Residents vote down appointed treasurer position

SCHUYLER COUNTY—Schuyler County residents voted against a countywide proposition to submit a local law that would have eliminated the elected county treasurer position during the general election Tuesday, Nov. 5.
The proposed law, titled “A local law Abolishing the elected Office of County Treasurer and creating an Appointive Office of County Director of Finance for the County of Schuyler, State of New York,” was voted down 2,841 votes against to 1,364 votes in support. The proposition was enacted by the Schuyler County Legislature March 11, 2013.
“The voters have spoken,” Schuyler County Treasurer Gary Whyman said. “I talked with many of them through the course of the year. I support what they choose.”
The proposed law was debated and contested leading up to the election due to its elimination of an elected office. Former District 1 candidate Michael Burns had said during the League of Women Voter’s Meet the Candidates Night held Oct. 16 he was against the proposition because it “shut off democratic control of the government.” Burns, who lost the District 1 election to incumbent Barbara Halpin, said “reducing the amount of people who are directly elected is not a solution for a management problem.”
Some legislators were in support of the proposition due to recent struggles with the county treasurer.
“If I hadn’t been through the experience of working with a treasurer who didn’t have the numbers, I would normally not support the proposition,” Halpin said during the Meet the Candidates Night. But Halpin said because of her experience on the legislature, she supported a chief financial officer.
After the measure was defeated during the general election, Schuyler County will remain with an elected county treasurer position.