Picente Announces County Legacy Awards in Honor of Retiring McNamara & Timpano

County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. announced legacy awards today for excellence in law enforcement and public service in honor of District Attorney Scott McNamara and Comptroller Joseph Timpano who are both retiring at year’s end.   

• The Scott D. McNamara Excellence in Law Enforcement Award will be given annually to a law enforcement agency member in Oneida County who displays outstanding dedication to upholding the law and ensuring justice is served.
• The Joseph J. Timpano Excellence in Public Service Award will be given annually to an elected official in Oneida County who displays outstanding leadership in providing exemplary service to his or her community. 

Picente will appoint committees to receive nominations for each award and select the first winners in 2024. The Excellence in Law Enforcement Award will be displayed in the District Attorney’s Office and the Excellence in Public Service Award will be displayed in the County Office Building.

“Combined, these two men have dedicated over 55 years to the County of Oneida,” Picente said. “They have served the people admirably and left our community in a better place than they found it. I am proud to call them both dear friends and it has been my honor to have led alongside them. It is my hope that these awards will inspire excellence in law enforcement and public service and pay tribute to the undeniable legacies that Scott McNamara and Joe Timpano have cemented.”

McNamara is retiring at the end of the year after more than 30 years of serving Oneida County. He began his career as an Assistant District Attorney on July 20, 1992, became First Assistant District Attorney in January 2001 and Acting District Attorney in January 2007 after then-District Attorney Michael Arcuri was elected to U.S. Congress. McNamara is the longest-ever serving Oneida County District Attorney, having spent 17 years in office since being elected in November 2007.

He prosecuted many high-profile cases during his career, including the drowning of Raymond Umber in the case of People v. Arthur Mills; the double murder of Ricky Powell and Brian West in the People v. Delmar Brown; the murder of Eithen Theall by his father in the People v. Adam Theall and the beating death of Lucas Leonard and the assault of Christopher Leonard by members of the Word of Life Church. As District Attorney, McNamara also guided the office during the deaths of Oneida County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Kurt Wyman and Utica Police Officer Thomas Lindsey.

Timpano will retire as the longest-serving comptroller in the history of Oneida County at the end of the year. He was appointed to fill out the final year of Pat Donovan’s term in 1998 and was elected for the first time in 1999. He was then re-elected without opposition six consecutive times.

During his 25-year career, Timpano has done much to improve the county’s finances, protect county taxpayers and increase the efficiency of the county comptroller’s office, including establishing Oneida County as the first municipality in New York State to issue Build America Bonds and Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds; installing new accounting, payroll, accounts payable and fixed asset software systems; participating in the maintenance of an “A” category credit rating from all three nationally-recognized bond rating firms, including upgrades on four separate occasions and the retiring and refunding over $150 million in debt.