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Ward system hits the ballot Dec. 22
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The Town Board voted unanimously Nov. 5 to put the question of councilmatic districts on the ballot next month, though at least one council member takes issue with a special election around the holidays.
Voters will decide Dec. 22 whether Huntington should change its method of representation to one whereby each of four council members would be elected to serve a particular district.
If the referendum passes, the Town Board would draw up the wards' boundaries effective Jan. 1, 2010, town spokesman A.J. Carter said.
Councilman Mark Cuthburtson said he sees the timing of the referendum as a result of a "gaming of the system" by petitioners.
"The proponents of this had these signatures in hand," Councilman Mark Cuthbertson said last week. "They only added a hundred signatures from the time in which they could have put them on this year's ballot and the time in which they submitted to the clerk. And the result is that we're going to have a special election on Dec. 22 that asks the question should we fundamentally change the way our town government is structured."
He argued that a very small portion of the population will make the decision because the vote will take place during the holiday season. "But we have no choice," he said. "Under the law we have to put this on in a 15-day window. So reluctantly I will cast my vote for this."
Though Northport resident Michael Kearns had filed a general objection to the petitions, he did not pursue it.
Mark Cronin, coordinator of Concerned Citizens for Huntington, refuted Cuthbertson's claims.
"We asked the board to put the issue on the Election Day ballot and they refused," Cronin said of his group's effort in organizing the petition drive. "We turned in the petitions as soon as we could. They claim we only added 100 signatures. In fact we added 500 signatures and they know it, because we put that in a letter to them to show them the 500 signatures."
At last Thursday's town meeting, ten people spoke in favor of putting councilmatic districts up for public vote and also expressed support for the ward system.
Wayne Rendely, of Huntington Station, said he could never be elected under the current at-large election system, which requires substantial funding to successfully campaign to the entire town, while his wife, Marie, said if their community had a directly accountable representative, then laws that have affected them adversely might never have passed.
Paul Johnson, who led the 2004 campaign to bring council districts to the town, which ultimately failed when a judge threw out many signatures on grounds that they were outdated, opined that everyone is afraid of change but it is inevitable.
In light of the 2005 court decision, Mark Cronin said his group wanted to gather more than the minimum number of required signatures.
While others have questioned the timing of the vote, Cronin said the vast majority of referendum votes take place through special elections. "That's the way the petition process works," he said. Brookhaven, for example voted in their ward system in a special referendum Jan. 22, 2002.
"Council districts promise better representation, more accountability and more openness. It just makes sense," Cronin concluded.
Eric Alexander, of Northport, argued that councilmatic districts work in other towns by creating a sense of place and bringing focus to all geographic areas.
His wife, Liz Krolik, who works as a legislative aide for Brookhaven Councilwoman Connie Kepert, noted that each district has different and unique issues and council people are on the pulse on these issues.
Donald Clark, of Northport, said he is glad that the citizens of Huntington may vote on the issue.
Many communities have not had a voice in the town, Michael Kornfeld of Huntington claimed.
He argued that councilmatic districts, also known as the ward system, candidates would not have to seek out special interest groups to run an election and therefore not be beholden to anyone.
Randal Williams of Huntington noted that the town has grown to a diverse population of 200,000.
With just under 500,000 people, Brookhaven has six Town Board members each elected to serve separate districts and Supervisor Mark Lesko elected to serve the entire town.
"This is not about streamlining government," Williams said. "This is about providing every resident of Huntington the opportunity to elect a representative for their newly formed council districts who knows their neighborhood, knows the issues, as a resident of that neighborhood."
Carol Schlitt, of Huntington, said switching to council districts would come at no additional cost to government. "The introduction of council districts will bring our government in line with every other level of government where we already have district representation: the United States Congress, the New York State Assembly, the New York State Senate and the Suffolk County Legislature," Schlitt said.
Only one person spoke against councilmatic districts.
As a former Suffolk county legislator and majority leader, Paul Tonna of Huntington said he knows firsthand the realities of an elected official representing just one district. "One of the great things about Huntington is that you have a win-win situation," Tonna said. "It's where elected officials get together and basically try to do some problem-solving for the whole town."
The movement on Long Island is to get away from compartmentalization, he said. People are beginning to realize they should think more regionally.
"Councilmatic districts are really running against the tide," he said, arguing that the ward system pits parts of the community against one another. Hear both sides, get absentee ballots
Prior to the Dec. 22 referendum, panelists will debate the pros and cons of councilmatic districts Tuesday, Dec. 1, from 7 to 9 pm at Harborfields Public Library. Two panelists each, chosen by their respective groups, will represent supporters and opponents of the ward system proposed for the Town of Huntington, according to the League of Women Voters, the nonpartisan group that is hosting the forum. Applications for absentee ballots will be available at the debate.
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