Time for County to Address One Person/One Vote

April 20, 2020 Letter from the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County

To the Members of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors:

Last year, on February 26, League Co-President Linda Gush addressed the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors on the subject of making plans to address the way in which the Board will implement the One Person-One Vote rule as they reapportion representation within the county following the 2020 census.

We pointed out at that time that since most county decisions are made in the committees of the board, and membership on the committees is not in proportion to the population of the county, our current system does not meet the One Person-One Vote rule, and that the discrepancy will only get less representative as county population grows.

Just recently the controversy over time-and-a-half pay increases for selected employees and administrators, and the subsequent disagreement over meetings of the Board, has called attention to the fact that Supervisors representing over 70% of the population of the county do not represent a majority of the board.

It is time for the Board of Supervisors to address this issue!

Sincerely,
Barbara Thomas, Co President, League of Women Voters of Saratoga County
Co-President

Att: 2-26-2019 Statement by League of Women Voters
Short list of possible solutions

Attachment: 2/26/2019 Statement

Statement to the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors 2-26-2019

The League of Women Voters of Saratoga County asks the Board of Supervisors to appoint a special committee to examine options to deal with applying the “one person-one vote” principle to the results of the 2020 census.

It is almost forty years since this County critically examined whether our current governance structure continues to meet our needs. We believe that the time has come for the County to re-visit the issue.
Since the middle of the last century counties have had to address the issue of “one person - one vote”. At that time, the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors adopted weighted voting and added a second Supervisor for the two most populous municipalities.

Realizing the issue would require additional study, in 1987 the Board of Supervisors created a 16 member 21st Century Commission. The Commission was asked to “jointly identify and address the issues of today before they become the problems of tomorrow”. They issued a 113 page report that dealt with many issues and made many recommendations, among them recommendations about the structure of the County Government, the most important of which was a recommendation to ESTABLISH A SCHEDULE OF REGULAR REVIEW OF THE STRUCTURE AND RESPONSIVENESS OF OUR COUNTY GOVERNMENT. To our knowledge, this hasn’t been done.

They also said, “Although we believe the accomplishments of Saratoga County government compare most favorably with other counties, it is prudent to carefully consider:--as Saratoga’s population and budgets continue to grow, “ will the present form of government be able to meet the needs of its County residents?” (p.87)

Although the Board has adopted a weighted vote for decisions made by the Board of Supervisors acting as the whole, we all recognize that Board decisions are actually made in the board’s committees, and that the membership of the committees is not in proportion to the population of the County’s towns and cities. Currently all Supervisors sit on 4 committees of the board. If their representation on committees were in proportion to the number of people they represent, the representative of the Town of Day would sit on one committee and the representative from the town of Halfmoon would have to sit on 23 committees.

We anticipate that the next Census will show continued high population growth in the towns and cities of the Northway corridor, while the population of the other towns grows at a very much slower pace – increasing the inequity of representation in the committees if the current allocation of Supervisors is carried forward. There are many possible remedies, some of which are listed in an attached list.

We think that now is the time for the Board to think about the best way to represent the people of this county. It is time to move closer to the ideal of “one person one vote” by appointing a committee to recommend the most appropriate response to the 2020 census results.

Attachment: Short List of Possible Solutions

Short List of possible ways to assure that the principle of “one person- one vote” carries through to the committees (the decision making bodies of the Board of supervisors of Saratoga County):

• Recommend a Charter change to create a county Legislature made up of equal population districts. Town Supervisors could run to serve one of these legislative districts.

• Reapportion the weighted vote and require proportional representation among the committees. This might require combining several low population towns into one committee member (Not one member for every Town).

• Increase the size of the Board, so that every Town or city gets one member for every multiple of the population of the smallest City or Town. This would of course, result in a very large and unwieldy Board of Supervisors.

• Change from an appointed County Administrator to a County Executive who is elected directly by every voter in the County.

The above are just some possible configurations. The League of Women Voters of Saratoga County doesn’t necessarily support any of these options.

Coronavirus, COVID 19, and YOU

April 20, 2020

Social distancing and wearing a mask are getting to be a habit. We tend to think that these are things we are doing to protect others from sickness and death – without squarely facing the fact that we, ourselves, really could die. And soon – if we get the coronavirus. Have you made plans for that contingency?

League members support Medical Aid in Dying, but we don’t yet have it in NYS. However, many of us have completed health care proxies and advanced directives that will help us achieve the kind of death we desire. But will your survivors be able to find them when the time comes? Will they know where your will is, and how to access your financial accounts? As the old adage goes, “Don’t put off till tomorrow, what you can do today.”

