Letter to newspapers re. 4-yr. term

Submitted by cnarbey on Mon, 10/19/2009 - 9:35pm

 

Because there has been so little public exposure of this issue, I wrote the following letter to the 4 local newspapers ("Journal News", Putnam Courier", "Putnam County Times" and "Putnam Examiner").  They may not publish it:
 
Dear Sir or Madam,
 Re.: Kent Referendum
I  believe that a large number of Kent voters are not yet aware that the Town Board (except Councilman Rohde) has relentlessly pushed forward a change in local law to make the term of the Supervisor 4 years, instead of 2 years, starting in 2010.
 
This must be ratified by referendum, which will be presented to voters at the poll on November 3.
At poorly attended public hearings this year, the reasons for this change were advanced as follows:
  1. It takes the incumbent Supervisor's attention from attending to Town business when he/she has to campaign/raise funds for re-election after only 2 years in office.  Running every 2 years makes it difficult to focus on the long term.
  2. It takes a new Supervisor time in his/her first term to "learn the job", make necessary changes from the prior administration and implement policy.
  3. Getting grants takes longer than 2 years.
  4. Every other elected position - from President through Governor to local legislatures - has a 4-year term.
The reasons against a 4-year term are:
  1. Every 2 years, the majority of the 5-person Town Board is up for election (Supervisor plus 2 Councilmen). This gives the voters a chance to change the majority of the Board, should they wish.  A 4-year term for Supervisor would make this opportunity available only every 4 years and is less democratic.
  2. Most local governments in this State have a 2-year term for Supervisor/Mayor.
  3. It is very difficult for the voters to change back to a 2-year term, if they become dissatisfied with the competence/conduct of an incumbent Supervisor, as the Town Board must change the local law, then have that ratified by referendum.
  4. The Supervisor is also the Town's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.  A 2-year term makes the Supervisor more answerable to the voters than a 4-year term.
I believe that the "cons" outweigh the "pros". The danger of finding out after electing a Supervisor for 4 years that he is incompetent or worse is real.  Also, I can't imagine the CEO or CFO of a corporation saying "I need 4 years to learn to do the job and to focus on the long-term"!
 
Most importantly, I ask that voters become familiar with the issues involved here and (regardless of whether you support or oppose the referendum) speak to their Kent friends and neighbors and then VOTE on Nov. 3.
 
Kent Fiscal Watch (www.kentfiscalwatch.org) has an impartial presentation of the "pros" and "cons" of this referendum.
 
Yours sincerely,
Clifford G. Narbey
Kent Cliffs