Pawling consolidation vote November 3? Amid COVID-19 concerns, Town and Village boards must decide by midnight Thursday in order for a vote to happen Election Day.
bY Karen Kelley
Pawling residents will have the opportunity to vote on consolidating the Town and Village governments. This vote must take place now that sufficient valid signatures have been confirmed by the Town and Village clerks.
The question is when.
Many residents are calling on the two Boards to have this special ballot available to voters the same day as the General Election which includes the presidential contest. That vote, Tuesday, November 3rd is managed by the Dutchess County Board of Elections.
However, this special consolidation ballot will be the responsibility of the Town and Village governments to print, collect and count. Absentee ballots will also be the responsibility of the Town and Village Clerks.
Beth Soto, Election Commissioner for Dutchess County said “we have nothing to do with these ballots” and added “this petition can absolutely be put in front of voters on Tuesday, November 3rd. There is nothing to stop either the Town or Village Boards from choosing that day.”
The cost of this special ballot was raised in a recent August 12th Pawling Town Board meeting. Bill Johnson, Deputy Town Supervisor, asked “do we know approximately how much a special election like this would cost?” Ben Snyder, a paid consultant from the LaBerge Group, answered “about $3800 and the State offers a reimbursement for most of that.”
Holmes resident Harvey Matcovsky, a member of the Pawling Central School District School Board, stated “The school district just did this with a much more complicated ballot. They had a team of volunteers and they had counted the votes by 9:30pm, and that was for a budget vote and a three way race for two school board seats. It was done efficiently and safely with masks and social distancing. It was also broadcast live on Facebook so the whole community could watch and know it was fair and safe.”
Many Pawling residents are most concerned about the COVID-19 virus and the potential of a community outbreak. “It seems obvious that having multiple elections in Pawling will only increase the risk of infection” said resident Kellyanne Smith. “If the voters have to go and wait in line at the polls three times that is triple the risk to both voters and poll workers. An outbreak in Pawling could put us all in a situation where the schools would need to be shut down again. That is not a risk worth taking.”
“The Town Board themselves are not taking the risk of spreading COVID-19 seriously. In Tuesday’s public meeting The Supervisor was taking his mask off again and again. The other one has his nose uncovered and Councilman McCarthy was not wearing a mask at all…..and there were 40 people in the room.” Smith continued. “They don’t get it and probably won’t take the election day procedures seriously either”.
