Newly Formed Long Island Special Districts Association Voices Concerns Over Recently Approved Legislation
June 9, 2009
Long Island Special Districts Association (LISDA) voiced major concerns today regarding the recently approved Legislation A8501/S5661 that passed both the New York State Assembly and Senate. The Association states that the new legislation will have a major impact on the local government and local control of delivery and services including, but not limited to; fire protection, water service, sanitation, pollution control, libraries, villages and towns in Nassau County.
As communities of Long Island celebrated Memorial Day weekend with remembrances and parades, backroom politics in Albany was charting a course to take away local control and changing Home Rule as we know it. On the day before a long weekend, the so-called transparent State government introduced "The New N.Y. Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act" or otherwise known as Legislation A8501 / S5661. According to Karl M. Schweitzer, President of the LISDA, "This legislation as written has many flaws and need to be discussed in a much more strategic fashion."
The Long Island Special Districts Association supports a streamlined and uniformed consolidation process, however, while the Assembly and Senate considered the bill, LISDA strongly urged for the defeat of the legislation and a redrafting of the legislation to include discussions and input from the people served by Special Districts, and not a political debate on what some special interest groups think is best.
The LISDA urges the media to speak with the association about the consequences of the legislation, report the facts and tell the entire story to the public from both sides. Special Districts have long held that one of the arguments in support of these districts is their responsiveness to the concerns of the residents within their respective districts. The heroes on this legislation are the ones who take the time to read the legislation, raise important questions and realize that more time was needed to address the deficiencies within the legislation and finally to vote against the legislation.
The LISDA has a number of concerns over the specific provisions of this Legislative bill;
* The Legislation gives Nassau County the authority to force a referendum on consolidating or dissolving a Special Districts in particular area. This would allow voters in ALL of Nassau County to "vote" on abolishing a Special District in a single community, regardless of that communities support and desired continuance of that Special District.
* Adoption of any final plan to consolidate or dissolve a Special District should be by a required referendum, not a permissive one.
* The petition process to dissolve or consolidate a Special District allows an open-ended process that could take years to gather signatures. Why not maintain consistency with the current election petitions for public office in the state. They have a specific period within which those signatures may be gathered.
* The threshold covering local government consolidation, or dissolution is simply too low. The establishment of a referendum based on the signatures from 1 out of every 10 people does not reflect the true base of the affected community. A low petition threshold will leave many of Special Districts open to either a disgruntled few or the agenda of an outside organization.
* The bill also would allow outside people or groups to organize petitions to dissolve or consolidate Special Districts. It would be more prudent to require all petitions be carried by residents of the Special District under consideration.
Schweitzer commented, "Simply put, Special Districts want what our residents want, and if that is streamlining the current process, than this bill deserves the time, research and discussion by its residents, not the quick behind closed door rush that has been so evident." Schweitzer added, "Most importantly, if we can all remember that over 233 years ago, our founding fathers drafted a constitution for the people by the people. Let's not forget this as we move forward when proposing Chapter Amendments to ensure the people of our Districts are heard and have a voice in their government and how it works.
For more information, contact the Long Island Special Districts Association
For more information, please contact:
Karl Schweitzer
karl@hicksvillewater.org
Email: (516) 931-0184, extension 630
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August 2010 |
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