dire need of an assessor and wanted to talk about the county offering this service to the town," Flynn said.
If anything, the resolution was designed to empower towns by giving them the option of choosing to take up the county on an offered service should they so choose, Flynn said.
Button spoke out against the resolution, arguing it was designed to separate local residents from local government.
"Here we are going down the road of being further away from the people we represent... we want less government from the federal and state level but here we are trying to go down that road on the county level," Button said.
Despite the opposition, the resolution passed.
Also during the meeting, the legislature approved an agreement with New York Engineering Services for over $1 million to help move forward the county's high-speed internet project.