KINGSTON – Calling it a "hamster" resolution, Legislator David Donaldson, D-Kingston, argued against a piece of legislation proposed by the Government Efficiency and Operations Committee, that would allow the legislature to analyze the effects of NYS mandates on the county budget.

Arguing that the resolution is redundant because county legislators already have the power to request such information from county department heads, Donaldson likened the 5-page resolution to "a team of hamsters on the exercise board — running, running in circles" by asking for information they are already entitled to demand. "We don't need a resolution to do it; we already have the power."

Passed by the legislature 19-10 along mostly party lines, the resolution requires "specific elected and appointed officials," whose budgets are affected by NYS mandates, to provide the legislature with information, explanations and financial impacts" of those mandates.

County Executive Michael Hein said he "struggles to understand the value" of a resolution that grants the legislature power "they already have," and questioned the accomplishments of the Republican-led legislature.

"Seven months into their term, the Republican-led legislature has done nothing but to create redundant or memorializing resolutions, all the while avoiding the tough policy issues that need to be addressed in the face of a $15-$20 million budget deficit," he said.

He explained that the original draft of the resolution circumvented the process delineated in the charter and the revised draft simply duplicates the power granted the legislature in the charter. The original draft would have required department heads to furnish the information prior to submitting their budget; the revised draft charges the heads with providing information after they submit their budget, which, according to Hein, is the process clearly laid out in the charter.

"All the action did was to provide redundant legislation," he said.

Legislator Peter Loughran, D-Kingston, said that the resolution is a mandate in itself and that all the information can be gotten from New York State Association of Counties, NYSAC. He said he believes that the resolution is a politically-motivated tool and accused the committee of trying to usurp the executive's duties.

"Our job is simple," Loughran said. "It's policy and budget — we may ask to cut the budget, but to think that we have the right to take over the duties of the executive, and to tell the department heads that they have to provide us with information — well, they don't work for us anymore."

Susan Zimet, D-New Paltz, who as vice-chair of the government efficiency committee helped to craft the resolution, bristled at the charges of political intrigue. "I find it pretty offensive that in everything we try to do, we are accused of being against the executive."

Defending the premise of the resolution, Zimet said that "understanding mandates and their relevance to today's government has been a long-standing issue that we felt needed to be studied."

Zimet noted that while under the administration of former chair David Donaldson, she was assigned committee work that also addressed the issue of mandates. She said that despite the changes introduced by the charter form of government, nobody spends the time going over the budget to try to determine how the mandates can be delivered at a cheaper cost. "The program may be mandated, but the cost to deliver that mandate should be analyzed," she said.

Legislator Terry Bernardo, R-Accord, who chairs the Government Operations and Efficiency Committee, said it is the duty of county legislators to be proactive and to examine old laws and mandates. "The Legislature needs to understand what mandates our county departments are complying with, and county employees are best equipped to provide this information," she said.

She said that while it's tempting for legislators to accept "it's mandated" as justification for expenditures, tough economic times "demand that we examine all expenses paid by our taxpayers and dig deeper to explore the laws that mandate Ulster County taxpayer dollars to be spent."