Daniel Zuckerman is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Greene County Legislature held its organizational meeting January 2. As one of its first acts of 2018, was the swearing in of Democrat Lee Palmateer of Athens to fill the unexpired term of Gene Hatton. Palmateer bested Republican Ed Bloomer by 21 votes to win the seat in November, making the Republican majority 8 to 6 this year. Republican Bill Lawrence of Cairo will continue to serve as majority leader. Democrat Aidan Quinn, who represents Durham, was unanimously chosen to serve as the legislature's minority leader. “I am honored for the opportunity and grateful for my colleagues’ faith in me,” he said. O’Connor replaces Harry Lennon of Cairo in the leadership. Lennon served in the position on three different occasions during his 11-year tenure. Looking at the year ahead, O’Connor and his fellow legislators see the new jail project as their first priority. Other issues on O'Connor's to-do list include broadband, combating the opioid crisis and working to create an affordable and responsible budget for 2019, all while maintaining a bipartisan, cooperative environment. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.