The debate over giving voters the chance to choose whether offices of Onondaga county executive and comptroller should be term limited just got muddier. Ryan McMahon said earlier this week he would veto the measure for the second time. But a paperwork mix-up his office has introduced another level of partisan bickering.
However, there’s one thing the county’s elections commissioners Dustin Czarny and Kevin Ryan can agree on.
“This is normally the least controversial part of our job," Democratic commissioner Czarny said.
“99.9% of the time, it's a ministerial function and there's no dispute," GOP commissioner Ryan said. " If the referendum comes in from a town, a village, or in this case, the county legislature within the prescribed deadline, we accept it and it goes on the ballot for referendum. But here, there's a question.”
That question is which version of the legislation is legally binding. County Executive McMahon unintentionally signed both an approval and a veto of the term limit law. Democratic legislature chairwoman Nicole Watts said the the one received first was the approval.
“At 11:38 a.m., we received an e-mail of this letter," she said. "This letter, I will quote specifically, says, 'I hereby approve the adoption of the aforesaid local law.'”
Watts said that’s the one they’re planning to send to elections commissioners Friday to put on the ballot. Republican commissioner Ryan said not so fast.
“I think it's very clear that the county executive intended to veto this legislation and the Democrats are playing partisan games,” he said.
The veto email came about 20 minutes later, and the county attorney fessed up to the mistake. But the dispute, which is likely going to court, has put the commissioners in a tough spot.
“Normally there's no real question about whether the resolution is legal," Czarny said. "And I'll be honest, I don't believe election law allows me to make that judgment.”
He said the law doesn’t give him or Ryan the ability to disagree on whether or not to put it on the ballot. The matter must be settled by mid-August so the board of elections can prepare ballots to go out the following month.
