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Image provided by: Guilderland Public Library
•U-. The Altamont Ent •*.'\:~ i-X-VS-'' V'M^W'SfcVn-' '.\iV'' ;'• ^A'S Editorial bedlam behind As Democrats swept national elections this fall and as Demo- crat Eliot Spitzer this week took the reigns as New York's governor with an unprecedented 69 percent of the vote, the Albany County Democrats are foundering. While srtburjaari and urbari factions: quarrel, the county's Democratic committee has no leader, After four years as the committee's chairwoman, Betty Barnett retired on Sept. 27. Her final act was to. chair the committee's biennial organiza- tional meeting. It was the committee's first-ever contested election and it was bedlam. With over 600 people at the Polish Community Center, a standing vote was usedrather th^n a weighted roll-call vote. The slate headed by Albany's Frank Commisso beat the slate headed by Guilderland's David Bosworth, 253 to 216. The results were challenged, as they should have been, by Bosworth supporters. After two judges declined to hear the case, it was finally decided on by Acting Supreme Court Justice t Thomas J. McNamara on Dec. 21. He was right tb invalidate the Sept. 27 election of officers. McNamara cites state Election taw that says that the voting power of each committee member is to be in proportion to the party vote; Since: the rules of Albany County's Democratic Cpmrnitteeproyide for two members^^ from each election district, thejudge; ruled,-?The voting power of each member is, therefore, required to be weighted to the party vote in the district for governor, or memberqfassertibly, or party enrolliheht depend^ ingOn the'circumstahcessince the lastpreceding: gubernatorial election.\ ..\••/.• .. . , ,',.• . i This state requirement is in keeping with the well-known \one man, one Vote\ rulingby the United-.States Supreme Court :'. more than 40 years ago. Before the high spurt's 1964 decision in Reynolds v. Sims, urban and suburban counties were often drasticaUy misrepresented. In Vermont, for example, the small- est district has 36. people, the largest had 35,000, a ratio of • -almost 1,000to 1. /;-'-^-'../;- :[••:_ The 1 eight justices ruled that state legislature districts had to be roughly equal in population, correcting malapportionment which could undermine the premises of representative democ- \There is no reason to believe that the Committee determining the appropriate weight of each committee members' voteas)pirescHbedby the statute or to identify eligible voters,' » racy. .•••...;,. Chief Justite Earl Warren, in his majority decision, famously wrote, \Legislators represent people, not trees or acres. Legis- lators are elected by voters,.not farms Or cities or economic ..interests.\.. '.',;'• ... •'•.. •.• ' iS . .',''...' The \one man, one vote\ principle affected elected bodies across the country. At the cpunty level in New York State, for example, many county boards becarne cpunty legislatures of, alternatively, adopted a weighted voting systern so that elec- tions would be fair. Since'the number of Democratic Party members in each of AibanyCounty's election districts is not the same, of even hear the same; two votes per district cannot be fair. Judge McNamara was right to rule, \Inasmuch as weighted voting was not utilized in the election of officers at the organi- zationalmeeting on September 27, 2006, the;election must be invalidated,\ ' - > He Was also right when he wrote, \There is a generally held view that; courts should not interfere with the internal affaif sof _a political party.''McNamara goes on to state thafcthe Bosworth slate did hot demonstrate \any statutory or^fegal ground for judicial intefyentibn.\ Trie judge leaves it up to the committee; guided by state law and/its own rules. \There is nareason,\ Writes the judge, \to believe that the Cpmmittee is incapable of determining the appropriate weight of each cpArnitt'ee members' vote as prescribed by the statute or to identify eligible voters.\ .-.