Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente is tying the nation’s 250th anniversary to goals he’s established in a number of areas, including housing, youth mental health and economic growth.
As he delivered his annual State of the County address on Friday, Picente reflected not only on the county’s past but looked ahead to long-term investments to benefit county residents. He unveiled what he calls his ‘250-Forward Vision.’
Creating more housing opportunities is a major goal for Picente, who wants to create a fund that would help developers defray the costs of things like sidewalks, sewer connections and lighting.
“To outlay more money to the developers at the beginning, to deal with some of the infrastructure,” said Picente, “and then they'll be able to reduce their overall cost structure, build quicker, and be able to pass those savings on.”
Picente also announced a new youth wellness initiative that will bring together students from each school district in Oneida County to discuss mental health, school safety, social pressures and other challenges.
“We need to do some work there,” Picente said. “We've got to find out what's happening. (There’s) too much, whether it's cell phones or whether it's communication, cyberbullying, sexual harassment, other things that are happening, we need to take the temperature down, but we need to hear from them.”
Among other initiatives the county executive discussed in his speech: a matching grant program to help local American Legion and VFW posts improve their facilities; expanding workforce development programs and working on a ban of the unregulated substance, kratom, which Picente said has serious health risks.
Picente is a Republican, but the Democratic Minority Leader of the Oneida County Board of Legislators, Tim Julian said at the local level, squabbles over national party politics really don’t apply here.
“There’s no Democrat or Republican way to pick up garbage, pave a street, get a cat out of a tree, any of those things,” said Julian. “There’s no national platform to bog us down, it’s just common sense, good government.”
Picente made similar comments during his address, noting that while the community may be “imperfect, we get things done and we get along.”
Picente, who has been Oneida County Executive since 2007 is the longest-tenured county executive in New York state.
He is up for reelection in 2027. When asked whether he will run for another term, he said he will have an official announcement at the end of this year.
Picente said that, “we’ve got a lot of work to do,” and he said he loves the job and said the county is “making great progress,” and added that the county “has so much promise in front of us, and there’s more to come.”
