M IA
JU
DG
E WIL
L
Cooperstown’s offiCial newspaper
1808 BY
COOP
E
OUNDED
IN
R
•F
founded in 1808
COUNTY’S SOUTHWESTERN FORESTS OFFER UNIQUE EXPERIENCES, Page 7 VISIT www.ALLOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S NEWSPAPER/ONLINE Volume 217, No. 36
Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, September 4, 2025
Newsstand Price $1
County Board Approves Sales Tax Extension Te RUCK
at th
a y! This Sund :00 Noon - 7
By BILL BELLEN OTSEGO COUNTY t 8:45 a.m. on Thursday, August 21, the Otsego County Board of Representatives was called to a special meeting by Chairman Edwin Frazier Jr. With representatives receiving notice of the meeting on August 13, the board gathered that morning to approve an extension to the additional local 1 percent sales and use tax in the county.
A
Otsego County currently maintains a sales and use rate tax of 8 percent— 4 percent being state tax and the other 4 percent being local. The additional 1 percent in this resolution is not being added onto existing taxes, but rather is an extension of those already in effect. The base local tax rate for Otsego County is 3 percent, though the county has had an additional 1 percent renewed for years. Carol McGovern, Otsego County clerk of the Board of Representatives, elaborated:
“Currently, every two years we have to request home rule from New York State to allow Otsego County to collect an additional 1 percent in sales tax,” McGovern wrote in an email. “Once the bills pass the state legislature and are signed by the governor, the county has to adopt the third and final resolution, which was Resolution 295.” The 1 percent addition that was in effect at the time of the August 21 meeting was set to expire on Continued on page 10
Oneonta Labor Day Rally To Support Workers Draws 200 People By TERESA WINCHESTER
O
ONEONTA n September 1, Labor Day, approximately 200 people showed up at Oneonta’s Muller Plaza for a “Workers Over Billionaires” rally. The principal organizer, CooperstownOneonta Indivisible, led by Virginia Kennedy of Middlefield, was joined by Butternut Valley Indivisible, Cherry Valley Indivisible and Indivisible of Schoharie County. The national sponsor, backed by the AFL-CIO, was May Day Strong, a coalition of dozens of labor and advocacy groups. While the emphasis INSIDE ► GARGASH TAKES ACTION ON POLLINATORS, page 2 ► ELECTION SECURITY TO BE DISCUSSED, page 2 ► MCDONALD TAVERN MARKER UNVEILED, page 3 ► cna: housing, business are priorities, page 4 ► LOOK FOR BROCHURE ON MUSEUMS, page 4 ► manocherian proposal to be discussed, page 6 ► conference to educate on alzheimer’s, page 8 ► CALENDAR, page 12 Follow Breaking News On
was on appreciation of the workers of this country, the need for strong unions, and the abuses of the billionaire class, ralliers carried signs objecting in general to the current administration and its policies: “Alexa, Change the President,” “Grow a Spine, Congress!” “Hands Off Our Healthcare!” “No Trump, No Ice, Make This World Nice!” Kennedy opened the rally’s program with words of gratitude for workers such as nurses, teachers, construction workers, and machinists. “Without these folks, nothing would get done, but it’s the people at the top who make the money,” she said.
Photo by Teresa Winchester
Rebecca LaBarr (left) of Oneonta and Bon Zuefle of Otego attended the “Workers Over Billionaires” rally held in Oneonta’s Muller Plaza on September 1. “I don’t want anyone to wonder what we thought,” said Zuefle.
Shirley Clark, chapter president of SUNYOneonta’s United University Professions, spoke of her current contract negotiations with New York State. “We are under attack. The state always tries to take away things that workers have,” Clark said, declaring that she would work to retain worker’s healthcare and maintain current benefits. Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek spoke defiantly to the money and power he feels has taken over the affairs of the nation since the 2024 election, frequently punctuating his remarks with “No!” “We will shame the politicians, and we will threaten the prosperity
of their enablers. And we will say no. No. Hell no. To the exploitation of fear, and the fanning of hatred. We will say no. No. To the corruption and the greed. To the lies, and to the meanness. To the vanity, and the incompetence. To the would-be autocracy. We will say no. No,” Drnek declared. JayLynn Garelick of Oneonta spoke in response the Trump administration’s pause in operations for all 99 Job Corps centers across the U.S. Unable to procure financial aid to further her studies, Garelick turned to Job Corps, a federally funded educational and career training Continued on page 10
Rotary Announces Vocational Scholarship Winners
E
COOPERSTOWN arlier this month, the Rotary Club of Cooperstown announced that Madison Moore, Samantha Barrett, Kura Lynn Druse, Kara Mertz and Leah Brundege are the recipients of the John D. Ramsey Memorial Vocational Scholarship for the current academic year. This scholarship provides a sum of $31,000.00 annually to students pursuing vocational education. Moore has been awarded the Special Recognition Scholarship due to her unwavering commitment to serving society through nursing, officials said. Barrett, Druse and Mertz are also pursuing vocational
Photo provided
Rotary scholarship recipients are, from left, Samantha Barrett, Kura Lynn Druse, Kirsten De Silva, Kara Mertz, Madison Moore, and Leah Brundege. Not pictured: Waylon Cassell and Jeremy Velasco Jr.
nursing training; Brundege will be entering culinary arts. According to a press release, the John D. Ramsey Memorial Scholarship is named in honor of John Ramsey, a longstanding member of the Rotary Club of Cooperstown and an ardent advocate for vocational training. Trained as a nurse himself, Ramsey had dedicated many years to sponsoring vocational scholarships through the Rotary Club. “This trust bequest perpetuates his legacy as a local driving force for students pursuing vocations,” officials said. “John embodied the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self,” and this Continued on page 10
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S AWARD-WINNING WEEKLIES 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
We are excited to announce that City of the Hills Festival is back on Main Street Saturday, September 13 and Sunday, September 14, noon-5pm. Vendors, performances, public art, music, a kids’ zone, art workshops, downtown retail establishments and restaurants and downtown art walk featuring ARCAG by Joseph Von Stengel, photo op cut outs by local artists and more.