HEARD SEEN& Heard

ate ballot access process and political parties have an inordinate amount of power about who gets on the ballot. There’s no primary election and the process lends itself inside baseball.”

He continued saying, “somebody could decide that they want to resign from Common Council and you know they are planning on doing it a month from now. A couple of friends that are well connected can grease the skids for them to give them a little bit of an advantage. That can happen with the [special election] process.”

Dewitt says that the choice of candidates is limited due to the fact that “the party can put up one person and you can have an independent nominating process.” According to Steve, “once you declare the special election you lose any control over the process”

He says that the current process of filling vacancies through appointments allows the city to retain more control. Additionally, unlike a special election which would cost a minimum of $10,000, the entire appointment process is cost-free and can usually be accomplished within 60 days.

Dewitt also said that the person who is appointed to fill a vacancy is usually elected by the public in the next general election.

In response, Cantelmo said that he understands the logistical and financial concerns regarding special elections, but he thinks “if one were to move forward with the election method, there is certainly an opportunity to learn from what the county has done.” He also stressed that regardless of the concerns, it’s still more democratic to have a special election than to have ten members of the Common Council make the decision.

In addition, he says that just because the public usually elects the person who was appointed to fill a vacancy in the next election that doesn’t mean the appointment process is fair.

According to Cantelmo, “there is a real empirical phenomenon that is the incumbency advantage, and so from a democratic perspective I think that is a negative of the existing system.”

Regarding the timeline for changing the process for filling vacancies, City Attorney Ari Lavine said that if the Common Council chooses to approve the proposal that it could require a public referendum in order to change. As a result, the process of making the change could be slower than anticipated.

According to Lavine, In order to get the referendum on the ballot this November, the city would need to have their proposal ready by August.

He continued saying, “having helped the city through the mechanics of a number of referendums, including one just this past election cycle. Our referendum process is a meaningful undertaking, both for the public in terms of understanding what’s on the ballot and educating themselves and making choices but also in terms of the internal mechanics for common council for the City Clerk’s Office for my office and for the mayor’s office.”

“I would encourage the council to send to referendum only a law that the council genuinely hopes to see approved,” said Lavine.

A Political Action Committee (PAC) that supports Democrats called the House Majority PAC has announced that it will be spending $45 million on influencing congressional races across New York State with the goal of flipping five Republican seats to Democrats.

Seen

Cornell University returned ancestral remains and possessions that had been kept in a university archive for six decades to the Oneida Indian Nation on Feb. 21 at a small campus ceremony.

IF YOU CARE TO RESPOND to something in this column, or suggest your own praise or blame, write news@ithacatimes. com, with a subject head “U&D.”

Question Of The Week

In the days following the United States shooting down a Chinese Spy Balloon the Air Force shot down numerous unidentified flying objects over U.S. airspace. Where these UFO’s just more spy balloons or were they ALIENS?

75.0% More Spy Balloons.

12.5% UFO’s.

12.5% Aliens.

Should Ithaca change the way it fills vacancies on the Common Council by holding a special election instead of filling the position through an appointment process?

Visit ithaca.com to submit your response.