Patricia Doxsey is reporting for the Daily Freeman the public failed to show on March 14, for a public hearing on a recommendation by the Ulster County Periodic Review Committee to give pay raises to the county’s elected officials. The committee has recommended the salaries of the four countywide elected officials be increased by $15,000. The salaries would increase by $7,500 this year and $7,500 in 2023. It has also recommended the rank-and-file legislators and caucus leaders receive a $2,000 raise over two years and that the salary for the Legislature chairperson be increased by $2,500 over two years. The county executive, sheriff, and comptroller have not had pay raises since 2009. The county clerk’s salary has not changed since 2005. The county executive is now paid $133,572. If the recommended pay hikes are approved, that salary would increase to $148,572 by 2023. The salaries of the other county officials would increase to $116,709 by 2023. Although no one from the public offered an opinion on the proposed salary increases this week, the comptroller, clerk, and sheriff each submitted letters and appeared before the committee urging salary hikes for their positions, noting that their salaries are lower than those paid to their peers in other counties. The recommendation will now go to the county legislature for consideration. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.