Last Tuesday, February 6th, 2024, Onondaga County Legislators had to decide whether to spend $100,000 on a lawsuit against the state legislature's decision to move all elections to even years. There's been a lot of talk about whether this change in election timing is good or bad, but ultimately, our decisions were largely focused on the lawsuit itself.

I actually do think it's a good idea to have all our elections in even years. I’d go further than the state by including those for mayor, district attorney & other chartered positions, with terms lasting mostly four years. This setup would mean we'd vote for different positions in different years - like senate, assembly, and County officials during the Governor’s election years, and city councils, town boards, and mayors during presidential election years. I believe this could make more people vote by making voting simpler and less confusing. As far as the actual state legislation, I’m glad the state is headed in the right direction. 

There's a common belief that more people voting only helps democrats, but that's not what I've seen. For example, when I helped with Dia Carabajal’s campaign for state assembly, we noticed that more people voted in 2016 and 2020 than in 2018 and 2022. But, interestingly, democrats didn't always get a bigger share of the vote in those higher turnout years. And it's not just in our area; this has been the case across the state including here in Central New York, where a republican Congressman has been winning in high-turnout even years for a decade. Even in cases where my party loses, I think getting more people to vote is good for everyone, not just one party.

There are some that say “the legislature’s democrats don't care about defending our local rules and the constitution.” I don't agree with that either. Every year, at some point or another the state challenges our local authority. We almost never fight back with lawsuits. Last year, when the state proposed changes to Real Property Tax Law (575-b, part N), changes that would hurt local control in counties and make taxpayers subsidize big companies. Otsego county’s leadership stood up against it. Here in Onondaga county, we didn't file a lawsuit then, even when our own local rules were changed by State overreach.

This lawsuit isn't really about protecting our local rules but about power. If last year's changes had threatened those in power like the election changes do, we probably would have seen a lawsuit then. But since those changes didn't shake up the power balance, there wasn't a push to "protect the charter."

To me, it's okay for power to try to protect itself. I don't mind if republicans think fewer democrats voting is better for them, or if they oppose changes they think will help democrats. What bothers me is when these political fights begin to cost taxpayer money. Everyone pays taxes, even people who aren’t registered to vote. It's not fair to spend public money on political arguments, especially when we have so many other more pressing issues. 

That's why I voted no on the lawsuit. Political parties are free to use their own resources to fight their political battles, not Municipalities using the public’s money. We should be using our resources on things that help everyone, not on fights over political power.