To Play Mother Ginger,
er O t · Ord
u % ake o Roll 50 T · n i r e
Din
egula
MAN UP!
nline
uisine ese C Japan
off
iR
Sush
ASSEMBLY CANDIDATE ‘NUTCRACKER’ NOVELTY/B2
HOMETOWN
9
-999 7-431 0 6 · ta neon et · O eonta.com e r t S ain tokyoon am to 10 pmon to 9 pm o 211 M 11
E!
hu: un: N Mon-T o 11 pm · S t m a t: 11 Fri-Sa
Volume 12, No. 11
E FR
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, December 12, 2019
Bliss Anticipates Kennedy Will Lead Recruitment Too By JIM KEVLIN\
SUNY Oneonta Alumnus New Chief Of NYPD ONEONTA
Visit www.
AllOTSEGO.com
NeW Challenge: hiring manager
City of The Hills
Dermot F. Shea, a 1990 SUNY Oneonta graduate, has been named the 44th Commissioner of the New York City Police.
ONEONTA
COOPERSTOWN
I
f – as is anticipated – Dave Bliss is reelected chairman of the Otsego County Board of Representatives at the organizational meeting Thursday, Jan. 2,
one of his first acts will be to name a committee to recruit the first county administrator. In an interview, he said he sees no reason why Please See NEXT, A7
►HISTORIC DECISION • PAST AND PRESENT collided in the debate over hiring a county administrator. • WATCH VIDEO leading up to the county board’s historic 11-2-1 decision to professionalize government.
AllOTSEGO.com
www.
• EDITORIAL: For administrator, look for someone LIKE Judge Lambert/A4 • TEXT of county administrator job description/A4
For Stuligross, Career-Long Dream Coming To Fruition ONEONTA
K
ay Stuligross has come a long way, baby. Growing up in Oberlin, Ohio, in the 1940s and ’50s, the daughter of a college professor, her mother
IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE...
D
ermot Shea, a 1990 SUNY Oneonta graduate, was named the 44th Commissioner of the New York City Police department by Mayor Bill de Blasio in a public ceremony held at One Police Plaza on Dec. 2. In April 2014, he was appointed to deputy commissioner of operations by then Commissioner William Bratton. Prior to this appointment, Shea had been a chief commanding the Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Operations. He also commanded the 44th and 50th precincts and the Patrol Borough Bronx Anti-Crime Unit. At SUNY Oneonta, he majored in Business Economics.
ON
AllOTSEGO.com
►FIVE BUSINESS OWNERS filed a lawsuit in state Supreme Court to block the 65-unit Lofts on Dietz in the City of Oneonta, saying 200 parking places would be lost. City Hall says 80. The city plans to fight the challenge. ►KIMBERLY STEELEY, the Decatur woman accused of smothering her twins in 2018, did so by falling asleep on them, said District Attorney John Muehl. ►FIVE of 12 TRUCKS inspected during a Commercial Vehicle Enforcement safety check were deemed unfit for the road and taken out of service, the county Sheriff’s Department reported.
sometimes wouldn’t vote “because she didn’t want to cancel out my father’s vote.” Raising a Stuligross family in Oneonta in the 1980s, she Please See LEAGUE, A7
By JIM KEVLIN
DEVLIN WORRIES
End Of Bail Dangerous? By LIBBY CUDMORE COOPERSTOWN
S
heriff Richard J. Devlin, Jr. recognized that criminal justice reform was needed, but with new bail reforms looming, he fears the state may have gone too far. “This is going PART I: NO BAIL to put criminals back on the streets and take police off the streets while they do paperwork,” he said. “It wasn’t well thought through, and law enforcePlease See NO BAIL, B5
Justice for All?
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Jaqueline Hewitt, Oneonta, holds her son Lennon amidst the cheering crowd as they welcome Santa Claus to Oneonta during the annual Santa Parade on Saturday, Dec. 7/MORE MORE CHRISTMAS PHOTOS, A3
SantaCon Binge Sends Basile To Seek Pay Hikes, Shelter Aid 2 Students To Hospital NEW FACES AT 197 MAIN ST.
Editor’s Note: This profile is the first of three on newly elected Otsego County representatives who take office Jan. 1. By JAMES CUMMINGS ONEONTA
J
ill Basile saw her future as her father, Bruce, lay in a hospital bed. “During that time I watched a lot of news,”
OPD Chief Brenner Fears Someone May Die
she said. “I decided that I didn’t want to be the person who complained behind the scenes anymore. I wanted to do something.” Her father passed away in April 2017, but his inspi- James Cummings/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Please See BASILE, A7 Count Rep. Basile is also on the SQSPCA board.
By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA
S
antaCon was a lifechanging moment for one young man, a SUNY student, 21, found unconscious and bleeding on a sidewalk outside a Grove Street house on Saturday,
Dec. 7. “He admitted that he drank too much and that he had a problem with alcohol,” said Oneonta Police Chief Doug Brenner. “Waking up with a tube in his throat was a real wake-up moment for him, and he said he is going to seek help. He was very remorseful and very embarrassed.” Please See BINGE, B5
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD