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SCARSDALE, N.Y. The Scarsdale Forums Non-Partisan Resolution got some tweaks Thursday night at the Forums first general membership meeting of its 107th year.
More than 60 people turned out at the Scarsdale Library to hear what the Forums Procedure and Non-Partisan Procedure committees came up with for proposed changes to the Non-Partisan Resolution. Forum President B. Kathleen Munguia welcomed members and heaped praise on all the volunteers who comprise the Forum and its many committees.
The vote to place the proposed Non-Partisan Resolution changes on the Nov. 15 ballot followed a spirited, yet civil, discussion of the nuances of each item.
The Procedure Committees recommendations were presented by Chairman Michelle Lichtenberg and Vice Chairman David Brodsky, while Chairman Larry Bell took up the cause of the Non-Partisan Procedure Committee.
The most contentious of the changes involved placing restrictions upon who could run for spots on the Citizens Nominating Committee, which determines who will serve as mayor and Village trustees. The Procedure Committee strongly recommended changing the rule to allow only one person per household to serve, and to prevent anyone serving as mayor or trustee from running for the CNC until they had been out of office for one election cycle.
According to Brodsky, with multiple people from the same household serving together on the CNC, There is a perception that a small group controls the decisions.
Bell said that no one, including the Procedure Committee, should have the right to tell voters who they can and cannot choose.
There are lots of alliances, he said, pointing out that the rule would not prohibit parents and children, or people and in-laws or siblings from serving together, as long as they dont live under the same roof.
Both sides agreed on preventing trustees and mayors from running for the CNC until they had been out of office for one cycle.
Another, less controversial change involved allowing mail-in ballots to increase voter participation. The rule carries a provision to allow the mail-in ballot to be nullified if the voter shows up at the polls to vote live. Other changes involved confidentiality issues surrounding the vetting of potential candidates for office.
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