– With former Commissioner of Emergency Services Tony Sutton in attendance along with 100 firefighters from Carmel to Cold Spring, Ken Clair was formally appointed as Putnam County commissioner of Services by County Executive MaryEllen Odell at a ceremony Wednesday in Carmel.

Clair, a lifelong Brewster resident and emergency services provider for more than a quarter century, had served as acting commissioner for the past 13 months.

Clair’s wife Karen and his daughters Madison and Morgan beamed with pride when Odell described the commissioner as a “very sincere man who has served Putnam County with conviction and honor. Ken is a friend, a husband, dad and colleague to our dedicated emergency responders. The man deserves kudos for leading the charge during two major weather events in March and again in May. Ken worked around the clock for days making sure that our residents were safe and their needs were met. ”

Sheriff Robert Langley praised Clair. “Your life is rooted in this community. There is no one better for the job.”

Clair, who is also a state fire prevention officer while being certified by the National Incident Management agency, said could not have succeeded “without my right hand man, Deputy Commissioner Bob Lipton, former Commissioner Sutton, our 9-1-1 dispatchers, and the hundreds of brother and sister firefighters and EMS providers who stop what they are doing, leave their families at all hours of the day and night, to respond when needed.”