CANTON -- Former St. Lawrence County Legislature Chair and two-term board member Jonathan Putney announced his resignation Monday.

Putney said he his decision was due to a move to the Heuvelton area, where he will be closer to members of his immediate family.

Putney submitted the following letter regarding his resignation.

“The purpose of this letter is to inform you that I will be stepping down from the office of County Legislator in District 15 effective April 5th at Midnight.

Please consider this my formal resignation letter. I ask that you, this evening March 16, 2015, appoint a committee of legislators from the Democratic conference to select a new legislator for District 15.

To serve the people of my district well I believe that the selection of the committee should be formally adopted at the Full Board Meeting on April 6th.

This should occur at the beginning of the full board meeting's agenda so that this individual can be sworn in and vote on the issues that impact our county. It has been an honor and privilege to serve the people in St. Lawrence County.“

Putney also shared the following speech with the board last night.

“My focus in public office has been on solving problems and creating opportunity for a better tomorrow.

I entered office to get things done, to serve the people of my district and this county well. In the beginning it was just my wife and I. As I leave office the size of my immediate family has doubled.

At this time I am stepping down as my wife and I have decided that it is in our families' best interest to move to the Heuvelton area. With this decision we will be much closer to our immediate family. Our first child will be enrolling in pre-k this year.

My wife and I attended Heuvelton Central and we want our children to learn from the exceptional people that make up the faculty and staff and administration within the district. My wife and I had hoped that we could send our children to HCS by paying tuition. That would have allowed me to complete my term in office. Unfortunately we learned that the district no longer accepts students from families who wish to pay tuition. While it would have been nice to have the best of both worlds sometimes in life you come to a fork in the road and you must choose one path or another. I am certain that the interests of my young family far outweigh the benefits of remaining on this board of legislators. Making the best decision for my young family is my first priority.

I want to thank my family for having been supportive of me over all of these years. I couldn't have served without them.

I want to say thank you to the people in my district for electing me in 2010 and reelecting me in 2014. It has been an honor to serve the people in Waddington, Louisville and Massena as well as St. Lawrence County as a whole.

I want to thank the members of my conference. I couldn't have served as Chairman of the Board of Legislators without the confidence of and assistance from my fellow legislators and friends.

Thank you to Governor Cuomo. No one knows how to get things in NY state government done better than Governor Andrew Cuomo.

I have been proud to partner with Gov. Cuomo on issues of importance to St. Lawrence County and the North Country. Here are a handful of areas

• Obtaining Home Rule Legislation. In March of 2013 The governor was asked by a reporter “If home rule legislation to raise the sales tax one percent for St. Lawrence County gets to your desk, will you sign it?” Governor Cuomo responded, “In matters like that, I respect the locality and I respect the local legislators, so if it’s passed, I’ll sign it.” Once the governor took that public position the position our state senators softened their views and our County legislature was able to provide some significant property tax relief to county residents.

• Restoring Tribal compact funds. In May of 2013 after having worked with the Governor and his staff to restore the flow of millions of dollars worth of tribal compact funds to St. Lawrence County our efforts paid off. LITERALLY.

• Elite series in Waddington. In August of 2013 Governor Cuomo helped to promote grassroots tourism in St. Lawrence County. In Waddington the Bassmasters elite tournament helped to raise St. Lawrence County’s profile on the national stage as a fishing capital.

• Saving SLPC. In December of 2013 It was Governor Cuomo who made the final call to overturn the Office of Mental Health's decision to end the services at the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center. The governor listened to the task force and declared that SLPC is a center of excellence.

• Resolving litigation regarding Land Claims - May of 2014 throughout 2013 and 2014 I Negotiated with Cuomo administration officials and signed a Historic land claims Memorandum of Understanding with the Governor. While it is not a final agreement it is a major step towards finally resolving this issue in a way that is beneficial to the county on numerous fronts.

• The Canton Potsdam bypass study which is underway. Before a 4 lane limited access highway can be built there must be a study. An investment in our infrastructure is desperately needed to improve our transportation capacity and economy here in St. Lawrence County.

• Monetization. The Cuomo administration brought forward a bill in the legislature which the Governor signed into law allowing for monetization of 20 megawatts of power worth between $2-3 million dollars annually. This provides the RVRDA and the IDA with more resources to create the Jobs we so desperately need in St. Lawrence County.

• Our largest private sector employer... Alcoa. This Governor, Andrew Cuomo has gone out of his way to do what can be done to encourage this business to reinvest in their operations in St. Lawrence County. On numerous occasions his administration has come to the table on our behalf.

If I have been able to chart the direction of this county onto a more prosperous course even just a little bit despite all of the significant challenges we have faced I leave my position with some degree of satisfaction. It has taken a lot of time and energy to plant the seeds of hope for a better tomorrow.

It has been worthwhile for me because I believe that we will be bearing some fruit from this work in the years ahead.

Ladies and gentleman it has been an honor and privilege to serve. I hope that you find your work to be rewarding and something you and others can be proud of. I wish you well, thank you and may god bless you.”