Irondequoit Supervisor Adam Bello will be moving on to a countywide position. Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday appointed Bello to be the new Monroe County Clerk, filling the vacancy when Republican Cheryl Dinolfo became County Executive in January.
A spokesperson for Cuomo's office says that one reason they decided to fill the spot now rather than wait for an election is that when Dinolfo became County Executive she took much of the management team she had with her, leaving a void in the County Clerk's office.
Bello was first elected in 2014 and ran unopposed last year for re-election. He says one of the issues he wants to tackle as county clerk is to lead a coordinated effort to help municipalities deal with the vacant, or so-called “zombie properties.”
“I think the biggest issue that the county is facing that I think the county clerk can play a role in is in dealing with these vacant zombie properties. There’s, I think, a lack of leadership on this issue, we’ve done a lot of work on this in Irondequoit.”
Bello says he will be announcing a community-wide task force on the issue. As far as his current job is concerned, Bello says the town's deputy supervisor will take over until the town board can name a replacement. Bello would still have to run for the county clerk position this fall and it's expected county Republicans will also field a candidate.
