As usual this time of year, there is an upcoming election. The actual vote will be held Tuesday November 2nd, 2021. For those who also live in Honeoye Falls, the polling station is the Mendon Community Center, formerly known as the Legion Hall.
This year we have a group of amendments to the state constitution, along with the usual assortment of elected positions. Lots of familiar names, both as incumbents and repeated challengers. A few more unopposed then I think is ideal, but such is life.
For the State Supreme Court we have Maurice Verrillo, Deral Givens, Elena F Cariola, and Jim Walsh running for the 7th Judicial District. ‘Pick two’ from this group.
For the County Court we have Douglas A Randall, Caroline Edwards-Morrison, Julie A Cianca, Marty McCarthy, and Julie M Hahn running to be Judge. ‘Pick three’ from this group. As there are two of them, I’m predicting ‘Julie’ wins.
For County Legislator we have Terry Daniele and Richard B Milne running for the 5th District.
At the Town level we have Jeffery F Klein , and John D Moffitt running for Supervisor. While Jon M Stern and Cara M Briggs are running for Town Justice. And Town Council is being pursued by Jeffrey R Clark, David L Cook, Cynthia M Carroll, and Brent G Rosiek (‘pick two’ for Council).
Unopposed, we have Todd K Baxter running for Sheriff, Michelle S Booth running for Town Clerk, and Andrew G Caschetta running for Superintendent of Highways.
Regardless of your opinions on any of the people involved, the above is reasonable straightforward. Pick the person (or party) you think will help your neighborhood the best. The proposals on the other hand, are a bit more complicated. And we’ve got 5 of them to consider, all of which are potential amendments to the State Constitution.
Proposal one has alot in it. It’s a mix of what feels like technical corrections, changing how districts are drawn, and capping the number of state senators. I have no issues with technical corrections, but the other changes seem potentially exploitable (see prop 3/4 below). Even if that wasn’t the case, throwing too much into a single amendment feels like the wrong way to do it. It makes it unclear what is actually being approved, and thus I can’t in good conscience suggest anyone vote ‘yes’ on this.
Proposal two sounds great on the surface. Who wouldn’t want “clean air and water and a healthful environment”. ‘Rights’ are important, their protection is why government exist. And, when infringed, leads to a legitimate use of force to restore. But there is no limiting factor here, thus it’s abuse becomes ‘when’ not ‘if’. This highlights why ‘negative‘ rights are better then ‘positive‘ rights. Negative rights create regions free of government control (thus personal freedom). Positive rights require government involvement, restricting our freedom (the only question is to what degree).
While Proposal three and four are listed separately, and do cover different situations, I am lumping them together. At the core they both effect how elections occur. One on how soon before an election you must register, the other requirements around absentee ballots. Considering the debacle of the previous election, I think these are both bad ideas (at least at this juncture). They appear to provide additional avenues to abuse the election system, with a negligible benefit. If the election is less then 10 days away and you aren’t registered, then being informed is likely not important to you. Get registered, do your research, and vote next year. Likewise, having to go to a polling station (or provide some reasoning as to why you can’t) provides enough of a hurdle that you are likely to have done some research. In other words, you have taken the time and effort to form an opinion of your own.
Proposal five would appear to benefit (or not) the New York City Civil Courts, as opposed to the state at large. I have no opinion on this one, and thus expect I’ll go with the default stance of ‘take no action’.
And those are some opinions on this upcoming election. Agree or disagree, you’ve got a week to figure out how you will vote. Unless you’ve voted early…