ELLENVILLE – Now that Elliott Auerbach has been officially sworn in as Ulster County's first Comptroller, the manager's position he left vacant here in Ellenville has been filled by Mary Sheeley. She was officially appointed as the interim manager at the December 22 village board meeting, and she will be working a part-time schedule of 20 hours a week at a salary of $30,000 a year.

Sheeley, a local businesswoman with Center Street's H&R Block, is currently an Ulster County Legislator and a former village trustee between the years of 1991 and 1995, having served two terms on the board. Now that she's been named to the position of interim village manager, Sheeley is eager to tackle Ellenville's beleaguered finances, a task to which she's well-suited, according to Mayor Jeff Kaplan.

"One of the benefits of having Mary, who knows village government because she was a trustee for some time, and knows the working of government because she's doing that still with looking at the budget at the county, is that she can hit the ground running," said Kaplan of the hire.

Regarding her current position as a county legislator, Sheeley said she checked with both the Ulster County attorney's office as well as the U.S. Office of Special Counsel to ensure that there would be no conflict of interest in acting as both a part-time village manager and as a member of the county legislature.

Kaplan said that time was another factor regarding Sheeley's hiring. Because the announcement of Auerbach's win came a scant three weeks before he would vacate his manager-position, the board was not left with much time for their advertisement for a permanent manager to receive many applications.

"It was clear that we were some time away from being able to name a new manager. Naming a new manager with a new comptroller would've been, I think, a disservice to the community, not really improving things," said Kaplan, referring also to the proposed position of village comptroller, which would, as he explained it last month, replace the existing treasurer's position.

"We're looking to improve, not just change. Change in the name of change alone doesn't really help you if you're not improving what you have."

However, as to an estimated timeline regarding finding a permanent replacement for the manager, Kaplan said that right now the village would wait and see how Sheeley works out acting in a part-time capacity.

According to Village Attorney Phil Cataldi, establishing the village manager post as a part-time position will require a change in village code. He also said that current village code allows for interim manager to be a part-time position without such a formal change.

Sheeley herself seems eager to take on the new responsibilities being the manager will provide.

"I live here, I'm a taxpayer here, so it certainly makes sense that you do what you can to help your community," she said. "I'm looking forward to the challenge." When asked what challenges she's expecting to face, she responded, without missing a beat, "the finances."

"It's just a matter of sorting it out and getting through what is the problem, and what isn't the problem, because we've all heard the same stories back and forth," she said, emphasizing her hope to find "that happy medium."

"You don't want to cut services, you don't want to lay people off, and yet you have to keep in mind that people can't afford much more in the tax base."

Sheeley said she hopes to take advantage of some of the upcoming grant possibilities the new year will bring. She cited the discussion from the last municipal meeting which revolved around village engineer Barton and Loguidice's plans to achieve "project readiness" to compete for the widely-publicized infrastructure grants they believe will be available under President-elect Barack Obama's administration. Sheeley also said that Glenn Gidaly of Barton and Loguidice will be discussing the potential for a $297,000 grant sponsored by Congressman Maurice Hinchey at the upcoming village board meeting on Monday.

"Anytime you can accomplish a goal with someone else's money, that's always a good thing," she said.

Kaplan also noted that Sheeley will be useful in terms of acting as something of a financial advisor, who will help give more active advice in terms of the village's budget and finances.

"It's just a matter of someone telling them, 'hey, we're in trouble in this line, or we're heading for trouble in this area.' Not waiting until it happens and saying, 'you can't do that, don't have money for that, you need to fix it,'" said Sheeley.

Sheeley also said she wants to help Ellenville "get back on track to being the great community we were," and hopes that her efforts as the interim manager will help accomplish this.

"I think Ellenville needs a cheerleader right now. I think we've been beaten up on, we got down, we were kicked, and we need a cheerleader. I'm hoping that I'm that person, because I see a lot of good in the community, I always have, and I just think we need to remind ourselves."

Current Village Treasurer Linda Polkoski, a 24-year veteran of the position, is also optimistic about Sheeley's addition to village government, saying that her accounting knowledge and good relationship with the state and the county will be assets to their work.

"I'm looking forward to working with her on the budget and in other areas," she said.

However, Polkoski also noted that having the manager go from full to part-time will increase the workload for her office — though, she said that she's up to the challenge.

"I have done the budget many years when we didn't have a manager. I have done the budget many years when we had a manager that just wasn't interested in doing the budget, so it's not…an issue."

Polkoski also spoke on the proposed changes or dissolution of the treasurer's position. She said that, so far, she has yet to discuss changes to her duties, despite Mayor Kaplan's earlier discussions of switching over to a village comptroller.

"The clerk and the treasurer serve for the term of the mayor," she said. When the mayor's term is up, "at that time, that's when they can change whoever is in that position."

"Prior to that, I don't know what they would do."

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