POUGHKEEPSIE – The Dutchess County Legislature held their first board meeting that permitted public attendance became contentious when the proposed local law creating a new Independent Reapportionment Commission came up for discussion. The original commission was disbanded in June when it was learned that a Democratic appointment was serving in violation of the rules. Monday’s vote to create a new commission passed with 15 Republicans approving it and the 10 Democrats voting against it.
Chief Assistant County Attorney Chris Cullen, the original commission’s legal advisor made the recommendation to disband the original commission and begin the appointment process again. Legislature Chairman Gregg Pulver agreed. A legislative committee debated the issue on Thursday, with Democrats opposing the plan and walking out of the meeting. The debate continued Monday night, with Democratic lawmakers engaging Cullen in a heated exchange.
Democratic Minority Leader Rebecca Edwards told Mid Hudson News prior to the meeting that her caucus disagreed with the plan to disregard the 163 applications submitted by residents that sought to serve on the commission and calling for new applicants. ”So, 163 volunteers is not enough for seven slots? That’s absurd on its face,” Edwards said. The lawmaker representing the Town of Poughkeepsie praised the original applicants for their “diversity of backgrounds and impressive skills and experience.” “The obvious agenda here,” she said, “is to blow up the commission and install someone who is not in the current applicant pool. On a pretext, the democratic process is being overturned.”
When the commission was disbanded in June, Pulver said “Dutchess County’s Independent Reapportionment Commission was rendered dissolved and disbanded by the County Attorney due to an elected official being a member of the Commission. Unfortunately, our current law, designed hand-in-hand by Republicans and Democrats, has no process to follow in this circumstance,” leading to Monday’s vote.
The new local law requires that County Executive Marc Molinaro develop a new application process for residents seeking to serve on the commission. The application process must be established by November 15, 2021. The subsequent list of new applicants needs to be submitted to the legislature by January 3, 2022. The original commission was signed into law by Molinaro in the fall of 2019.
