Ed Frazier was elected as chair of the Otsego County Board of Representatives in January of this year. I invited him to meet with me, over a cup of coffee, to chat about his new role. He graciously agreed and suggested that we meet at Wakeman’s at the corner of Chestnut and Oneida Streets.
Wakeman’s, it turns out, is a collaboration of three local businesses — Wakeman’s Coffee, Muddy River Brewery and Ty’s Taco-ria. It’s a coffee shop by day, taco and beer restaurant by evening.
Before even starting our conversation, we found something to agree upon — Otsego County could use more innovative enterprises, started by young entrepreneurs, similar to this one. “I’ve come around to recognizing that in order to attract young people, we need to do better in providing more of a social life — access to the arts, performing arts, events,” Frazier said, “It took me a while but I’ve turned that page and it’s true. This place right here is the kind of thing we need more of.” Connie and I decided to check out the night scene that evening. We enjoyed excellent tacos, local craft beer (I recommend the IPA) and live music. It was a Thursday night and the place was hopping.
What does Frazier think are our county’s biggest challenges? “Brain drain, lack of housing, jobs — I think they are intertwined. I love the baseball camps but I know they are causing some of our housing issues — siphoning off some of the houses. There is both good and bad.” Now that the county is no longer permitted to sell tax foreclosed properties for more than what is owed, Frazier indicated that representatives are looking for a new approach. “If a house has 20 grand in back taxes and we can find someone to say they will buy this for 20 grand and will use it for a first-time homebuyer or for an affordable year-round rental, we will try to avoid putting it on the auction where it will be purchased by someone who will convert it to a short time rental.”
Related to housing — what about the rise in our homeless population? It has been said that the cost of providing shelter for homeless persons is straining the county budget, while greater numbers of homeless persons are being reported on the streets of Oneonta. Recently, Oneonta’s city leaders shut down the Town House Motor Inn on Main Street, displacing the homeless persons placed there by our county Department of Social Services. The county’s response, it has been reported, was to send the homeless who were displaced to facilities not equipped to serve homeless persons — such as the newly constructed Lofts on Dietz Street.
“While I cannot confirm that took place,” Frazier explained, “Where should we put them?” Frazier does point out that he knows there are better approaches than playing Whack-a-Mole. He admits that the county is severely lacking in mental health services and that the innovative approach of building tiny houses adjacent to support services has stalled due to its high costs. While the county expects to receive opioid settlement funds, Frazier is not confident that alone can solve the problem. “Can we talk to Delaware, Chenango and Schoharie to see if we can do some type of regional treatment program? We should be able to do better using a lot of money with a less territorial focus on treatment and prevention.”
Turning to jobs, Frazier admits that’s a tough one. “I am a fiscal conservative that believes in infrastructure,” he said. He points out that it is hard to get developers interested in building affordable housing or businesses outside of the few communities, like Oneonta, that have sewer systems. He does believe in the economic development potential of the recently renamed Albert S. Nader Oneonta Regional Airport. I asked Frazier about the possibility of Otsego County investing in the airport. While not ruling out county investment, he did point out the city of Oneonta’s own reluctance to invest in its airport. “There was money, I understand, that was left on the table,” he said. He was referring to the city having recently turned down a $9 million grant offered by the FAA to improve the runway structure. Why? It required a 5% match.
Finally, I was interested in hearing how Frazier felt about the change to a county administrator. “I was the only one on my board who voted against the county administrator,” he said. “They tried to tell me that it was only going to be up to $100,000. Well, we are up to about a half million in that office today.”
He concedes that the office does bring value. “Does it bring a half million in value? That’s hard to measure,” he said. Twelve years into the city of Oneonta’s transition to a city manager/administrator, some are still asking that same question.