What are Council Districts and why do we need them?
We live in a representative democracy.
- A Suffolk County Legislator represents 73,000
constituents
- A State Assembly representative has 120,000 constituents
- A State Senator represents 293,000 constituents
- A Brookhaven Council Person represents 430,000
constituents.
Brookhaven Town has an area of 260 square miles
and a population of 430 thousand. We are governed by a Supervisor and 6
Council Persons that are elected At-Large.
At-Large means that when an election occurs
and three seats on the Council are open, these seats are filled by the
three candidates receiving the most votes from all votes cast in all of
Brookhaven Town.
Council Districts, also called Councilmanic
Districts or Wards, would allow Brookhaven to be divided into six districts.
A Councilperson would be elected by the voters in that district. All other
structural aspects of the Town government would not be changed - only the
manner in which a Council person is elected.
Why do we need Council Districts?:
- It will allow you to vote for a council representative from your part of town who
will be responsive and accountable to you and your community... and the issues
you care about.
- To improve the quality of
life in Brookhaven Town by electing council people concerned with overdevelopment (growth and planning)
and its tax impacts on your community.
- To open town government
to representatives from across Brookhaven replacing an organization that
currently does what it wants, keeps itself in power and votes as a block
almost 100 percent of the time.
- To reform our
government at NO increased cost which will address the basic problems that lead to
Brookhaven's high taxes and enormous borrowing.
- To introduce a system of checks and balances to Town government. All levels of American
government (Federal, State and County) have independent executive and legislative branches. These
independent branches provide for checks and balances and are a safeguard against the government
getting into trouble. A Council representing the various communities through district elections
would better create an independent watchdog legislature.
- To bring Brookhaven into line with the rest of the Country. Brookhaven is unique
in the United States. Governments with similar populations in the
rest of the Country have moved to District Systems or non-partisan elections. Brookhaven is alone.
Except for 5 Long Island Towns that retain the old At-Large partisan based election
system all the rest have populations smaller than one of our Council Districts. See Figure to the right.
- To diminish voter apathy by making it possible for voters to know their Councilpeople.
Only half of those that vote in a Presidential election vote in off-year Town elections.
- To encourage a participatory democracy where community people who would like to go into government
to "make a difference"and "make things better" are welcomed.
For a discussion of the Chronology and what happened in our five year effort to
get a referendum on the ballot - click on the History lever.
Questions often asked about Council Districts.
Would this be Expensive? No.
- Of the ten townships in New York that adopted
Council Districts, NOT ONE established district offices.
- The Council Offices should remain in Medford.
Constructive daytime meetings with a Councilperson are best held where
the Brookhaven Staff and Records are kept. The Council Representative should
live in his district and would regularly attend evening Civic, Chamber
and other meetings of importance to his community.
- Overdevelopment is the major cause of our high Town and School taxes
and our excessive debt and also impacts our auto insurance rates. Land use decisions
are the responsibility of Town government. Smart (or at least rational) and effective
planning will save money both in Town and School Taxes.
Some examples:
- When an existing lot is subdivided into three for two new houses, there is an
increase to govenment costs of about $10,000 per year which falls mostly to school taxes.
An additional 20 car trips are generated with enormous traffic mitigation costs.
- When a shopping center is constructed on a major congested road, the traffic impact
costs are $3 Million per year. Half of that costs are automobile accidents which show
up in automobile insurance rates.
- Last year the Town convened a hand picked committee under Dr. Koppelman to prepare a
"white paper" on Council Districts. The committee was asked to examine a
"hypothetical worst case scenario" if satellite offices for 6 councilpeople were
created.
- While no one wanted these offices, they estimated that the worst case costs
of these offices with staff,stationery,phones,etc. would be $414,000 per year for
all six. With a total Brookhaven budget now of $117 Million, that would turn out to be 0.3 of one percent of the budget.
However, one's total real estate tax bill is made up of School,Library,County of Suffolk,Police,
Highway,Clean Water/Air,Recycling
Fire District,Lighting District, and real property law in addition to basic Town Taxes.
The Town's General tax is about 2.8% of the total tax bill.
Is this Political? This is not partisan political.
- This is about good government and not about politics.
- This was started by a coalition of Civic, Good Governement Groups
and the League of Women Voters. All these organizations have in their
charters that their efforts must be non-political. Pursuit of a better
and more modern form of government is not considered partisan political.
Would the Council gang-up against certain regions?
No
- A Council made up of members who are sensitive
to the community concerns of one area would most likely be sensitive to
the community concerns of all areas.
- The ganging-up comes about when you
have central control of the council. In the last 500 Town Board votes all
but two were unanimous.
- Most of the controversial decisions relate to Land Use. Good planning is
sought after by all communities and all communities are saddened by what has been
happening throughout the Town
Why is the word "Ward" on the Petition?
- New York State Town Law specifies the wording
that MUST be used to enact Council Districts. Council Districts have
nothing to do with images of Big City Government and Big City Bosses. This
effort is to make our Town government responsive to the residents of Brookhaven
Town. Unfortunately, in suburbia the At-Large system led to just those
abuses that were associated with the historic Big City Ward system.
What is the Dongan Patent and would it preclude Council Districts?
- The Dongan Patent for the Town of Brookhaven was issued through Governor Dongan and dated December 27, 1686,
It was an historic and legal document that provided the foundation for Town government for almost 300 years.
The Patent provided that seven Trustees should be elected annually, and of these, the first chosen should be the
President.
It also requires that a Clerk, one Constable, and two Assessors, should be elected each year.
Provisions are made for a Town Seal and the raising of taxes. The patent gives the Trustees full power
to sell or dispose of the proprietary lands of the Town, vesting in them that authority as agents.
- The lands concerned are now usually considered the "bay bottoms".
- When the Town adopted it's present structure of a Supervisor and 6 Councilpeople it had to follow NYS Town Law.
That law mandated that the Trustees are the same as the Council. That said, during present Town meetings,
you may notice that sometimes the agenda is broken into two parts - one involving Council Business and one addressing
the proprietary land items (i.e., bays and streams) that are controlled by the Trustees as agents.
- In a Council District or Ward system only the manner of election of the Council is changed. All members,
even though they are elected from a district, vote on all Town wide items and
represent the entire Town on the Board as they do now. None of the Board's duties are changed.
- Anti-district forces have used the Dongan Patent Trustee issue in court at least 3 times in attempts to block
adoption of Council Districts. These legal attempts were in the 1970's and in our recent litigation. All such
attempts were summarily dismissed by the courts as having no basis.
and began the process for better Brookhaven
Government.
