Its Pros & Cons, the Process Behind it, & How it Would

Affect the Town of Hanover

By: Gregory Fox, InternDate Submitted: 8/8/11

Reducing the number of elected officials in a community, usually from the board or legislature

Usually on the grounds of saving money & simplifying the complex local government structure of NY

Has its negative effects too, like loss of representation & stress of councilpersons’ resources

•Attorney Kevin Gaughan has been an activist of government downsizing in WNY

Referendum - direct vote of the people on an issue Permissive referendum - local governing body may decide

on its own motion to place a plan to downsize before the voters, first agreed upon by its members

Referendum on petition (more likely) – a petition is circulated among the citizens of a community & is presented to the local governing body, which is forced to put the proposal to referendum If the referendum is voted “yes” upon by a majority, the local

government must create a plan to downsize & put that plan to referendum

Matters subject to these non-mandatory referendums are usually the subject of local controversy

Loss of representation can outweigh all the benefits The remaining council members would have to represent

more people & have a larger workload Many fear that downsizing will concentrate too much

power in the remaining board members The monetary savings, while present, are usually

minimal, only amounting to less than $4 annually per citizen or around 0.5% of total municipal expenditures

“I’ve heard people say it’s not going to save that much money, but if you have that opinion about everything, nothing’s going to change. You have to start somewhere.”

We should let people have a say in how big they want their government

We have so many elected officials bickering amongst each other that eliminating some will increase citizens’ voice in a community where population is on the decline The remaining officials will rely more on citizens for help

rather than each other (e.g. citizen committees, sharing the workload with citizens, making board meetings less “lecture-like” & more “conversation-like”)

“The main expenses of local governments lie not in their legislatures, but in the package of municipal services provided to community residents, businesses & visitors…& the infrastructure & staff financed to sustain these devices…If the primary community goal is to save money, legislative downsizing is insufficient, offering a cost-negligible…means to achieve it.”

Local elected officials aren’t making the biggest bucks, & are usually compensated a part-time salary for a job that they are “on call” for 24/7

Graduate of Harvard Univ. & Georgetown Univ. Law Unsuccessfully ran for Congress & mayor of Buffalo Downsizing efforts successful in Hamburg, Orchard

Park, West Seneca, Alden, Amherst (board supportive), & Evans, as well as the Niagara & Erie County legislatures Unsuccessful in Sloan, Williamsville, Farnham (all

dissolution votes), & Grand Island Champions community discussions & public forums to

move forward towards regionalism & innovation in local government

Currently working on a drive to downsize the state legislature

Representational impact Population from the 2010 Census 7,127 Current number of legislators 5 Citizens per legislator BEFORE downsizing by 2 1,425 Citizens per legislator AFTER downsizing by 2 2,376

Cost impact* Total municipal expenditures for 2010 $3,769,607 Total expenditures for the entire board $44,500 Councilperson’s salary $6,250 Savings from eliminating 2 seats $12,500 Savings as % of total expenditures 0.33% Savings per citizen after downsizing $1.75 *(Numbers do NOT include pension contributions or health care

benefits, of which no officials are currently buying into)

Voted 2,222 - 1,326 to downsize from 5 board members to 3 on 6/3/09 (~30% turnout)

Pop. 16,997; citizens per legislator up from 3,399 to 5,666; savings of $43,240, which was .34% of the 2006 budget & $2.54 per citizen

Board members note communication hassles since the law prevents two members from discussing town business without scheduling a meeting

No citizen committees; the board has not asked for help

Services provided to citizens haven’t changed Town hall meetings aren’t showing increased

attendance; the people that voted aren’t at them

“Larger legislatures are generally better able to represent diverse public opinion, respond to demands for constituent service, deliberate reflectively, tackle complex or controversial issues, & resist corruption or capture by special interest. Small legislatures are better able to operate cheaply, respond to community consensus, & handle a light workload of routine & uncontroversial issues.”

In order to downsize, a referendum vote must be initiated, either by the board (permissive referendum) or by the citizens (referendum on petition)

In the Town of Hanover, if 2 board seats were eliminated, # of citizens per legislator would increase from 1,425 to 2,376

$12,500 would be saved annually, which is 0.33% of the total budget & $1.75 per citizen

Kevin Gaughan champions lowering the number of bickering politicians in order to save taxpayers money & increase citizen participation & volunteerism in local government

Opponents argue there would be a loss of representation, a possible strain on the remaining officials’ resources, too much power concentrated in too few politicians, & only a tiny amount of money saved

Supporters argue that every bit of money saved counts, the people should be able to say how big they want their government, & lowering the number of politicians will require them to rely more on the citizens for help rather than themselves

The University at Buffalo says if it’s all about money, then look somewhere else to save, such as the services provided to citizens

http://www.reformnygov.com/ A New N.Y.: Reforming Government; from the Office of the Attorney General

Local Government Handbook from the New York State Department of State

21st Century Local Government: Report of the New York State Commission on Local Government Efficiency & Competitiveness

http://townofevans.com/?cat=10&paged=3 TownOfEvans.com: Government Downsizing

http://www.nysenate.gov/blogs/2009/jun/03/power-people-local-government-consolidation-bill-passes-senate NYS Senate; “Power to the People: Local Government Consolidation Bill Passes Senate”

http://www.erie.gov/newstead/pdfs/UB_Policy_Brief_Legis_Downsizing.pdf “Sizing Up Local Legislatures”; University at Buffalo Regional Institute Policy Brief

http://www.letpeopledecide.org/default.htm Let People Decide; Kevin Gaughan’s Website

http://townofhanover.org/content Town of Hanover website Town of Hanover Annual Financial Report from the fiscal year of

2010 Reorganizational Meeting minutes; Jan. 3, 2011 http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/2009_09_16/downsizing_brief

UB Reporter; “Examining government downsizing” http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/amherst/

article240414.ece Buffalo News; “Amherst voters back downsized Town Board”

http://www.buffalonews.com/incoming/article157645.ece Buffalo News; “Voters downsize town boards in Evans and West Seneca”

http://www.buffalorising.com/2009/06/voters-to-settle-local-government-downsizing-debate.html Buffalo Rising; “Voters to Settle Local Government Downsizing Debate”

Federalist Paper No. 10 http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article365666.ece Buffalo

News; “Downsizing town boards has its share of problems”

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-11-11-political-downsizing_N.htm USA Today; “'Political downsizing' is latest weapon for voters”

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/east-aurora-live/2009/08/31/sunday-night-in-east-aurora Kevin Gaughan interview; “Sunday Night Live in East Aurora” by East Aurora Live talk radio