ITHACA, N.Y. (WHCU) — The Tompkins County Council of Governments is calling on Governor Hochul to stop a proposed change at the polls.
Hochul is reviewing legislation that would transition local elections to even-numbered years. Ithaca Alderperson Cynthia Brock says the switch would take away from county and city concerns.
“People will tend to think on very broad issues,” she says. “They won’t be thinking so granularly on how local representatives will be campaigning on how their issues pertain to the things around them.”
But Dryden Deputy Town Supervisor Dan Lamb says the change would help alleviate exhaustion at the polls.
“When you look at the elections that we have for School Board, the elections we have for village races — it’s overwhelming,” he says. “When you have so many races, voters just get voter fatigue.”
On Thursday, the Council of Governments urged the governor to veto the proposed change. The final vote was seven ayes, four nays.
