After three years, County Administrator Jason Molino is leaving his position with Tompkins County and heading west to become the Executive Director of the Livingston County, New York Water and Sewer Authority.
Molino described the decision as a personal one stemming from the long hours and generally high demand of the job.
âI have four children,â he explained. âTheyâre 6, 8, 10 and 21 [â¦] We felt there was a change we needed to make in our lives as a family to spend more time together, and this was an opportunity that would bring us closer to our extended family. The choice came from that.â
The Tompkins County Public Safety Committee approved funding $144,380 for the Community Justice Center on April 15, a major part of the Reimagining Public Safety proposal that was approved last month. The money will fund the countyâs portion of the joint city-county venture, bringing it that much closer to reality.
Expressed in prior meetings throughout the Reimagining process, the Community Justice Center will work with the city and county to implement the plans approved by the two legislative bodies.
County Administrator Jason Molino said employees with the Community Justice Center will be county employees who have a contract with the city. Though he did not specify the number of employees, in past meetings it was suggested that there would be two. The original idea was to have them work out of the countyâs mental health building on East Green Street in Ithaca. However, legislator Shawna Black said she was worried about that making people uncomfortable.
Fresh
The Justice Department is opening a sweeping investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis after a former officer was convicted in the killing of George Floyd there, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Wednesday.
1 hour ago in Sports, Trending
Fresh
The Super League collapsed before a ball was kicked in the European breakaway competition after being abandoned by the six English clubs, leaving the Spanish and Italian participants stranded.
2 hours ago in National, Trending
Columbus police shot and killed a teenage girl who swung at two other people with a knife Tuesday, according to bodycam footage from the officer who fired the shots just minutes before the verdict in George Floyd s killing was read.
Context
After his prison release in July 2019, Rivera started working for nonprofits that aim to eliminate economic and racial disparities in Tompkins County s criminal justice system and volunteered to help homeless residents stay healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. To brainstorm ideas to reform local policing in 2021, local officials picked roughly 40 people including Rivera to help them gather information from historically marginalized groups.
Origin
On March 29, 2021, The New York Post published an article that claimed local officials in upstate New York were attempting to follow an executive order by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to reform policing in light of George Floyd‘s death by recruiting a “cop-killer” to work on their behalf.