MONTICELLO – After five years as Commissioner of Health and Human Services, John Liddle has tendered his resignation. 

Sullivan County Communications Director Dan Hust said Liddle’s resignation is effective June 11 and that leaders of Social Services, Community Services, Public Health, and the Adult Care Center, are currently reporting directly to County Manager Joshua Potosek.

At the most recent Health and Human Services Committee meeting on May 14, Liddle was not in attendance to give his monthly report. However, Legislator Cat Scott, who chairs the committee, gave a statement commending Liddle for his leadership through the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.  

“This has been a difficult week,” she said of his resignation. “Through times of challenge and change John brought steady leadership, compassion and an unwavering commitment to the people of this county.”

Liddle was hired in April of 2021 as Commissioner of the Division of Health and Human Services after serving as the Commissioner of Social Services. Before coming to Sullivan County in 2019, Liddle served as Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy.

Community organizer Marty Colavito spoke during public comment to say he was “devastated” about Liddle’s resignation. 

“The impact that his presence made from a community standpoint has been invaluable,” Colavito said.

Colavito qualified his statements of praise with a caveat: “I didn’t always see eye-to-eye with John, but I could always count on his transparency, his partnership, and his buy-in to our community.”