FONDA — The Montgomery County Legislature bade farewell to County Executive Matthew Ossenfort at the final meeting prior to his planned resignation and laid the groundwork to potentially appoint his successor.
“I would like to take a moment to cite and commend and congratulate Matt Ossenfort for doing a tremendous job as our county executive for the last 10-and-a-half years,” District 7 Legislator Michael Pepe said. “I just wanted to make sure that we as a Legislature formally thank him for a job well done.”
A standing ovation followed from legislators, county officials and locals gathered at what was Ossenfort’s final meeting on Tuesday.
“I’ve cherished the last 10 years. We’ve tried our best, we’ve worked hard, we’ve really gotten a lot of good things done, there is a lot of work to do, I’m excited to see how this place transforms a little bit,” Ossenfort said.
“What I truly enjoyed was getting to know everybody and their lives and who they are and sharing my life with you and the relationships. Those relationships is what I’m going to miss the most,” he added.
Ossenfort last week announced he will leave office on April 30 for a position with global insurance company Arthur J. Gallagher. He will be the Albany-area vice president working on public entity and non-profit insurance.
The Republican became the county’s first executive in 2014 and was re-elected twice. Facing a three-term limit, the 42-year-old began searching for his next career opportunity prior to the expiration of his final four-year term at the end of 2025.
Although he had yet to formally submit his resignation as of Tuesday, Ossenfort was unequivocal that he will be exiting public office for the private sector next week as planned.
“I’m certainly sentimental and sad in some ways, but at the same time I’m very excited,” Ossenfort said. “I feel very much at peace with it all and I think things are going to move forward in a positive way.”
In accordance with the county charter, the resulting vacancy will initially be filled by the department head designated by the county executive to act in his absence until the Legislature appoints a qualified candidate to the role for this year. The remaining one-year unexpired term will be filled during the next election in November.
Ossenfort previously designated Department of Social Services Commissioner Mathew Beck as his acting executive. Beck will hold dual roles for at least a week as the Legislature on Tuesday set a special meeting to “designate a qualified elector to serve as county executive until the position is filled at the next general election” on May 7 at 6 p.m.
Montgomery County Executive Matthew Ossenfort on Tuesday speaks during the final Montgomery County Legislature meeting prior to his planned resignation to take a private sector job.
Legislature Chairman Brian Sweet was unsure whether an appointment will ultimately be made at the special meeting.
“That I don’t know, it’s hard to say,” Sweet said. He was similarly unable to name any potential candidates that could be considered by the Legislature.
However, members of the Montgomery County Republican Committee are urging legislators to leave Beck in place until voters choose the next county executive in November. They argued legislators were elected along party lines and “one of our own” should lead the county for the remainder of this year.
Frank Murtaugh, during public comment, said legislators should “stand back” until voters decide rather than face a possible “conflict of interest” selecting a candidate to fill the office.
“We’ve got a situation here where things are under control, but sometimes operating in a bipartisan nature and operating in that kind of a system you also have to take politics into consideration,” Murtaugh said.
Beck, a Republican, was appreciative of the support, but plans to leave it up to legislators to determine how long he serves.
“Whatever they decide I’m going to fully support. That’s their decision,” Beck said. “I was happy when Matt asked me to do this.”
Knowing he could potentially leave office early for the right opportunity, Beck said Ossenfort involved him in meetings and the budget process over the past year to ensure the acting county executive would be prepared if needed.
“We had always been making sure we were covered in this case. I think that’s the best we could do was just be prepared knowing the final decision was with the [Legislature],” Beck said.
The GOP input has not swayed Sweet, another Republican, who believes leading both DSS and the county would be too much. Beck previously said he could manage the dual roles with the assistance of the capable team of county staff established by Ossenfort.
“I still think that it’s too much of a responsibility for one person to do both of those full-time jobs. Even though I know Mr. Beck has said he’s willing to do it, which that’s a great thing, but I just don’t think that’s fair to him or to the county,” Sweet said.
It’s a feeling shared among at least some of the Legislature, which has a Republican majority. Six out of the nine members are part of the GOP.
“The few people I've spoken to have a similar feeling that it should be someone dedicated to that position,” Sweet said.
Although he won’t be taking a stance on the decision, Ossenfort encouraged officials to listen to all of the input as they consider his potential successor.
“That’s how you make the best decisions,” Ossenfort said. “It's good to have a discussion and open dialogue. We had more people at our meeting tonight than we usually have ever, so obviously it’s something people are paying attention to.”