Syracuse, NY -- Onondaga County legislators Tuesday approved a plan to shrink their ranks from 19 to 17 in the name of government consolidation and efficiency. The matter will go to county voters Nov. 2 in an Election Day referendum. In a 16-1 vote, legislators approved the law to make the cut and to redraw district lines accordingly. Two legislators...
Syracuse, NY -- Onondaga County legislators Tuesday approved a plan to shrink their ranks from 19 to 17 in the name of government consolidation and efficiency. The matter will go to county voters Nov. 2 in an Election Day referendum.
In a 16-1 vote, legislators approved the law to make the cut and to redraw district lines accordingly. Two legislators were absent. Chairman James Rhinehart, R-Skaneateles, sponsored the two-member reduction.
Legislature Democrats had hoped for a more dramatic change. A proposal, introduced by Legislator Tom Buckel, D-Syracuse, to shrink the body to nine legislators failed last month. However, Buckel said the two-member cut is an improvement from the current size. “It’s a small step,” Buckel said.
Republican Legislator William Meyer, of Cicero, voted against the measure. He said the cut would shift representatives farther away from their constituents by increasing the size of their districts.
A separate proposal by Buckel and fellow Democratic Legislator Marty Masterpole, of Syracuse, to change the makeup of the commission that will redraw the boundary lines of the 17 districts failed in a 12-5 party-line vote. Buckel said the proposal was meant to ensure a fair and objective redistricting process.
In other business Tuesday:
• Legislators approved a proposal by Onondaga Community College to participate in the state’s retirement incentive program.
The program gives employees extra service credit toward their pension if they retire by the end of the year. Eligible retirees would receive an extra month of credit for each year of service, up to three years’ additional credit. The same program has been approved for Onondaga County and Syracuse city workers.
• A $25,000 settlement was unanimously approved, resolving a lawsuit filed by a driver who was injured in a crash with a sheriff’s deputy’s cruiser in 2003.
Amy Novak, of Sterling Heights, Mich., was driving on Interstate 690 in Syracuse when her car collided with a deputy’s car driven by Lt. Peter LaValle, who had just begun chasing two speeding cars. Novak alleged LaValle was driving at an “excessive and reckless speed” without activating the car’s lights or siren.
• Several proposals by Buckel to consolidate government functions and fire services were referred to committees for discussion. Buckel said he proposed the laws to start a conversation about consolidation. He said he intends to involve towns, villages and the city in that conversation.