December 22nd is an Important Date for Huntington

[originally transmitted 11/24/09]

December 22nd is an Important Date for Huntington

Political life in the Town of Huntington is getting, as Alice of Wonderland fame might say, “curiouser and curiouser.”

Most residents are aware that the Town Board has, for the past several years, been requested -- and finally petitioned -- to place before the voters a referendum to determine whether we should adopt the district system, or councilmanic districts or ward system, of representation on our Town Board (or Town Council), or whether we should instead continue to have At-large seats.

The Town Board persistently stonewalled those groups, claiming it was not in the best interests of all residents, rather than taking the bold and democratic step to let the people decide.

So, finally, the group requesting the referendum collected enough signatures to survive the expected challenges from the Town Board (as the Town Board had been able to successfully challenge enough signatures on a lesser petition drive two or so years ago), and then the Town Board had the gall to suggest the process to be flawed and designed to evade scheduling a vote on Election Day, since the vote would take place in late December, rather than on the normal Election Day in November.

Now, let me get this straight. The Town Board had the power, all along, to schedule a referendum, but didn’t, and now they want to criticize petitioners who took that route after continual Town Board stonewalling of requests by people asking for a referendum, but it is somehow backhanded or cynical on the part of the requesters who became petitioners??????

As an old television personality used to say, “What’s wrong with this picture?”

What makes this even more of a bizarre, but troubling, experience is that it is now obvious that the biggest community in the Town of Huntington, which has had a disproportionate influence over Town Board activities for many years, has now publicly made it clear that they oppose councilmanic districts for the Town of Huntington.

After I was sent a link to a Nov 16th resolution of the Half Hollow Hills (HHH) Board of Education, and read their expressed opposition to a political step (which I personally find a questionable tactic for a BOE), and when I saw how HHH residents were inflamed to attend the meeting in a predisposed mindset fashion, I asked an old friend from HHH who is active in their school district and in their community, what was their rationale?

I was surprised, but gratified by the honesty of this person, to hear so blatant a rationale for the BOE vote that any reasonable person would have to regard it as pure power politics.

In my summary message, forwarding the HHH Board resolution to those concerned with what our own school district might or might not do, on any number of issues in the Town, I noted: “Their fear is that they would be split into two different councilmanic districts (I agree with that assessment, given the size and shape of HHH) and that they would therefore have less impact on the Town Board than they are able to achieve as one voting bloc.”

Now, that was merely one HHH resident’s perspective, but when I read the November 19th edition of The Long-Islander, with three related articles on page A6 with following sections on page A29, it was obvious that this HHH resident’s candor was matched by the content of the articles in The Long-Islander. If you do not have that paper, it should be available at our local library.

So, if you are now a political powerhouse in the Town of Huntington, and since HHH is the largest school district among all eight in the Town that power and influence is irrefutable, even without the candor related to their BOE discussion and vote on Nov 16th, you apparently choose to oppose allowing smaller communities to have more of a voice.

HHH are the largest single voting bloc in the Town, so they have a disproportionate influence over our Town Board with the current At-large system of election. And we, with the second smallest school district (by student population), have the second least influence over the Town Board with the current At-large system.

Now, to be clear about this, the Supervisor would continue to be elected by the entire Town, and that is perfectly appropriate, just as the County Executive is elected by all residents in Suffolk County, and just as the Governor is elected by all residents in the State of New York, and just as the President is elected by all residents of the United States of America.

The County Legislature uses a district system.

The State Assembly uses a district system.

The House of Representatives uses a district system.

Why not have the same kind of system for the four non-Supervisor members of the Town Board of Huntington?

Please circle December 22nd on your calendar, and please exercise your right to vote on this issue.

Jerry Hannon