A year ago, former Otsego County Board Chairman David Brenner told the Board of Representatives that he had no doubt Otsego County would benefit from having a manager.

That was after Brenner completed a months-long study aptly named "Determining the Readiness of the Otsego County Board of Representatives to Consider Establishing a County Administrator Position."

Of course, despite the logical arguments that have been offered for both sides of the county-manager issue, Brenner was aware of the role politics had played and would continue to play in any discussion.

Brenner said last July that political obstacles must be overcome before the initiative could succeed. It would be very difficult for a manager to work for a polarized board, he added.

Not only that. We submit that it also would be difficult to get the proposal before a polarized board. And, yes, after a long and disastrous 12 months for the county board, indeed nothing has been done to further the prospects of securing a county manager.

Brenner, of course, was speaking months before the county’s biggest snafu in recent memory: adopting an erroneous tax levy that resulted in a 22 percent increase rather than the 2.5 percent board members thought they were approving.

The former Oneonta mayor studied 10 upstate New York counties in depth to find out what their officials think about having a manager or administrator. Only eight rural counties in the state do not have an administrator, he found, adding that some administrators have saved their counties an amount far more than their salaries.

Clearly, during the past year, such could have been the case in Otsego County. But too many board members have remained opposed to hiring a manager.

For years, a majority of the board’s Democrats have said the county should establish a manager’s post, while a majority of their Republican peers have said a manager would constitute an expensive new layer of government.

But after having to spend thousands of dollars to mail tax-refund checks to cover their budget mistake, board members are facing an unprecedented onslaught of challengers at the ballot box in November.

According to the county Board of Elections, nine of 14 seats on the county board apparently will be contested between the major parties, two seats more than in the last election cycle. A 10th race, for the District 10 seat (Burlington, Edmeston, Exeter and Plainfield), has two Republicans, incumbent Betty Anne Schwerd and David Lincoln, vying for their party’s nomination.

Though some of the board’s miscues may be cited as incentives for some challenges, the real issue behind many of the county’s problems is the lack of day-to-day management.

For voters and taxpayers, hiring a manager should be the candidate litmus test this election.