1/4/08 - GOP puts Democrat in Legislature chair

Republican scuttles bid for GOP chairmanship

Joe McIntyre/staff photographer
Newly elected Chairman of the Cortland County Legislature John Daniels (D-Cortlandville) recognizes a fellow legislator during his first meeting as chairman Thursday.

(As published by Cortland Standard, Evan Geibel Reporting)

A trio of Democratic Cortland County legislators backed out of their party’s caucus decision, and in league with nearly all the Republicans voted John Daniels into the chairmanship for the next two years.

It took several votes, and one Republican broke ranks to sink his party’s chance to hold the chairmanship.

Local attorney Mark Suben, a Democrat, was unanimously picked as county attorney, and Clerk of the Legislature Sue Morgan — also a Democrat — was unanimously chosen to continue on in the job she has held for the past two years.

Daniels (D-Cortlandville) received the chairmanship in the third round of voting, after some legislators failed in their bid to recess the meeting until next week.

One Republican in favor of a bipartisan coalition, Tom Williams (R-Cortlandville), had the deciding vote and cast it against what could have been a Republican chairmanship in the Democrat-controlled Legislature.

Little discussion accompanied the voting since the legislators moved right from their caucuses before the meeting into the voting, and then recessed back into the caucuses after failure to pick a chairman in the first five votes.

In the first round of voting, Dan Tagliente (D-7th Ward) nominated Carol Tytler (D-3rd Ward) for chair, newcomer Chad Loomis (D-8th Ward) nominated Daniels and Larry Cornell (R-Marathon and Lapeer) nominated John Steger (R-Preble and Scott).

Tytler was the choice of the Democrats following a caucus last week, but she only received eight votes in the first round, with Democrats Daniels and Loomis breaking with the party and denying her the post.

The vote on Daniels was next, but he only received six votes in the first round, entirely from Republicans with the exception of Loomis and himself.

The Republican’s pick, Steger, came closest to snagging the chairmanship with nine votes, just one short of the majority needed. He received the support of one Democrat, Dan Tagliente, and nearly all the Republicans.

Williams was called last on the roll call vote, done alphabetically, and hesitated for a moment before he voted against fellow Republican Steger.

Larry Cornell looked at his Republican colleague with a look of disbelief and both parties retreated to their caucuses.

“That’s the way politics are,” Steger said afterward.

After the meeting, Williams explained that he was in favor of a bipartisan coalition and that a Republican chairmanship could have locked up the Legislature for the next two years.

“I guess it was to shake the tree,” Williams said. “I think the government will work better if we can provide some kind of coalition.”

He had also pledged his vote to Daniels, he added, because Daniels would “be the person that would most likely work well in the center of the ring.”

The legislators returned from caucuses, this time nominating only Tytler and Daniels.

The vote for Tytler was followed by one for Daniels, and each received nine votes in the second round, with some Republicans defaulting to Daniels and many Democrats continuing to back Tytler.

Tagliente called for a vote to recess the session until next Tuesday. That motion failed, with only nine votes.

The legislators again retreated into their caucuses, and returned a short time later. This time, newcomer Kathie Wilcox (R-5th Ward) nominated Daniels, and Tytler was nominated again as well. The Republicans were unified in their support of Daniels — except for Steger — along with Democrats Loomis, Kathie Arnold (D-Cuyler, Solon and Truxton) and Daniels himself, for a final tally of 11-8.

Arnold later explained that she mistakenly voted for Daniels in that round, not realizing that if he won there would not be a vote on Tytler to follow, but she decided not to change her vote since it would not have affected the outcome.

Daniels said after the meeting that he was sorry the decision came down to a contest between himself and Tytler, and hoped she would continue to work hard on behalf of the Legislature.
“We need a bipartisan group, and I think we’ve got that,” Daniels said after the meeting. “I’m sure that there were a lot of feelings that got hurt.”

Daniels said that he and the majority and minority leaders would begin discussing committee appointments over the next couple of days.

He identified the space needs of the county as the biggest priority, especially moving quickly to move the Department of Motor Vehicles office out of the County Courthouse and onto a River Street property the county recently agreed to purchase — a project spearheaded by Tytler.

“It certainly has been difficult for us,” Tytler said. “I am a person of my word, we had a caucus, and I know that tomorrow I can look in the mirror and feel good about my efforts as a county legislator.”

She said she would continue to work hard in the Legislature, and that Daniels would “do a good job, I’m sure.”

Democratic Majority Leader Sandy Price (D-Harford and Virgil) said that she first got word that the caucus was unraveling Thursday morning, and that it was unusual that it would take three rounds of voting to install a chair.

Marilyn Brown, the preceding chair, was elected to the chairmanship unanimously in the first vote in January 2006.

“I could have worked very well with Mrs. Tytler and I know I’ll be able to work with Mr. Daniels,” Price said. “I’m glad that we kept at it until we took the vote tonight (instead of recessing).”

Price acknowledged the need for healing, but she said she hopes to be able to pull her party together, despite the strong personalities within it.

Republican Minority Leader Danny Ross said that a Republican chairmanship “would have been nice,” but that he is confident in Daniels’ leadership.

Newcomer Wilcox agreed. “I wish it hadn’t happened. I would rather we had the Republican chair, but I think the next best thing is Mr. Daniels. He’ll be a breath of fresh air,” and would work with both parties, she said.

Wilcox said Daniels had “vowed to be fair with committee appointments,” with members of both parties well represented.