New York State Senator Joseph Griffo invited New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Commissioner Mark Schroeder to the Oneida County DMV location at the Utica Train Station on April 16 to address what some have referred to as some “wrinkles” in the state mandated DMV upgrade roll-out this past February.
Examples of some of those “wrinkles” offered by a member of Griffo’s staff included customers paying by credit card not being charged accurately, then unreasonably long waits for refunds or corrections, people receiving enhanced licenses with outdated photographs, etc.
For Oneida County residents who have experienced some of these wrinkles, leaders overseeing the upgrade acknowledged those issues, asked for and appreciated residents’ patience as they assured they are working to correct them as quickly as possible.
“Is it perfect? No,” acknowledged Oneida County Clerk, Mary Finegan, who noted challenges arising that were not anticipated.
Looking at the issues
The leaders boiled down the first phase of the upgrade to driver’s licenses. Advice to residents while wrinkles are steadily being ironed out is to be prompted by email renewal reminders they should be receiving and renew as early as possible. Drivers are eligible to renew a year before the birthday on which their license expires.
When asked about the impact of the current presidential administration’s intention to automatically register eligible citizens for the draft on the practice of DMVs to allow registration when obtaining or renewing a license, as well as regarding CDL licenses and Standard Driver’s License or ID cards for immigrant residents, Schroeder replied to say emphatically, “We follow federal laws and we will continue to do so.”
He was also questioned about the New York State license “point system” rolled out three years ago, in response to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s concern about a number of “dangerous drivers” who remained on the road.
“If you are not one of them,” said Schroeder, “then you have nothing to worry about.”
Schroeder drilled down to drivers with repeat offenses who are targeted by the point system in hopes that more serious consequences might deter that dangerous driving. He recommended to drivers to whom that applied that they familiarize themselves with that system and those consequences.
Schroeder, who was appointed to his role by Hochul in 2019, shared having visited with all 51 New York State county clerks, repeating the number 51 for emphasis, on a dedicated listening tour to determine what the issues are on the ground.
“As commissioner,” said Schroeder, “it’s important to understand what their needs are.”
Indulging in tomato pie
To warm up the local crowd, Schroeder noted that he could not visit with the Oneida County Clerk in Utica without indulging in tomato pie.
“I’m from Buffalo,” Schroeder shared, where he remembers tomato pie, though it wasn’t called that, at a neighborhood Italian place. “Every Sunday, we’d watch the fireman line up out the door to get it!”
But, Schroeder closed for the win, “it wasn’t as good as Utica. Your tomato pie is one of a kind!”
Visiting county clerks
Back to the business of visiting county clerks, Schroeder said one thing he reported learning from the county clerks was that they had been “commissioner-less” for six years – since 2014 – before he was appointed.
Schroeder shared that each time he visited a DMV office, he heard about the “glitches” in the system they – and their customers – were consistently experiencing.
“Why,” set up Schroeder? “Because many of the department’s data lines dated back to when Nelson Rockefeller was governor. That was back in the 1960s!.
He assured that those outdated data lines had been replaced, building on Oneida County Clerk Mary Finegan’s pride in the fact that, over the past several years, they had succeeded at fully staffing the DMV and modernizing operations.
In the meantime, Schroeder shared his regard for the DMV agents and supervisors who work with the new system, and are customer-facing regarding concerns over wrinkles in it, every day.
“They do all the work,” said Schroeder.
County offices are keeping a “running list” of issues, while Schroeder is connecting with each office every two weeks to learn of ongoing or new challenges and share best practices for addressing them.
DMV role in addressing NYS organ donor crisis an achievement
Schroeder took the occasion of his visit to the Oneida County DMV to promote his initiative to exploit the ability to register to be an organ donor when obtaining or renewing a driver’s license to address a statewide shortage of donors, risking the lives of residents who are waiting for them.
“There are 8,000 New Yorkers waiting on a list to receive an organ,” said Schroeder. “This is unacceptable. We have to do better.”
Schroeder has mobilized DMV offices and employees in this regard to increase the number of residents who check the box to donate organs during license transactions or any visit to the DMV.
When he took office in 2019, 39% of NY state drivers had registered to be organ donors. In 2026, it is now over 80%.
NYS Mandated DMV Upgrade Phase 2
Finegan assured Oneida County residents preparing for Phase 2 of the mandated upgrade that “the next phase will be a lot smoother.”
“Roma non uno die condita est,” Schroeder dropped as a pop Latin quiz.
“It means, Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Schroeder translated. “These things take time.”
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: State DMV commissioner stops in Utica to discuss update ‘wrinkles’
Reporting by Cara Dolan Berry, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
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