Donaldson, left, and Parete
KINGSTON – There is a war of words brewing in Kingston, as local officials team up to challenge the language used in this year’s ballot proposal to move Ulster County Family Court out of Kingston, into neighboring Town of Ulster.
For several years, the Family Court on Lucas Avenue has been under pressure from state administrators to bring the building up to modern standards. The least expensive solution was to move the facility over to the county-owned Business Resource Center on Albany Avenue.
State law requires a public referendum for a county court to leave the county seat. The county legislature approved the ballot proposal last June, in an 18-4 vote. The dissenters were legislators Dave Donaldson, John Parete, Manna Jo Greene, and Jennifer Schwartz-Berky.
According to critics, the proposal, as it will appear on the ballot, has emotionally manipulative content which tends to persuade people to vote yes. The nickname for this tactic, which was successfully used in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2013 gambling amendment, is an “emotivote.”
Donaldson and Parete brought the Family Court syntax problem to the City of Kingston’s Finance and Audit Committee Wednesday night, alleging that the resolution which passed last June was embellished by Chairman Ken Ronk, resulting in manipulative wording which will appear on November’s 2016 ballot.
The city Finance Committee agreed with the two county legislators, unanimously passing a resolution of their own, opposing the language used in the county proposal. That move will now be voted on by aldermen at the next common council meeting on Sept. 13. It is not clear what the deadline date is for finalizing a county referendum, local officials noted.
“The legislature did not pass the language,” Donaldson told the committee. “If you read the way the current language is, in order to improve services to children and families, to reduce the need to raise property taxes, both of these [clauses] are manipulative in nature,” Donaldson claimed. “Referendums should be clear and succinct in what you’re doing, and neutral. I really don’t like the wording.”
Finance committee chairman Douglas Koop agreed.
“This first sentence, current language, in order to improve services to children, who’s going to vote against that?” Koop asked. “It’s manipulative; it really is so subjective. Either we do it or we don’t, the voter decides why or why not.”
“I don’t think we should be balkanizing the city and its services any more than has happened,” Parete added. “Taxpayer money shouldn’t be used to convince people of something. We need all the help we can get, to prevent the language from getting editorial.”
On average, 300 people come to Family Court every day in Uptown Kingston, spending an estimated $12 each. The financial impact of the court facility is roughly $1 million per year upon surrounding businesses.
“I don’t see any benefit to the city; all I see is negatives,” said Alderman-at-Large James Noble, of the ballot proposal.
