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The Ontario County Clerk position is currently held by Matthew Hoose, who was first elected to the post in 2012.
On Thursday, Feb. 16, at the Ontario County Board of Supervisors meeting, the supervisors voted unanimously for a vote of “no confidence” in Hoose because of his lack of concern in not addressing complaints made by many about the significant delay in making requ ed payments as well as his tard ess in providing reports to various state agencies.
According to the boa toed’s statement, “Despite these exhaustive efforts, the Clerk continues to fail to remit payments on time to creditors. He has consistently refused to report to the relevant oversight committees of the Board of Supervisors.
Hoose has been on the job for over a decade and ran unopposed as the Republican candidate for county clerk in 2019; supervisors were not aware unawareoblems until last year. According to board members, they addressed those issues with him in June 2022, but they needed to be solved.
In talking with Hoose, County Manager Chris DeBolt said Hoose’s response was the department was understaffed, with which DeBolt agrees. However, County adminDeBolt noted that the County administration offered help from other departments, which Hoose did not act on. currently, two vacancies are to be filled.) The board also became aware that there were five bank accounts solely controlled by the county clerk, but outside the oversight of the county’s finance department’s management, as law. So that constituents did not think the Board of Supervisors was not addressing concerns over this, the board hired a forensic audit firm, Bonadio, to audit those accounts.
Recently, Hoose was also specifically asked to attend at least two of the board’s committee meetings which he did not participate in. Then he was invited to attend the Feb. 16 Board of Supervisors; meeting to discuss concerns, and he did not participate in that meeting either.
The Board of Supervisors can do nothing about an elected official not doing their job, so Hoose will still serve as county clerk until his term runs out at the end of 2023, and he is free to run for re-election for another 4-year term of county clerk again if he so chooses. According to Debolt, a vote of no confidence is symbolic. Still, it is intended to signal that the clerk’s performance is unacceptable and not up to the level of service that Ontario County residents deserve.
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