Another change is coming to the Montgomery County Executive’s office.
Republican Peter Vroman won the seat with 59.6% of the vote on election day, defeating Democrat Robert Purtell, who had been serving in the role since Matt Ossenfort, also a Republican, stepped down in April.
Vroman currently serves as the Canajoharie Town Supervisor, and has worked in local government and law enforcement for years. He says he’s bringing that experience to the executive’s office.
“I like to call my campaign, it was real doorsteps and driveways. Because the best part about campaigning, and if you want to be a candidate, you have to have face to face with your people. And you know what? That's the best part. I loved it, and I'm so excited about coming in as county executive. I have so many good ideas and things I want to see done, and work with the teams that are already there to get some of these things done,” said Vroman.
Vroman says the next several weeks will be about meeting with as many people involved in running the county as possible to get up to speed come the new year.
“What I would like to do, of course, is, you know, safety, public safety, is a priority for me, making sure our sheriff and our police chiefs and our departments get everything that that to help them do their job, to keep our folks safe. What I would like to do is I just want to get in there and see what's going on. I have specific projects. Of course, I live in Canajoharie and I'm always concerned about our Beach-Nut site here, which is, you know, high visibility, shovel ready. Great site about what we're going to get in there. So, I got to get in there and work and see what they've done so far and throw my own little spin on stuff,” said Vroman.
In March, a new county-wide EMS service was launched to shore up service gaps that left rural residents with long ambulance response times.
The future of the Beech-Nut site in Canajoharie is still up in the air after plans for a potential cannabis production plant were dashed. The 19-acre plot sits vacant and Vroman says he’d like to do something about it.
“I have my ideas on what I'd like to see get done, but I need to get in there and see what they've what economic development has already done. I don't want to go in there and reinvent or have to backtrack. I want to see what they've already got, and that's a meeting that I have to have,” said Vroman.
Vroman says he will also focus on bringing new economic development projects to the county, but:
“They also have to balance preserving our rural character, but we still need to move Montgomery County forward. I think that's definitely it. Ian, I'm interested in lots of stuff here along this we have such a such a location here, you know, along the river Central New York, foothills of the Adirondacks, just north of Catskills, Albany, one side, Buffalo on the other. Quebec. You know, we're right in the perfect spot here,” said Vroman.
The city of Amsterdam is set to complete a number of Downtown Revitalization Initiative-funded projects after receiving $10 million from the state 2018.
Vroman wants to focus on development opportunities that will incentivize locals to stay and draw in companies that will attract young workers.
“I'm not going to say I'm cheap, but, you know, and I'm thrifty, father of six, thrifty Town Supervisor here, I'm very thrifty, and just talk to any my town board members, but as county executive, you know, I'll hold the line on taxes, because that's how we can help our residents. We need to still look at investments, of course, in our infrastructure here, I don't know. We've got something like over 400 miles of roads, 60 bridges. Everything always needs work. And I have no problem raising my hand and pursuing, you know, every state and federal source for funding for that, and I got a lot of stuff done by just being that, the squeaky wheel guy, you know, where, hey, you know, we need help over here. And I got no problem going anywhere and asking for any of those things help, economic development, bringing companies in here, investment in here, that that's, that's my job,” said Vroman.
The term runs through 2025 and Vroman plans to run for re-election.
