OCTOBER 2, 2006 MEETING OF THE EFFICIENCY, REFORM, AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OF THE ULSTER COUNTY LEGISLATURE

The meeting convened at 6:12 pm. Attending were Legislators Bischoff (Chairman), Rodriguez, Liepmann, Cummings, and Bartels. Legislators Busick and Shapiro were excused. Also attending were Election Commissioner Parete and deputy commissioner Fraser of the Ulster County Board of Elections (BOE), and concerned citizen Tom Kadgen, representing the League of Women Voters.

Board of Elections Issues

1. Approving Expenses for Space Renovation. Commissioner Parete updated the committee on the renovations at the BOE, describing the new conference room, which, among other things, can be under lock and key when impoundment is required under election law. Parete at the request of Legislator Liepmann explained how affidavit ballots work and are used under various circumstances in Ulster County. Bischoff asked Parete’s opinion on the bill in congress that would require a picture ID before someone can vote. Parete expressed his concern that the requirements of the bill would amount to something like a “poll tax” and the like which were prohibited by the civil rights laws of the 60s and 70s. Motion made to approve remainder of equipment by Rodriquez. Liepmann seconded. Unanimously approved.

2. Voting Machine Law. Bischoff is asking the committee to set a date for a public hearing on a law establishing criteria for voting machines in Ulster County (copy attached), which limits the choice of the commissioner to optical scan/paper ballot technology. Cummings moved; Liepmann seconded. Parete said the law appears to distrust his judgment on the voting machines, and NY law says that the local boards of election choose the machines to purchase or lease, and he harbors a certain amount of resentment that this law is being put forward because he may not vote the way some people want him to vote. Bartels said that this law should have been done sooner and it is not meant to be an insult to or to take a decision away from the commissioners. The state law from the beginning is flawed in that it gives the decision to two partisan appointed and non-elected officials. The Republican commissioner is on record supporting the DREs. The decision is not just yours but also Commissioner Turco’s, Bartels explained. If the two of you can’t agree, then it goes to the state board. Bartels wants to be on record that this issue is so important that the legislature wants to weigh in on this issue and be more restrictive than the state is. There may be questions about the legality of this law, as Tom Turco had expressed in an email. Bartels said that this is part of what the legislature’s role is to do what they think is right even when people say this is illegal. This is what changes the law when people believe something is right. Parete says this happened in the Town of Olive and the town possibly had to face triple damages. Parete says the legislature should take all choice away if they think it’s right and not just limit his choice. Cummings said that she didn’t see the law until moments ago. She fully agrees with Commissioner Parete and doesn’t think that the legislature should make the decision unless the commissioner cannot agree. She also wonders whether the law is legal. Rodriguez didn’t know of the opposition to this law until this meeting. Parete didn’t know about this law until Thursday and didn’t know it was going to be discussed until today. Bischoff pointed out that this vote is not to pass the law but only to schedule a public hearing. Rodriguez said he trusts Parete to make the right decision, but there are a lot of our constituents who want to be sure we are going to have paper ballots/optical scan. Liepmann said he thinks of this as “covering the Commissioner Parete’s back” to say no that Ulster County won’t agree to DREs. Parete said that there is a process in place for the commissioners to make a decision and could make a decision on a ballot-marking device that is a cross between the DRE and the optical scan if such a technology were presented. Parete said he has a serious privacy issue with the optical scanner because of the requirement that the voter has to be notified that the voter has undervoted. Parete has a serious privacy issue with the optical scans, which he believes is a very, very important issue. He has reliability concerns about the DREs and the time it will take a disabled voter to vote (20 or 30 minutes) in a DRE and how this will negatively affect the voters waiting to vote. Bischoff said the on optical scanners there will be a LCD screen that will tell the voter what the problem is and a button can be pushed to have the scanner accept the ballot. Bartels suggested that this privacy concern about undervoting could be addressed in voter education prior to the implementation of the new technology. She thinks the notice of undervoting is helpful. The motion passed: Four yes; Cummings voted No.

Green Building Legislation

Bartels asked to put this on the agenda and apologized for not getting it to the committee sooner. This went through environment. It establishes high efficiency standards for new construction of county projects (copy attached) using the LEED rating system “silver” standard. Bartels noted that in Pataki’s exec order 111 directed that all new state buildings consider the LEED standards. This law allows that if a reason exists (other than financial) that precludes the LEED standards that reason would exempt the project. To build to the silver standard increases construction cost from 0 to 3%. She noted that the new jail has a utility cost of a million dollars and it’s the county’s newest building. Bartels noted that there are states and counties that mandate the platinum standard in all new construction. Liepmann asked if a NYSERDA audit included the silver standard and the answer is no. Leipmann made motion; Rodriquez seconded. Unanimously approved.

Investigation Resolution/Memorializing Resolution in Support of HR 635

Bartels explained that this is a resolution supporting the house resolution, which calls for an investigation of the actions of the administration. This is not in support of impeachment but investigation. Bischoff added that our local congressman is a cosponsor (copy attached). During the impeachment of Clinton, the house leadership likened it to a grand jury indictment; Rodriguez noted that this would be similar. Fraser expressed his view that the impeachment of Bush is not the proper work of the Ulster County legislature and that its time should be spent on doing the business of the people of Ulster County and not wasted on resolutions like this one. Liepmann made motion; Bartels seconded. four yes; Cummings, No.

Copy Machine Policy

Committee did not have copies of the proposed policy. Bartels thought we should discuss how we are going to move forward on this policy. The policy discussed the number of machines, the contracts related thereof, etc. Bischoff noted that information services handles copiers in some instances. Liepmann said that we possibly should be looking at some sort of information management system to deal with the paper that is generated by the county and just filed away. Liepmann wants someone to be deputized to look at the departments to see how the departments are being managed and whether the manager receives any training on management techniques, particularly the management of paper work.

Contract Management System

Bartels asked that this item be put on the agenda because there is no way to track or verify where a contract is in the system. At the very least, Tracey asked that there be a date stamp from the county attorney’s office. Simple standard operating procedures could be put in place to track the movement of contracts through the system. The other piece, Rodriguez noted, is finding out what we are getting for our contracts for services. Bartels found out that it is standard operating procedure for the legislature that as grant applications are approved, the line item is adjusted for expense is adjusted to revenue even though the item may not have been received yet. The danger is that expenses are being approved that is not yet real. She believes this is a huge problem and wonders whether the committee could talk to the contract manager. Rodriguez believes the committee should talk to the contract manager, the administrator’s office, and the auditor to discuss this issue. The committee discussed the date for the next meeting and agreed to start at 5 p.m. on Monday, November 13.

Electronic Fuel Chargeback

This came up at the environmental committee and Bartels wants this committee to address this question jointly with the highway department committee. An electronic card is used to get gas from the gas buoy and the highway department charges the other departments. Bartels thinks this creates a needless bureaucracy. Cummings noted that it’s going to be harder to view the gasoline budget if the entire county gasoline cost is put in highway. The committee agreed that Bartels would look into this issue further.

Rodriguez made motion to adjourn; Leipmann seconded. Unanimously approved.

Respectfully Submitted

Stuart Fraser