After meeting with county officials Friday, David Blair stepped down from his position as county mental health director.

Cayuga County Legislature chairman Roger Mills said Friday that Blair would no longer continue in his position, calling the move a retirement.

"At this time I can't comment. Details haven't been verified," Mills said. He indicated that county attorney Fred Westphal would meet with Blair on Tuesday to work out the details of Blair's retirement.

"Once the paperwork has been completed and signed, a formal announcement will be made," Mills said. "He announced his retirement. There isn't anything that's definitive, yet."

Legislator Ann Petrus, chair of the county's Health and Human Services Committee, deferred comment to Westphal, but neither Westphal nor Blair could be reached Friday night.

Blair has had a contentious relationship with some members of the county Legislature for years, with the tension getting worse in recent months.

A series of citations by the state Office of Mental Health resulted last fall in the state withholding about $750,000 in annual aid to the county.

In addition to infrastructure problems at the mental health center's Historic Post Office building in downtown Auburn, the state cited issues with treatment plans, patient confidentiality, staff training and record-keeping.

The county later took power away from Blair's control and vocal supporters of Blair began showing up at county meetings to defend him.

Blair had said he didn't answer to the county but to the Community Services Board, the entity that oversees mental health services in the county.

To address the mental health center's facility's problems the county considered renovating the old post office building at a cost of about $3 million, and later looked into moving the mental health services offices into vacant space at Auburn Memorial Hospital. More recently, the county decided to add 16,000 square feet to the Community Mental Health Center on North Street and move mental health services there.