Push by outsiders stalls term limits vote

KINGSTON, N.Y. » Ulster County lawmakers have delayed action on a measure that would ask voters whether to impose term limits on some elected positions amid concerns that the conservative organization Reclaim New York is trying to politicize the issue.

The county Legislature on Tuesday deferred until September a vote on whether to put the issue up for a public referendum.

The delay means the measure won’t go on the ballot until November 2019. If legislators had approved the measure Tuesday, it would have gone on the ballot this coming November and, if approved, would have applied to candidates elected in the fall of 2019.

But the involvement of Reclaim New York Initiative, which has been linked to billionaire Robert Mercer and Breitbart News and has come out in support of the measure, prompted Democrats who are sponsoring the bill to postpone the vote. Legislators voted 13-10, with Republican Brian Woltman of Kingston joining Democrats, to delay action.

Legislature Minority Leader Hector Rodriguez,

D-New Paltz, said Reclaim New York Initiative fouled what had been an honest attempt by county legislators to make government better.

He said it was a shame that “an outside group tried to get involved in what was an honest-to-goodness discussion.”

Reclaim New York Initiative has been pushing for term limits and recently sent out a mailing to Ulster County residents supporting the proposal.

County Executive Michael Hein denounced Reclaim New York Initiative after it announced plans for a dinner with Legislator Joseph Maloney, D-Saugerties, to promote the term limit proposal.

“Do you want your record to show you voted on a bill sponsored by the Mercers?” New Paltz resident Jane Schanberg asked lawmakers during the public comment period of Tuesday’s Legislature meeting.

Schanberg said Republicans and the ultra-right wing would use the issue to boost GOP voter turnout in November and the re-election bid of U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook.

Faso has received financial support from the Mercer family, which has an ownership stake in Cambridge Analytica, a firm that used Facebook data about users to promote the 2016 presidential candidacy of Donald Trump.

“Don’t let yourself be used by Mercer’s tactics,” Schanberg said. “If you feel strongly about term limits, pass a clean local law instead” of putting the measure up for a public vote.

Other speakers cast Reclaim New York Initiative as “insidious,” “nefarious” and “synonymous with dark money” and said the goal of the group is to destroy local governments.

Lloyd resident Sarah Gardner told lawmakers that postponing the vote would send a clear message that “you are not for sale.”

Domenick Cocchiara, the regional coordinator for Hudson Valley Reclaim New York Initiative, denied the group had any ill intent, saying it got involved in the issue because “we’ve been interacting with hundreds of Ulster County residents who asked us to get involved.”

He urged legislators to put “policy before press releases” and vote on the measure.

As proposed, the would limit county legislators, the county executive and county comptroller to 12 years in office. There would be no limit on the number of years the county clerk, district attorney or sheriff could serve.