Letter to the Editor: Ward system is not in the town’s best interest

Monday, October 24, 2011
by Dr. William H. Flank

I attended the LWV session to hear the pro’s and con’s of the ward proposal, and I came away feeling that several concerns were not adequately addressed.

The wording of the proposed referendum text, with its two parts, appears ambiguous and potentially more than a little bit misleading, in that it calls for changing the number of at-large seats and then also calls for these same members to be elected as ward representatives, who would thus NOT be at-large.

Further, if six Board members were to be elected at one time, that would mean that two then-current Board members would have to be recalled without cause, since there are presently staggered four-year terms.  That is not explicit in the referendum text.

While it may be possible to draw a ward map in several legal ways, gerrymandering is still a potential problem.  If Town election law states that “no town election district shall be divided,” how do we get six equal wards from sixteen districts?

What I heard in the way of arguments was more conclusory than factual.  This is not a well-thought out proposal in many respects, and in its present form would lead to endless legal and political hassling.  That’s not in the Town’s best interests. 

Dr. William H. Flank chairs the Environmental Review Board of the Town of New Castle.

_________________
The two-part proposal will appear in the November 8 referendum as a single statement to which voters will answer Yes or No. It will read as follows:

“That a) the number of at-large seats on the Town Board be increased from four to six;

and

b) that these six members of the Board be elected as representatives of each of six wards respectively of the Town of New Castle, to be defined in accordance with the laws of New York State, Town Law, Article 6, Section 85.”