Ariél Zangla is reporting for the Daily Freeman Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan said he has changed the line of succession for his office to establish the public trust and to make sure there is a clear separation between government and politics. Ryan said he amended the line of succession on July 1, placing Deputy County Executive Johanna Contreras at the top of the list to succeed him if, for any reason, he could not fulfill the duties of his office. In line behind Contreras on the amended list is Deputy County Executive Christopher Kelly, followed by county Director of Economic Development Tim Weidemann. The previous line of succession started with Deputy County Executive Marc Rider. Rider recently expressed an interest in securing the Democratic endorsement in the race for county executive if Ryan is successful in his Congressional bid. Ryan said, "...I wanted to make sure that no one who’s expressed interest in pursuing the office, were it to be open, would be in that line of succession so that the public could have confidence that the one and only goal of county government is to serve the residents of the county and that there’s no other agenda.” County Comptroller March Gallagher and former state Sen. Jen Metzger have also expressed an interest in serving as county executive should Ryan be elected to Congress. Ryan is running in a special election on August 23, against Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro for the 19th Congressional District seat vacated by Democrat Antonio Delgado. The winner of that race will serve through the end of the year. Should Ryan win that election, a second special election would be held in late December to fill the remainder of Ryan’s term as county executive, which expires December 31, 2023. Win or lose in August, Ryan will run again in November to represent the newly drawn 18th Congressional District. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.