There are some special things to think about with the coronavirus. What kind of care do you want? In a hospital or at home? The League’s lobbying partner for medical aid in dying, Compassion and Choices, has put together a tool kit specific to choices with respect to coronavirus care. Find it at
https://compassionandchoices.org/resource/covid-19-understanding-your-options/ and while you are at it poke around on that website.

Barb Thomas

Virtual Annual Meeting

Yikes! We had planned to have the LWVSC Annual Meeting in June. It was to be a pot luck event, with Tisha Dalton singing suffrage songs to celebrate the League’s 100th Birthday. But then the novel corona virus struck. We hemmed and hawed. The board discussed it. LWVNY sent us guidance. Finally the steering committee decided.

We will hold a Virtual Annual Meeting on Thursday, May 28th at 7 pm, via Zoom (yes, we bought a zoom account for our League) to present the budget for 2020-21, to hear the nominating committee report, to present our local positions, and to field your questions. Then we’ll ask you to mail in the ballot (to be included in the next newsletter) so that you still get to vote – and so that the League can continue to function.

It won’t be the same, but when the danger is past we’ll get together in person – to celebrate our survival, and the League’s survival – and also to present the Carrie Chapman Catt Award to Kathy Biegay!

I’m impatient for the end of social distancing. I want to give some hugs to people I care about. I want to be with you – in person.

Barb Thomas

Meeting Amid a Pandemic

April 2, 2020

Last night the board of the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County met by Zoom. It was so good to see other peoples faces and their reactions when we spoke. In these dark days of novel coronavirus isolation it is so wonderful to see people with their spontaneous reactions and to laugh together.

There is a learning curve to using Zoom but we were able to make some decisions last night. First of all we decided that we would meet for our annual meeting through some sort of digital platform, probably Zoom. The main things that we will do at that meeting will be to elect our directors for next year and adopt a budget.

Whenever it safe to do it we will have a big party to celebrate the end of social isolation and present the Carrie Chapman cat award to Kathy Biegay. We are hoping we can do that in August. Just as we are hoping that our rescheduled famous person fundraiser with Kim Wafer Portraying Shirley Chisholm can I actually take place on July 18.

Stay tuned for more information about the virtual annual meeting.

Barb Thomas, Presidential Steering Committee

Crisis shows how vital women's work is

Crisis highlights women and vital roles in society

Letter to the Editor: Times Union
April 10, 2020

The end of Women's History Month and Equal Pay Day on March 31 was an opportunity to reflect on how the coronavirus affects women in untold ways. Women comprise the majority of health and social care workers and are now on the front lines in confronting the virus.

School closings significantly affect women because they make up 77 percent of teachers and because mothers head 84 percent of single-parent households. Frequently, women juggle caregiving schedules while patching together part-time jobs that garner lower wages and fewer benefits.

Women already make up the ranks of the lowest paying jobs; 70 percent of tipped restaurant workers are women. Many are cleaners, a benign-sounding job now made hazardous with higher risk of exposure. Many women have few or no resources to weather any crisis, especially the drastic loss of income from the coronavirus.

The current crisis demonstrates how women's work is vital to the functioning of our society, says PowherNY, which is committed to securing economic equality for all New York women. It's an opportunity to recognize how their work is woefully under-valued, under-appreciated and underpaid.

This crisis will end, but the need for paid sick leave, equal pay policies, access to affordable and quality child care, job training and closing the employment opportunity gap will remain. Planning, funding and legislation must address these issues.

Barbara Thomas, League of Women Voters of Saratoga County
Times Union: https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Crisis-highlights-women-and-vital-roles-in-society-15193451.php

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Crisis shows how vital women's work is

Letter to the Editor: Post Star
Mar 30, 2020

As Equal Pay Day approaches on March 31 and Women’s History Month ends, we offer the following on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting women locally:

Most health and social care workers are women. They are now on the front lines in confronting the virus.

School closings significantly affect women because they make up 77 percent of teachers and because mothers head 84 percent of single-parent households, says PowherNY, which is committed to securing economic equality for all New York women.

As they juggle schedules for caregiving responsibilities, women here in the 21st Congressional District earn 82.1 percent of what men earn, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. They frequently patch together part-time jobs that garner lower wages and fewer benefits.

Many women have few or no resources to weather any crisis, especially the drastic loss of income from the coronavirus.

Our current crisis demonstrates how women’s work is vital to the functioning of our society. It is an opportunity to recognize how their work is woefully undervalued, under-appreciated and underpaid.

In time, this crisis will end, but the need for paid sick leave, equal pay policies, access to affordable and quality child care, job training and closing the employment opportunity gap will continue. Future planning, funding and legislation should and must address these issues.

Barbara Thomas, League of Women Voters of Saratoga County

Post Star: https://poststar.com/opinion/letters/crisis-shows-how-vital-women-s-work-is/article_fe062e91-9bf1-57f4-ac84-035ce745994a.html