Mary E. McMickle

(845) 340-3448

mmcm@co.ulster.ny.us

Effective Labor Day, 2002 I will retire as Ulster County’s STOP-DWI Coordinator. I was appointed to this position on August 1,1983 by then Legislature Chairman Thomas Roach. On that same day, I resigned my seat as County Legislator from District 3, a position I held since January 1, 1980, in order to accept the appointment.

To get right to the point, the reason for my retirement is my health. Prior to my heart attack and emergency bypass surgery on December 31, 1997, I thrived on hard work, controversy and stress in my quest to save lives. For a year or so after the surgery, I was feeling better, but as time went by, my body began to react negatively to the stress and long hours required to do the job. In reflection, I ignored many work related warning signs.

The last major angina attack I had, after a confrontation with my computer, took me from the office to the hospital. This finally convinced me that there was one more life that I could save, and that my friends, is my own. The decision to retire was taken out of my hands. I could no longer continue to do the work I was hired to do. It was time to retire and pass the stress on to someone else.

Chairman Ward D. Todd has appointed John Miller to the position of STOP-DWI Coordinator effective Labor Day. He is an outstanding choice. With many years in law enforcement as a D.A.R.E. officer; an instructor for the Department of Motor Vehicle’s Drinker Driver program and as program consultant to the DWI Impact Panel, he clearly knows the subject and has the enthusiasm to move the program forward.

Over the summer, John and I will make the transition. In the area of public relations and program development, he will not need advice from me, he will clearly soar like an eagle….It’s the paperwork, reports, budgets and other such "stuff" that’s frustrating, but requires concentration and attention.

Leaving is not something I wanted to do and it saddens me, but I do so knowing that I did a good job and John Miller will take it to newer and greater heights.