Chuck Nesbitt, county’s CAO, presented Public Service Excellence Award
Provided photo: Chuck Nesbitt, second from right, was honored on Monday with the Public Service Excellence Award from the NYS Academy for Public Administration. He is pictured with from left: Stephen Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties (which is currently led by Nesbitt as president); Orleans County Legislator Skip Draper; Lynne Johnson, chairwoman of the Orleans County Legislature; and Elissa Nesbitt, Nesbitt’s wife.
Nesbitt also is president of the New York State Association of Counties
Press Release, NYSAC
ALBANY – Chuck Nesbitt, Orleans County’s chief administrative officer and also president of the New York State Association of Counties, has received the Public Service Excellence Award from the State Academy for Public Administration.
The award, for non-elected public officials, was presented at SAPA’s annual meeting in Albany on Monday.
“I am humbled and honored to accept this excellence in public service award,” Nesbitt said. “We face many challenges in government. We must always find ways to be more innovative, more efficient, and more effective as we deliver public services. I appreciate the opportunity serve Orleans County lawmakers and the thousands of county residents that elected them. Being a public administrator is the most rewarding challenge of my career and I am proud to be selected for this award.”
Since 2005, Nesbitt has served as the chief administrative officer for Orleans County. Prior to that, he was an economic development specialist for Empire State Development.
He also served as President of the NYS Association of County Administrators and Managers from 2008 to 2018. In September 2018, Nesbitt was elected to serve as president of NYSAC, the state-wide bipartisan municipal association representing the interests and concerns of New York’s counties and the elected and appointed leaders who serve their residents.
“It is a pleasure to see Chuck Nesbitt receive this award,” said NYSAC Executive Director Stephen J. Acquario. “Chuck exemplifies the model attributes for public service.”
As CAO of Orleans County, Nesbitt acts on behalf of the Legislature to implement policy and oversee the county departments, serves as the budget officer, and maintains core county services and programs.
Under his leadership, Orleans County partnered with Genesee County to transform their Public Health Departments by sharing a health commissioner and a commonly appointed board of health and combining many of their public health functions and eliminating duplicative tasks. This is one of the only public health cross-jurisdictional sharing projects in the state and has saved the counties over $1 million.
Nesbitt serves as the chair of NYSAC’s statewide Raise the Age Task Force, an advisory group of county prosecutors, sheriffs, probation officers, and other local officials formed to monitor the integration of the new state law in the community.
“Time and again, Mr. Nesbitt has stepped up to assist members of the Orleans County Legislature, and his peers from across the state,” Acquario said. “It has always been clear to us that Chuck Nesbitt stands out as an esteemed public administrator. We are pleased today to see this recognition by the State Academy of Public Administration.”
“On behalf of the Orleans County Legislature, we offer our congratulations and sincere appreciation for Mr. Nesbitt’s efforts to continuously improve county operations,” said Lynne M. Johnson, chairwoman of the Orleans County Legislature.
The State Academy for Public Administration was formed 44 years ago, harnessing the energy and expertise of our academic and practitioner Fellows who are dedicated to continual improvement of public service. It is a unique organization that serves and is served by New York State’s Public Administration Professionals.
