MONTICELLO — Legislators on March 16 confirmed Sullivan County Manager Josh Potosek's choice of deputy county manager: Dan Depew.

The former Orange County legislator and Wurtsboro Airport manager will give up his elected position as Town of Wallkill supervisor next month and officially start with Sullivan County on April 24, at a salary of $110,000.

He'll be the first deputy Sullivan County manager since Potosek was promoted following the departure of former County Manager David Fanslau in 2013.

“It's a new opportunity, to do something different, to leave [Wallkill] on a high note,” Depew, 36, said the day after the confirmation vote. “... There's a hope and a sense of optimism [in Sullivan County] that's really able to be embraced now.”

“He brings to the table general governmental experience that will be useful,” said Potosek. “He's a hands-on guy.”

That includes the past four years as the leader of the Town of Wallkill, which encompasses Middletown and includes the active retail and industrial areas near the intersection of Route 17 and Interstate 84, like the Galleria at Crystal Run and Orange Plaza. Town government operates on a $26 million budget and employs around 200. (Sullivan County, by contrast, has a $200 million-plus budget and more than 1,000 employees.)

Leaving Wallkill

Depew cites his accomplishments in Wallkill as including the creation of new websites and a notification system for the town and police department, elevating the town's bond rating three notches to AA, growing the taxable assessed value by $80 million, staying under the tax cap, acquiring a private campground for public use, negotiating for the tunnel linking the two malls under Route 17 and establishing those ubiquitous illustrated street signs townwide.

He lists cuts as an achievement, too: reducing expenses in his first year by $1.2 million, slimming a cash flow deficit by $2 million and cutting 10 full-time positions to save more than $600,000 - without reducing services, he stated.

“Trust me, my town would love to keep me,” Depew remarked, noting his three-time election to the $90,000-a-year post. “It's not about the money. It's a new challenge - that's how I see it. ... Something tells me this is the right decision, that it's the right thing to do.”

Deputy Supervisor Eric Valentin, who will take over after Depew leaves, feels it has to do with Depew's aspirations for both his young family and his career.

“The county is getting an excellent visionary,” Valentin said. “I think he's going to be a tremendous asset. ... I am very sad to see him go.”

Valentin's a Democrat, while Depew is a Republican, as is the majority of the town board.

“We get along well,” Valentin affirmed, though he feels there's an appropriate set of checks-and-balances. “Do we have differences of opinion sometimes? I should hope so!”

“I'm extremely apolitical,” said Depew. “I'm more issue-driven. ... I consider myself more the CEO of a large company.”

County plans

In Sullivan County, however, he'll be under Potosek, and he is promising not to be “a bull in the china closet.”

He plans to meet with the county's myriad commissioners and department heads to ascertain their needs and wants.

“I'm going to listen to what people have to say,” he proffered. “... I love getting things done and making government work.”

Still, he believes in “holding people accountable.”

“Am I the most popular guy all the time with my staff?” he asked rhetorically (“no” being the obvious answer), likening his role to an athletic team's coach. “At the end of the day, the coach you respect the most is the coach who pushes you the hardest.”

In addition to lightening Potosek's workload as far as day-to-day operations, he'll likely interact regularly with the nine legislators.

“My goal is to make the Legislature's job easier,” he said.

The Pine Bush High School graduate plans to use his SUNY New Paltz Bachelor's in Political Science to accomplish such.

In the workforce since his teens, Depew helped run the Gander Mountain store in the township. His human resources leadership in that store was a key hiring factor, according to Potosek.

Depew beat out four other candidates Potosek interviewed - three of whom are Sullivan County residents. Depew lives in Orange County.

“He brought a unique skill set to the table that I thought was valuable,” Potosek explained, noting Depew's ability to navigate politics while understanding the private sector. “He's generally well-rounded, and I think we will work well together.”

Potosek said he spoke with legislators about Depew's hiring prior to the confirmation vote, and Depew seemed the best fit for their goals.

“This board is pretty progressive and wants to do a lot of forward-thinking things,” he stated. “... There is so much they want to have accomplished.”

That includes completing the jail, updating personnel policies and salaries, and maximizing the county airport's value.

“He's got more expertise than I would, having run an airport,” Potosek noted.

Connection to Lamm

That may be how Depew is most familiar to Sullivan County residents: as the former manager of the Wurtsboro Airport.

While he brought the popular aviation spot to renewed prominence and activity, Depew also worked under its controversial owner and developer, Shalom Lamm, who now stands arrested and accused of trying to throw a Village of Bloomingburg election and who has sown deep distrust in the community due to secretive efforts with the Chestnut Ridge development there.

Depew, however, said he was not involved in that part of Lamm's activities.

“I haven't spoken to him in years, and I'm not pleased with what's happened there,” Depew stated. “If what they say he did he did, then that's unconscionable.”

Doesn't plan to move

Currently living in the Town of Wallkill just over the Sullivan County line, Depew does not intend to move into Sullivan. It's not required of his job, though it is of the commissioners he'll be overseeing.

With three kids - Benjamin, 6, Lily, 4 and Daniel, 1 1/2 - and wife Marybeth employed at Orange-Ulster BOCES, Depew is not interested in relocating at this point, even though he lives within sight of Sullivan County, just south of Bloomingburg.

“I grew up in the Town of Wallkill, swimming and trout-fishing in the Shawangunk Kill,” he recalls, referring to the creek which serves as the boundary between Orange and Sullivan counties.

His father used to work on substations and hydroelectric facilities in Sullivan, so he has acquaintances spanning Fremont to Mamakating. He also was a prominent supporter of a casino here rather than in Orange County, and he once worked with Holiday Mountain in an attempt to attract a waterpark.

“Sullivan County has always been a close second home to me,” he remarked. “Sullivan County is on the way up, and I'd love to help.”