by Robert Tompkins, CPA, MPA...
Please consider for a moment if Orangetown election ballots did not have political parties listed along side candidate names, just like they do for school district board elections. Would it be the end of the world? Small city elections in California do this and it works fine. Why not here?
Political party affiliation as an ideological identity creating local government public policy is not relevant. What defines, for example, a Republican office holder as compared to a Democrat office holder makes little, if no difference, in Orangetown.
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The candidate matters, not the party! When Republicans and Democrats agree on supporting the same candidate, as in past years in Orangetown, we have evidence that political party affiliation is not relevant.
It does not matter practically if an Orangetown candidate is pro-life or pro-choice, pro-union or believes in the right to work, promotes small or big centralized national government to name several policy differences. Yet meeting irrelevant criteria is required for being nominated for office by local political parties, being they are in alignment with state and national party platforms.
Find out what's happening in Pearl Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Orangetown government provides services such as policing, recreation and parks, highway, public works, parking, building code compliance, zoning, and sewer treatment. Is there a Republican Party approach to police response time, removing snow or treating raw sewer that is different than a Democratic Party approach? None at all!
Given it is the Town Board’s responsibility to negotiate labor agreements and not the Highways Superintendent, the Town Clerk or the Receiver of Taxes, being pro-union is not relevant in the context of their job duties. Given when the Town Board cannot agree with the police union on a labor contract an arbitrator or the State decides the contents of the agreement, political party affiliation is irrelevant.
The State decides the size of pensions, not the Town Board. The State deems an acceptable total annual property tax increase by mandating that so called 2% Cap can only be overridden by a vote of the Town Board. However, wanting small property taxes increases is not limited to only one political party. The issues that separate Republicans from Democrats nationally or in the state are not materially relevant in Town Hall and should not be used to select elected officials.
Qualifications for elected office must include if an individual is really capable of doing a good job as Superintendent of Highways, Town Clerk, Receiver of Taxes, Board Member, or Town Supervisor. These elected positions are more administrative and management oriented, with limited policy making, given State mandates.
What is relevant is finding qualified residents in a Town with a relatively small population that have the confidence of the community, willing and able to follow the law, and lead in providing Town services effectively and efficiently, as well as personally risk being out of a job if not re-elected. Electing that qualified person is like finding gold and no one political party has a monopoly on that.
There have been many opportunities to hear the candidates, and I hope you took advantage of that. Patch had several articles with questions and answers from candidates you can read including:
http://pearlriver.patch.com/groups/elections/p/town-of-orangetown-supervisor-2013-election
http://pearlriver.patch.com/groups/elections/p/town-of-orangetown-council-2013-election
Today November 5th please vote for the best-qualified person for elected office, not only by party line. Polls are open until 9 pm. Dress warm.