••\•/:'' : \. On the.iace of it, the committee may look incapable of such a determination. •. .,• v , The committee has no leader. Barriett stepped dPWn. Commissp, who had been assuming lea^efsMp responsibilities, has had hisdetection ihvalidatecLArid, while the Bbsworth caiiSp claims he would be elected in a weighted vote, he has not been elected. '•••;•, ..•••'; .- Bosworthhas told usthat what distinguishes his leadership stylte. from Commisso's is his collaborative, inclusive approach. Now''isthe tithe to demonstrate that style. : Both slates, asthey meet to negotiate ground rjiles onhow the weighted vote will be used and which voters will be considered eligible, need to be able to compromise. Rather than driving the : Wedge deeperbetween factions,; bpthislides heed, to lo,bk: for common ground. , i/***m~\u The Enterprise opMipnp^ . We encourage readers tolexpresstli^if appear in tln^riewpapef o^ bnerlwith anToutside Ihrnt^iliO^OHvof^ds)af^mustMciu^ address^ name, and p^hpne numbef fof' ; v^^aj^o4'.;1^:e4ii!^f^tiy'- reject letters that have been printed elsewhere. Letters concerning elections will becut off bne^ i^eue befpf e the -*JJP;,'.-,! election at the editor's discretion. No unsigned f ^gijjj letters. Deadline for letters is Tuesday at noon. warming TptheEditor: ; Capital District, New Yofk — 50 degrees^ and raining in January. This 'Winterhas been more than unseasonably warm. It has set a record for high - teihperatufes. We are expert-, ericirig global .warming; right now in our oWn backyards. Maybe you are afraid and wish it was riot happening, and put the matter to pest in the back of your nihuL You may have even looked at the bright side, and enjoyed the warrn^weather as you refnembered all those times you wished for Florida temperatures when the winters here in New Yofk Were just too cold. For us who do' belieye in the . science behind global Warming, it's hard to enjoy this weather. We know, that no brie> escapes the effects of global Warming. In absence of a plan,, global warming non-believers, suggest we do nothing as the hole in the ozone gets larger, the polar ice caps melt, and ..catastrophic weather: patterns pose dire pf ob~ 4ems for all livingthings. : :- : .Unless We really talk about this with our neighbors, and demand, a plan from our elected leaders that mitigates the effects 'qf..;gi'pbdi\:.Warming,.''''th'e'' do- nothings win; And what exactly will they win? We cahnipt let this rion>believer inindsptstpj| us ffoin making the chahgej wb heed to protect bur planet and a susta^nable^lure. I Want my children and my neighbors to knbw that maybe I waited top long to publicly speak up.|>nt,at.least I was,not a do- nothing. *v,'-.\ •, .• Taunya Hannibal-Williams Guilderland Center To the Editor: Oh Thursday, Dec. 29, , a TimesMftipn reporter toured:the NeW Visions^ formerly: known as Albany •'. Af|,Cv'i[Assoieiatiori:,.. for Retarded Citizens] facility where I wbfki It w a& a carefully guided . tour niost likeiy arrangied to combat the negative publicity of another article pubhshed ih The Alidthont Enterprise ^ jim/Defe 14. This' article told of thetteath of a resident : of ffie 'New Visions Rapp Road home: This article alleged that chronic under- staffihg, long overtime hours, meiperiehced relief workers, and worsening work'conditions are predominantly to blame for an unsafe working environment. Ohe individual:whp, provided information fof. : the article was able tb have her name published while the other had to remain anonymous :\.• Jpecause New ViSipri's policy is .to dismiss, any employee.^: who openly ; speaks with the media; Which brings us back to the tour of the fabilitv oh \Thuf sday; :••.-: '';**:.'.' '••'. I anisure ifcit th* press was not ailbwed to : interview: any staff they;;chPpse ; to While, they Wpre iri'the building. ;& K the workers of Albany ARC who are in the. majority; ahd- they are legally;sil^ttCed by^ formal:New Visions policy. This was not always the case. On the occasion of the workers' attempt to unionize several years|(g^, the agency sent; out a polic^lfor iiS to sigh, Stating that no wofkfef was: to speiak to the media and, if they were ap- proached by the media; they wef e to redirect themi to upper management. No employee, by the way, has a copy of the poKcy they signed. At the end of the day and after the media left, stiff wefe: asked , to attend ameeting dif ected by Ahdfew. McKerizie, ^he executive director. In that meeting, it was alluded that .the use of a residents death to bring attention to the Staffs .union activities Was iri ppbr taste and an abuse of the residents menioty. : & is riot m pppr taste; nor abuse of! the residents memory for employees to make |ne point that,; indeed; pppr vstafiingf: fatips ••. are-to blame for iiiis g^icular death. W^atis ppoor taste and &buse of the resident's memory is to cpyei; up ,the incident arid remain silent, about a safety issuf; that could he easily &$* verttabie; inithefuture. •:._-. ^,\^;^efye* ; 1^?iw^aWs: i: meni^ bry jristiCe^by^ ieafnuig from the iiiCidfent.; arid? reddicing thb possi- biliiy of' ft^ evef occurring again.:. No;; ft isin't the best publicity fbf thP agericyi f but niedia attention can. erisufjB a widesprbaid .'.shar'^; irig pf ,this unforturiatyhicident so others, too, pari henbiit frpm what can.be learned here. New Visions has; in the recent past o^semiiriated copies of the niedia article about, the unfortunate ckovviiing incident at another agency in order to heighteneriiployees'aw^feness. Information, is-'not ; : the, enemy, ignorance andcbvbr-:vip arb; : Some staff are upset; about: the article because the specific details of the incident were not exactly correct, but wb are not Saine time, .The^^^: resident would not ;haye died as afesult of. hbad ytrauma, wni^h alsb broke; her , rieckjj The employees wpuld not be ;sufferihgvbver thei clbath of. a ;fesidbnt they? deafly ipyed, ; ^^e employee^ of New ,.'VSsibhs are;: frustrated that Wbf^kirig conditions are riot what they. corild?heiso w| Cari ensiifg we r>rbvidevilhe'•-oest .possible •••care*f-;jv\ .'•;*'\ \ , • :. .' Andfbw McKenzie' has told us he 'has^ari^ pperi-dpbr poljcy. What'better way '>•& cpnimuni'- cate. with \the staff! than in a cpllectiyb jiinit?'. A |\ • unioii . bf workers can. prpyidetapicture of general concerns while iridiVi- duals can pnly represent their owri concerns and they are: not alwaysiija.thb best: interest of the agency as a whole. ^_ , Had'lthe feniployeel, been suc- cessful in their |unipnizing : attempt in the past; pefhaps the ; Whatis in poor taste and abuse of the resident's memory is to cover u incident and remain silent about a safety issue that could be easily preventable in the future. upset that the gist, of the article supports ftiat the driver needed more support On the Van iide. K is important for the ernplpyebs to share with: the public that/'the.: resident was ftpt in a wheelchair during trarispbrt, the vans did npt:, collide,.'; arid it was a seasoned, well-trained; loving: staff : meinber who was, driving , the -van at the .time of:Jtjhe • toCidentr';-':.././ Iri life, accidents happeh, arid the ARGdf iyer was. not .to.blanie when another ^cut?bffthb Van m ffpn't bfthein. forcing the driver to. stop short' m prdei; to . avoid .hitting the yah .'.they.. were following. Had thesuppbf t iof a van aide;,been available to' the staff bn that day,;, the accident may nbt have been avoided, ; hut the consumer wbul<| not have been\.' thrpwri ;ffbfri hef seat because her seat belt had, come undone at fpine '.> PPint, dufirig '' th^ ; t)canspbrt.' \ : ' \V''.-iA.'.OTwesc'/^Wriipt : watch seat belte and ,dfive safely M the | • *^ ChforiiC under staffirig wftuld have heeri, identified ;as a huge\ prpbiem years; ago; and this resident's death could have beeri .avoided.. | As of yet, Andrew jMcKenzie, Who has his own cbritfact. with the agericj/'aridthe New yigipris incorpOratibri;; feftisbs to allow employees to^ meet with neutral- ity; free .frbrn intimidation^^ and , fear'pf' lb|ihg ourjobs^: We- only ;^k the opportunity:to be given accjurate,.inforrii.atipn. frpm., a Union representatiye itt pfdef to malfee adecisioriif'auriiori W!ouJd be the best thing for. New .Visiphs. '.•• Perhaps togethef''we can re- duce accidents and unfortunate deaths By cpinirig.togethef „ staff and management, 'executives arid the boafd^ ^f'directors, in order to ensure the safest, most caring environinent possible for the wonderful people we . care for;\tb^ther •'.'\•'•• Name AvithHeld Editor's : i7urte:Beerelied, story.
