Madison County board reappoints county administrator to 4th term

WAMPSVILLE — The Madison County Board of Supervisors recently reappointed Mark Scimone as Madison County administrator for his fourth term in the role. Scimone, who was first appointed in 2013, serves as the county’s chief administrative officer. In that position, he is responsible for the overall administration of county government and coordinates staff services to the board of supervisors, the board chair, and its committees. “Mark is essential to the success of Madison County,” Madison County Board Chairman Joseph J. Pinard said in a release. “I want to thank Mark for his hard work and dedication to our community. He keeps the county running day to day and moving in the right direction toward a better future. He not only works closely with the board and our partners locally; however, he also has great connections to counties across New York state and the nation.” Scimone’s accomplishments over the past four years including leading county department heads and staff through the pandemic and recovery while letting departments decide what is best for their staff and how they provided services including hybrid working options and utilizing technology. He also worked with the finance department, treasurer’s office, purchasing office, and county attorney’s office to streamline processes to increase efficiency and save money. As chair of the New York State Association of Counties Employee and Labor Relations Committee, Scimone and others are working to streamline the civil service system to create more flexibility in hiring and make it easier for counties to recruit employees, the release stated. Scimone encourages departments to look at opportunities for shared-service initiatives between the county, towns, villages, schools, and the City of Oneida to provide additional services, shared technology, and monetary savings. To date, the county has saved more than $1 million through shared services. Scimone led the county through the grant process resulting in the county receiving a $10.1 million U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development ReConnect Grant to improve high-speed internet accessibility in the county. The project to expand the fiber network in the county breaks ground this summer and will connect more than a thousand homes and businesses to high-speed internet. The county has also applied for a $29 million state ConnectAll grant that would add an additional 1,700 homes. Over the next four years, Scimone is focusing on housing and building development to position Madison County to take advantage of the Micron chip facility coming to the region. He also hopes to update the county’s “Success Plan” actionable guidebook for achieving goals that was adopted in 2017. “I am grateful to the board of supervisors for reappointing me to the position of county administrator for another four years,” Scimone said in the release. “A lot has changed in my tenure with the county, and we have much more to do. I look forward to working with our department heads, staff, and the board to find ways to continue to improve operations at the county as well as provide the highest level of services to our residents.” The Madison County Board of Supervisors says it established the Office of the County Administrator in 2008 to provide for a clear delineation of responsibility and authority between the legislative function of the Board of Supervisors and that of the Madison County government management structure.