11/13/07 - New county proposal — Election commissioners could be barred from leading political parties

(As Published by Cortland Standard, Evan Geibel Reporting)

At the urging of constituents and legislators, a provision that would bar county election commissioners from simultaneously serving as officers in a political party has been attached to a proposed local law that would set the salary for commissioners.

Some members of the Legislature’s Personnel Committee are confident the measure will pass that committee and possibly the full Legislature, but other committee members question the legality of barring the commissioners from serving as party officers.

The resolution is scheduled to go before the Personnel Committee at 8:30 Thursday morning.
Committee member Larry Cornell (R-Marathon and Lapeer), who made the motion to introduce the law, said it came at the urging of Legislature Chairman Marilyn Brown (D-8th Ward).

“I personally don’t have a problem with them holding both offices, but there’s some legislators that have a problem with it,” Cornell said of election commissioners Democrat Bill Wood and Republican Bob Howe, who also serve as head of their respective political party.

Brown said she “can’t imagine” that any legislators would not see holding both positions as a conflict of interest.

“There has been a lot of comments from legislators, both Democrats and Republicans, and from the public, thinking that there is a conflict of interest between being a chairman and being an officer of any political party,” Brown said. “I felt that if they want to address it, we should address it now or leave it as is.”

Personnel Committee member Don Spaulding (D-6th Ward) said he believes a commissioner should not also serve as a party officer. Fellow committee members John Troy (D-1st Ward) and Tom Williams (R-Homer) said they understood the appearance of a conflict of interest in the Board of Elections Office.

“I could see where that could be an abusive situation, for the voters. There’s the potential for that, anyway,” Williams said of the dual roles. “And for me, it (the resolution) just makes sense. I try not to prejudge things — on something like this, I’ll love to hear the debate, I’ll love to hear the discussion, and then I’ll vote on that.”

Troy said he would likely support the measure, but worried about its legality over barring a commissioner from serving as a party _official.

“It’s really not a conflict of interest, but it’s perceived that way by the public,” Troy said. “I don’t have any problems personally with Mr. Wood or Mr. Howe in those positions, but the perception is out there and we should do our best to avoid that perception.”

Wood, who was appointed election commissioner in 2006, refused to comment.

Salaries to be set for commissioners

The proposed 2008 salaries for both Cortland County election commissioners would be $29,968 for the part-time position and although there is language in the proposal that would set the salaries for 2009, the monetary amount has been left blank.
The county is paying both the Republican and Democratic commissioners $29,967 this year, based on a state Supreme Court ruling handed down in a lawsuit against the county filed by Republican Commissioner Bob Howe and Democratic Commissioner Bill Wood.
Last December, the county set their salaries for 2007 at $26,384 in response to a request from Wood and Howe, who had asked that their salaries be equalized.
For 2006, Wood was paid $25,616 while Howe was paid $29,967. Howe was being paid more based on his 10 years in the position. Wood is in his second year as election commissioner.
The election commissioners then sued, saying that it was illegal to lower Howe’s salary midterm — Wood wanted the difference between his salary and Howe’s for 2006 paid to him retroactively. This was not included in State Supreme Court Judge Kevin Dowd’s ruling in September.
The position had been removed from the county’s longevity compensation plan last December.
The question on the table now involves how much the salaries will be set at in the future, which is going to be difficult since the two-year terms are staggered, and the salaries have to be equal and can’t be lowered midterm.
Personnel Committee members Don Spaulding (D-6th Ward), John Troy (D-1st Ward), Tom Williams (R-Homer) said that they felt the salary should be lowered.
“I definitely think it should be lowered a little bit,” Troy said Monday, not sure exactly what a figure would be but estimating that something near $20,000 would be appropriate.
“It depends on the person — they can spend more or less time in there. We’ll have some debate on that I’m sure.”
“I guess I’d like to see what we get for our money,” Williams said Monday. “I would love to see some documentation as to how much they’re working for the county.”
Personnel Committee member Sandy Price (D-Harford and Virgil) said she would like to hear the discussion of the salary question on Thursday before she would make a decision.