HUDSON — Republicans on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors voted Monday to split the office of emergency management away from the sheriff's office and place it under the control of the board's GOP chairman.
The move is opposed by the new sheriff, Don Krapf, who ousted Republican Sheriff David Bartlett last year with the backing of county Democrats.
"I'm still in opposition to that move, and that will continue until the end of time," Krapf said after the vote. "I don’t have enough data here to support it, and I haven't been afforded the opportunity to review any data - today’s literally my first business day in office."
The sheriff's office would be following up to see "if there is any violations about how this was done," he added.
The vote puts the emergency management office under the control Board of Supervisors Chairman Matt Murell.
Several Democratic supervisors argued the vote should be delayed until they could review data about splitting away the OEM.
"There is no urgency - the only difference between now and a few months from now is Sheriff Krapf will have a chance as the sitting sheriff to review it," Minority Leader Tistrya Houghtling said.
Republican supervisors argued they couldn't foresee anything that would change their mind if they waited for the vote.
Republican Supervisor Clifford "Kippy" Wiegelt said supervisors had been talking about the change for three or four years, which he called "just moving offices, basically."
The OEM is to be relocated to a new facility in Ghent, which several supervisors said was years in the making. But Houghtling took issue with that characterization, saying the decision to move the offices was separate from the decision of who controls them.
The resolution that splits the OEM from the sheriff's office mentions it moving to its new location, but only in the introduction; the text the supervisors actually voted into law makes no mention of changing locations, only who is in charge.
Murell did not return a call for comment Monday night.
Murell previously said the legislation was for efficiency's sake, removing the Sheriff's Office from being between himself and the emergency managers, who he said he's had to communicate with daily during the pandemic. Before the vote, he said more time had been given; the legislation, introduced my Murell in committee in November, could have been voted upon during the board's December meeting.
The move is supported by emergency management director, David Harrison, who is also a former Republican sheriff of the county.
Krapf, who ran as an independent but was heavily supported by the county's Democratic committee and appeared on the Democratic ballot line, won the election against Bartlett last November, with Kraft receiving 55 percent of the vote.
Bartlett was plagued during his candidacy by his office's handling of a 2020 incident where one of his deputies was alleged to be part of a group that beat Harold Handy, a local mechanic, so badly during a July 4 party at the deputy's home he had to be taken by helicopter to Albany Medical Center Hospital.
The deputy, her husband and two others were eventually charged with gang assault by the State Police but most of the felony charges were dropped last month.
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GOP Supervisors remove office from sheriff's control despite his opposition - Albany Times Union
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