Proposal would double term of supervisor
TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. » Town Board members are floating a proposal that would increase the term for supervisor from two years to four years, effective for the winner of the November 2017 election.
The proposed change was discussed during a Town Board meeting Thursday.
Board members said they expect next month to schedule a public hearing on the proposal.
“The Town Board recognizes that the office of the town supervisor is a full-time position and ... believes an extended term would bring greater continuity to the office, and thus believes that the extended term is in the public’s best interest,” officials wrote.
In a telephone interview following the meeting, Supervisor James Quigley said the longer term would help with following through on projects.
“There are a lot of issues that require a lot of planning and, if there is a discontinuity between administrations, a lot of that planning may get wasted,” he said. “The new administration may plan on going in a different direction or may not be able to execute the plans as laid out.”
Quigley added that residents have traditionally shown support for new supervisors and the longer term would simplify the voting process.
“If you go back the last 50 to 60 years, voters in the town have always been generous enough to allow the supervisor, if he’s initially elected for a two-year term, to be elected for another two-year term,” he said.
Quigley, who is a retired financial consultant, also contends it is difficult to get qualified people to seek office if they are not able to make a long-term commitment to projects.
“A lot of the comments that I hear from people that are in the business community that have interest in public service say they aren’t going to give up their business for a two-year term,” he said. “So, from the point of view of the opportunity to provide the voters with good candidates going forward, perhaps a fouryear term will attract higher quality candidates.”
Resident Marc Rider said the proposal should not be presented during an election year that would have fouryear terms start in 2018.
“I would be supportive of seeing the mandatory referendum in November and then having it go into effect after 2019,” he said.
Rider noted that having the public vote on term lengths during the same election that will have a supervisor’s race would be unfair to voters.
“People don’t know whether they’re electing a supervisor for a two- or a four-year term,” he said. “Often, these mandatory referendums end up on the back of a ballot and they get defeated.”
The proposition was previously put to voters in 2007, when it was defeated 1,8971,103. However, referendums on extending the terms for town clerk and highway superintendent were approved.