George Washington wasn’t the first president.
Hopefully that got your attention.
And if you want to learn more, read about the Continental Congress and the Confederation Congress, the governing bodies of the United States until 1789. There were problems with both and many of these problems were solved when the Constitution became effective in 1789. That’s when we Americans elected our “first” president, George Washington. Unfortunately for us in Delaware County, we are still stuck in 1788. Yes, we vote directly for our town supervisors in the hope that they will professionally and selflessly work for the good and prosperity of our towns (I live in Delhi and I couldn’t be happier with the great work of Maya Bukai and our excellent town and village councilmembers). But on the county level, town supervisors sequester themselves in a room and elect one of their own to lead the county. The voters of Delaware County have no say in this choice. Supervisors hand power to someone simultaneously responsible for two jobs that can easily conflict: caring for their individual town and caring for the county.
The solution is simple and exists throughout New York state: adopt a county executive form of government. In this model, voters elect both their local town supervisor and an executive to run the county. Every voter in Delaware County has an equal say. I have spoken to neighbors who are wary of handing power from supervisors to a new executive, but I think there is an easy solution to that, too. Keep them on. Supervisors should closely work with and provide a check to their county executive in the interest of their individual towns. Have them remain county employees.
I encourage you to reach out to your town supervisor and the county directly if you agree with me. I actually encourage you to do the same if you don’t because that is the beauty of this American experiment. You may face some pushback because there is no open comment for the public at county meetings. Let’s solve this.
Chris Dragotakes
Delhi
