Archive: Opinions

I am frequently surprised when people insist on things in public meetings without knowing the law or procedures regarding those things.  It happens a lot, generally when someone not in a government is trying to get the government to do something that seems to them logical or reasonable.  The people in the government have the benefit of municipal attorneys, who regularly clarify the maze of laws governing municipal behavior.

The latest example was in Monday's Village of Lansing Trustee meeting where it turned out that none of the four candidates really knew about New York State's jurisdiction over  election laws and guidelines and procedures for filing grievances with the state.  None knew that election behavior is under state jurisdiction.  Until the Village Attorney clarified that, all the participants seemed to be floundering in a pool of 'what we think we should do' arguments.  Even after he explained, some didn't want to deal with existing law, instead insisting that their way would be better.

I didn't know about state election law either.  But I wasn't running for anything.  It seems to me that is something you would want to know about before running. 

I was curious, so I Googled 'NYS Running For Office'.  The first search result was the New York State Board Of Elections 'Running For Office' Web page.  A whole section is devoted to election law and rules with downloadable and viewable versions of the laws and rules, court decisions, the state constitution, and a series of forms and procedures.  Everything I could ever want to know about being a candidate in New York State was at my fingertips in less than a minute.

The Tompkins County Board Of Elections also has a section on their Web site that essentially takes you to the State page and other resources for candidates.  I have found that site enormously informative over the years, though I have primarily used it to look up election results.  They have a pretty good 'Frequently Asked Questions' section, too.  Still I have looked at the election calendar there on numerous occasions, and I think the County does a good job of making the site useful.

Laws change very quickly, so these Web sites are really important if you want to keep up with the latest requirements and procedures.  But as useful as they are to me, I should think that candidates would know about them and read the materials before exposing them to public scrutiny.

The thing is that in America most candidates are not professional politicians.  The idea of people from all walks of life temporarily participating in governing seems to have ignorance of the law built into it.  The resources election boards provide are wonderful, but it may be unreasonable to assume that all candidates will know about them, or even look for them as I did this afternoon.

Maybe candidates should be required to attend a class, or at least be given a packet of information explaining procedures and laws they will be required to adhere to.  Or maybe municipalities should be required to have their attorneys meet with all candidates before they begin their campaigns.

We are so inundated by 24/7 national news outlets on television, radio, and the Internet that small local elections often take on the hideous partisan, negative, and dirty tricks qualities of national and state campaigns.  In our litigious society that means that even candidates running in small town and village municipalities may be subject to accusations, or even unintentional malfeasance.

It just makes sense to insure that these people -- heroes, in my estimation, for stepping up to try to make their communities better -- are given the best chance to know beforehand exactly what is expected of them, and what they can do if they think their opponents have not done what is expected of them.

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