I was intrigued by a couple of Ms. Antin’s letters. As a life-long resident I’ve seen numerous town Supervisors and councilpersons voted out of office. It’s kind of a novel concept, but it only seems to happen when residents are unhappy with the way their local government is operating. Obviously, most of our residents, regardless of political affiliation, are satisfied with the work of their town’s government.
With regard to a county legislature the towns of Delaware are diverse. For example, the priorities of Tompkins and Colchester are very different from neighboring Walton. Consolidating them into one legislative district would not serve the best interests of people from those towns.
Every layer of government beyond the town level operates on the committee system. Nothing gets to the floor without first being approved by the respective committee. A county legislature would operate the same way as our current Board of Supervisors. A couple of legislators might bottle up the resolution, say to share sales tax, the same way a couple of supervisors are.
With all due respect to Ms. Antin, a legislature, which is slightly more removed from the taxpayer is not going to be more frugal than the current Board of Supervisors. In the cases I researched years ago when the “in thing” was to switch from BOS to a legislature, spending increased significantly.
Leonard A Govern
Walton
