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New Form Of City Government To Go Before Voters

The Plattsburgh common council held a public hearing last week to take comments on a proposed change to the city charter that would alter the form of government.  While only two people commented, it stirred discussion among councilors that led to the mayor casting the deciding vote.
During the proceedings of the Plattsburgh Charter Commission, a proposal to change the current form of government from a strong mayor to one with a city manager was put forth.  

The commission disbanded before the idea was put to a public vote but Mayor James Calnon promised he would put the question on the November ballot.

The city council held the public hearing to determine if it should pass a local law allowing the referendum.

City resident John Bilow expressed concerns over how hiring a city manager could affect taxes.    “I don't know the ins and outs of all the things that they're hiring for city manager but I knew that Plattsburgh is one of the most heavily taxed cities and one of the most heavily taxed states in the union. With a city manager we've got $100,000 a year, I believe that's what it said in the paper, plus we'd have to pay hospitalization, retirement and other benefits.  I don't know how much more taxes we can afford if we’re going to have to pay an individual to do this and every little bit that they add to it is just more and more. Right now it's too much. I just got a school tax bill. I just feel that this is not necessary in this city to be shelling out more money.”

Resident Loni Fairchild, who attended many of the charter commission meetings, is opposed to putting the question on the ballot this year because she feels city residents do not understand the proposal.   “I was told that there would be ample public discussions that would give us the pros and cons of the system, the consequence you know help us determine the consequences and all of this before this came up for a vote. Well as I see it right now it's about to come up for a vote and the informational sessions did not take place.”

Fairchild’s comments stirred debate among city councilors as they prepared to approve a new local law changing the city’s form of government.  Ward 1 Democrat Rachelle Armstrong agreed that city leaders should take more time.   “I wonder here we are in the second week of August whether or not there is truly adequate time for the public to go through this document, compare it to the revised document that advocates for a strong mayor, and reach a reasonable and informed conclusion. I don't think that postponing the vote until next year would seriously affect the timetable. But it seems as though there would be ample opportunity for the implementation schedule to go ahead as needed.”

Ward 2 Democrat Mike Kelly suggested tabling the proposal for a week.   “The big question I have is why did the charter commission do this? What were they thinking? Why did they think that a city manager form of government is superior to what we have now? Or did they just decide that it's so important to let the voters decide?”

The vote ended up passing:  “Mayor votes yes to decide the question.”

Mayor Calnon says he wanted to honor his promise to the commission to put the form of government question before the voters.   “If voters feel that they're not well educated on the choices before them then they’ll say well I'm going to stick with what I've got. Which is one of their choices. We could put this off for a year. We could put it off for two and it still wouldn't hurt. And again they're going to form their own opinions whether the current form of government’s what they want or whether they would want to look at making a change to something different. That's up to the voters. And I think that in the end they're the only ones that should be able to really weigh in on it and I'm glad that we were able to put it on the ballot for them.”

The city council had to pass the proposal as a new law. It will now be placed on the November ballot for final voter approval.  If approved, the city will convert to a city manager government in 2021. If residents reject the new law, the current system will be retained.
 

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