KINGSTON – The Ulster County Legislature’s Laws, Rules, and Government Services Committee Monday night approved changes to their rules surrounding the mandatory appointment of legislators to a caucus.
The previous language required that elected legislators be part of the majority, minority, or third party caucus.
Committee Chairwoman Tracey Bartels said that she didn’t believe third party legislators should be forced to select a caucus they don’t politically align with, but cited an instance in the past, with former legislator Richard Parete, where he was a Republican candidate, but was in the Democratic Caucus. This posed a mathematical issue determining majority and minority the legislature was hoping to change.
“There was a back and forth about whether he was technically a member of the majority party,” said Bartels. “It became an argument about which was minority and there was an argument to made because of this language. I think that we should allow for members not to align with a party if they so choose,” she said.
Legislative Chairman David Donaldson said choosing a caucus resulting in a tie between parties would not really create an issue.
“Technically, when you do that, if is a tie, there is no majority, there is no minority until after they’ve declared, after the chairman gets elected and after they get sworn in and make their decisions,” said Donaldson.
However, committee members agreed that candidates should not be forced to affiliate with a party they did not run as, which was included in the language of the current rule.
Their solution was to have elected legislators choose a caucus before the organizational meeting, with the caucus not having a bearing on their declared party affiliation and for mathematical purposes only.
The committee agreed to the changes but added if an issue arises, they will hold a special meeting before their next regular meeting.
