Councilman Bruce Leighton, like Leeanne Thornton and Costello, believes the voters should get to decide on the supervisor’s performance every two years. “[Former supervisor] Greg (Helsmoortel) felt pretty strongly that the voters should be able to decide on the supervisor every two years.”
In response to suggestions that the proposal was designed to increase her power and influence, Myers said this is simply not the case. “The law spells out the duties and authority of the supervisor clearly, and that wouldn’t change.”
One of the problems with shorter terms for supervisor is that the town embarks on long-term projects, and these can be difficult to manage if the person in charge changes too often, she said.
Myers took office in January of this year.
For instance, the $3.5 million rebuilding of roads in the wake of Hurricane Irene will take several years, and it would be difficult to achieve if there was not continuity of leadership. In fact, Myers initially proposed the longer term for the highway superintendent, and the supervisor’s position was added to the proposal later.
Myers cited the recently completed public water and sewer services on Kings Highway as a project that spanned 10 years from initial plans to finish, and this would also have been difficult to achieve if the town had had several supervisors during that time. As it happened, Helsmoortel was reelected numerous times and served throughout the entire process.
With a growing trend toward long-term planning in town government, it would be helpful to have one chief executive to oversee the plans, Myers said. “We’re working on a five-year projection,” she said.
On the other hand, there are advantages to limiting the supervisor’s term to two years. If a supervisor is not competent to do the job, the public should have a way to remove him or her, she said. “Sometimes you need to be able to get someone out if they are not doing the job.”
While campaigning can be time consuming and expensive, it also pushes the supervisor to get out and speak to the public. “I enjoy talking to people, and I believe if you’re doing a good job you don’t have to worry about being re-elected.”
At any rate, the town’s lawyers have said that the election law would make it impossible to hold a referendum during Myers’s current term. The law requires that the vote on the length of a term be held in a year in which the office holder in question is not facing re-election. That would mean the process would have to start next year, with the referendum likely to be held in the following election cycle, Myers said.
The lengths of office holders’ terms are not really up to the board; they are up to the public, she said.
OMG, Costello is a joke. He’s (and/or Patty Kelly) are made because a discussion to hold a PUBLIC HEARING was held during a PUBLIC MEETING that went on too late? Was it past Patty’s bedtime?
Where was his outrage when he was at a meeting on Dickinson’s Keep at 8am in the morning? Was he outraged by the recent state audit (during the Helsmoortel years) that found the town was giving no bid contracts or cited the town board for not looking at the bills they were paying?