How do you feel about a four-year term for Supervisor in the Town of Kent? Leave your comments here.
Popularity: 5% [?]
|
|||||
|
TaconicArts.com Interior/Exterior House Painting by someone you can trust.
Brown Ink Commercial Printing
600 Horsepound Road, Kent Lakes, NY 10512
(845) 225-0177 Joe Greico's Out On A Limb All types of tree work, all aspects of lawn maintenance, snow plowing, lot clearing, excavation, retaining walls, stump grinding.
82 Hortontown Rd. Chuckie Goodnight Foundation To educate children on how to be good stewards of the earth. Hudson Valley Photo and Video Photography by Chris Casaburi (845) 531-2358 Town of Kent Conservation Advisory Committee Explore the outdoors in the Town of Kent, New York The BEST way to handle butter!
A Putnam County Owned Business Enterprise |
Town of Kent Supervisor Term10 comments to Town of Kent Supervisor TermLeave a Reply |
|
|||
|
Copyright © 2012 - News That Matters - All Rights Reserved
Powered by WordPress & Atahualpa |
|||||
I agree with the idea that if someone is good, they should be able to prove that within 2 years, and then get reelected. That’s just an idea though, because my idea of “good” might not be someone else’s, especially in Kent, where whoever I vote for loses. If it’s someone good, I would like them there forever!
I aplologize, I over-edited my second paragraph, which should have said,
“Also, a two year term provides the town with the opportunity to change the balance of power at every town election with 3/5 of the town board up for election. A four year term takes the power away from the voter by eliminating the chance at each election to break any stronghold that any particular administration might hold.”
There is no difference in time between two 2-year terms and one 4-year term. They both equal 1,461 days. A 2 year term offers a “mid-term” report card, a time when voters can chose to purge the town of bad government, or vote to continue with what it perceives as a good job. Without it, the town is stuck. Looking over the last 10 years, it seems we have had more bad government than good government, even with 2-term elections. Why would anyone want to lock the town into bad government? Kent has proven that voters can make mistakes. The argument that a supervisor can’t get anything done holds no water. If that were the case, the last few supervisors would have been given more time to do what the voters decidedly perceives as a poor job.
Also, a two year term provides the town with the opportunity to change the balance of power at every town election with 3/5 of the town board up for election. A four year term takes the power away from the voter by eliminating any stronghold that any particular administration might hold.
This is no judgement on any supervisor, it is simply bad for the voters. In my opinion, it is the voters, not the elected officials that matter.
John, I think the compromise is to move town elections to IRV instead of the system we’ve got going now. I’ve written a great deal about it in the past and will, as time permits, write about it again.
Two years seems too short for anyone to get anything done. Even if your goals are compatible, different people use different methods get there, in which case, that take some set-up time. You also have to count the time it takes to put together a campaign, not so long for local elections but still, a real distraction and possibly too much focus on ‘personalities’. –There are probably many other things that people should have a chance to vote on every two years.
Jeff,
What is your proposed comprimise? I for one am undecided and would like to hear it. There are people who will listen despite what you may assume.
Thanks
John
On Monday evening the Kent Town Board met in a public hearing to discuss the implications of electing their town Supervisor to a four-year term rather than the current two years. About 30 people showed up (I would have thought the issue would have brought out more) but every political junkie in town was there to either witness the event or pass judgment. There are good points and bad points on both sides of the argument and though I might offer a compromise it doesn’t seem like anyone would listen. Too many people have already made up their minds and it seems they may have done so based on politics rather than on good governance.
Well as far as the current supervisor four years sounds great! I don’t think it is a bad idea.Gives them time to actually accomplish something.I think the people in Kent have learned the hard way to pay attention to local elections.
Here is the net result of switching to a four-year term for Supervisor:
The Town Board is essentially 5 members, each with equal voting rights. While the Supervisor for most towns generally holds more responsibility for day-to-day activities, and is usually compensated at a higher rate, he or she is simply carrying out decisions made by the entire Board. The Supervisor, unlike the President or Governor or Mayor, is simply part of the Legislative branch. At the Town or Village level there is no “Executive” branch (or “Judicial” either, in effect).
So, what voters should really be asking themselves is whether they want to adopt what is, essentially, a protective measure preventing them from changing the balance of the Board every 2 years. The only real benefit (that I can think of anyway) is to the Supervisor who would no longer be required to run for re-election every two years. Since two of the other four Board members would be running anyway there is no savings with regard to running elections.
Personally, I would be very interested in hearing from folks who are in favor of this with regard to the reasons.
My husband and I are against a four year term for town supervisor. A productive supervisor should have no difficulty being re-elected every two years. However, in the case of a non-productive supervisor, we citizens would be stuck for the next four years with no opportunity to correct the situation. We hold elections every two years for members of the board, so it is not as if we have to hold a special election just for the supervisory position. Keep in mind all situations have a flip side.