Ward system vote moves forward; Special election to be held in September

TOWN OF MANLIUS – There will be a special election in September to determine if councilors in the town of Manlius will be elected through a ward system moving forward.
In a letter dated Aug. 4, Town Clerk Allison Weber indicated to the board that she had reviewed the petition for a vote on changing the governmental structure of the town and found it to have been filed properly. By law, that finding requires the town board to hold a special election on the matter between 60 and 75 days from the filing of the petition, which took place on July 14.
The town board plans to prepare a resolution for adoption at its meeting on Aug. 23 to determine exactly how the election will be conducted.
At the board meeting on Aug. 9, Supervisor John Deer said the town can opt to have more than one polling location, but needs to act quickly to secure locations, work with the Onondaga County Board of Elections to use county balloting machines, and find, hire and train election inspectors. At this point it is unclear how much the special election will cost, he said.
“All of these things need to be figured out,” Deer said.
There is a section in the town’s new comprehensive plan, which was passed by the all-Democrat board last month, that calls for the town to consider the merits of ward system in the future. In discussions after the town received the petition, Deer said that he isn’t necessarily opposed or in support of the ward system, but felt that the petition process limits the ability of residents to study the issue and weigh the merits.
The petitioning process was led by Republicans in the town of Manlius. While Manlius has historically been a Republican stronghold, and the GOP controlled the board for most of the past several decades, Democratic enrollment has surged in Manlius in the past few years and Democrats swept all the Republican lawmakers out of office in the past two election cycles.
Town GOP chairman and candidate for supervisor Tim Kelly, who led the petitioning drive, said the campaign to switch to a ward system was not political, but rather a way to ensure that the northern part of the town had representation on the town board. The petitions, however, were largely circulated by members of the GOP that don’t live in the northern part of the town. Of the 76 pages of signatures, only 23 were gathered by people who live in the northern part of the town.
At the beginning of last week’s town board meeting, several residents voiced their displeasure with how the special election process will force residents to vote on a significant change to the town’s governance without ample opportunity to weigh the pros and cons. Many thought the rushed process would suppress the vote. Others were fearful that dividing the town into small enclaves could empower radical ideologues who wouldn’t normally gain traction in a townwide election.
“We must remain vigilant and cautious about any changes that could potentially offer an avenue for these dangerous elements to infiltrate our town’s governance,” said John Boyd of N. Manlius St. “While the current system may not be perfect, adopting a ward system proposes a significant risk to our community.”
“All of us in the town have been railroaded,” said Barb Wilson of Horseshoe Lane. “Everyone is in agreement that it was all too rushed, and confused and expensive.”
About 30 years ago, when Republicans had full control of the town board, the Democratic party made multiple attempts to convert the town to a ward system and Republicans campaigned against the change and the measure was not passed.
“It’s sort of hypocritical now to propose such a system, when before, when the tables were turned, you rejected it,” Bassett said.
Voting in the special election will be done in person and there will be no accommodation for absentee voters.
There is a provision in the law that allows the board to create a board of registrars, which would allow for absentee balloting but would require each person who plans to vote in the election to register, in person, at town hall, and then return to the polls on the date of the special election. Councilors felt that would be an extraordinary burden on residents and would likely suppress the vote.
There will also be no mailing from the town to residents informing them of the vote. On guidance from the state Association of Towns, the board determined that a mailing would be a liability risk, because if just one resident didn’t receive a mailing, they could have grounds to sue the town.
“We need to set this up properly because we don’t want to be sued in the future,” said Councilor Sara Bollinger.
Weber indicated that she would use all the public facing channels at her disposal to promote the special election, including local media, the town’s website and social media channels.
If the vote on the ward system passes, it will be up to the county’s election commissioners to draw the lines for each of the wards. All town councilors – including those elected in November to four-year terms – would have their terms end at the end of 2025.