The New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) president Charles H. Nesbitt, Jr. has received the Public Service Excellence Award from the State Academy for Public Administration (SAPA).
The award, for non-elected public officials, was presented at SAPA’s annual meeting in Albany on Monday, May 20.
Since 2005, Nesbitt has served as the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Orleans County. Prior to that, Nesbitt was an Economic Development Specialist for Empire State Development. He also served as President of the NYS Association of County Administrators and Managers from 2008 to 2018. In September 2018, Nesbitt was elected to serve as president of NYSAC, the state-wide bipartisan municipal association representing the interests and concerns of New York’s counties and the elected and appointed leaders who serve their residents.
As CAO of Orleans County, Nesbitt acts on behalf of the Legislature to implement policy and oversee the county departments, serves as the budget officer, and maintains core county services and programs. Under his leadership, Orleans County partnered with Genesee County to transform their Public Health Departments by sharing a health commissioner and a commonly appointed board of health and combining many of their public health functions and eliminating duplicative tasks. This is one of the only public health cross-jurisdictional sharing projects in the state and has saved the counties over $1 million.
Nesbitt also serves as the chair of NYSAC’s statewide Raise the Age Task Force, an advisory group of county prosecutors, sheriffs, probation officers, and other local officials formed to monitor the integration of the new state law in the community.
“I am humbled and honored to accept this excellence in public service award. We face many challenges in government. We must always find ways to be more innovative, more efficient, and more effective as we deliver public services,” said Nesbitt. “I appreciate the opportunity to serve Orleans County lawmakers and the thousands of county residents that elected them. Being a public administrator is the most rewarding challenge of my career and I am proud to be selected for this award.”
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