Otsego board approves weighted voting

Vicky Klukkert, The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.
·2 min read

Dec. 7—The Otsego County Board of Representatives approved a new scale for weighted voting during its meeting Wednesday, Dec. 7.

The board held a public hearing about the proposed local law prior to the meeting, but no one spoke against or in favor of it.

The law amends Local Law No. 1 of 2013 by changing each representative's number of votes as determined by the 2020 U.S. Census and as required by Local Law No. 2 of 2013. The weighted votes allow the board to assign a weighted vote to a representative based on the population of the district rather than redrawing district lines based on population.

Every 10 years, the board has to look at the populations in each representative's district to determine the weighted vote for each. The current weighted votes add up to 6,227. The new law would base the weighted votes on 100, instead of one-tenth of the population. A majority vote is 51 votes, the proposed law said.

Board Chair David Bliss, R-Cherry Valley, Middlefield, Roseboom, said the county contracted with the Benjamin Center at SUNY New Paltz to come up with two systems of weighted voting and chose one of the two.

According to previous reporting, the county paid the center $7,327 to come up with the weighted vote totals.

Starting Jan. 1, the weighted votes will be as follows:

—Edwin Frazier, R-District 1, town of Unadilla, seven votes

—James Madsen, R-District 2, towns of Butternuts, Morris and Pittsfield, six votes

—Richard Brockway, R-District 3, towns of Laurens and Otego, nine votes

—Michelle Catan, R-District 4, town of Oneonta, nine votes

—Margaret Kennedy, R-District 5, towns of Hartwick, Milford and New Lisbon, 10 votes

—Jennifer Mickle, R-District 6, towns of Decatur, Maryland, Westford and Worcester, nine votes

—Bliss, District 7, towns of Cherry Valley, Middlefield and Roseboom, seven votes

—Andrew Marietta, D-District 8, town of Otsego, six votes

—Keith McCarty, R-District 9, towns of Richfield and Springfield, six votes

—Daniel Wilber, R-District 10, towns of Burlington, Edmeston, Exeter, Plainfield, eight votes

—Clark Oliver, D-District 11, Oneonta City Wards 1 and 2, seven votes

—Adrienne Martini, D-District 12, Oneonta City Wards 3 and 4, six votes

—Donald Scanlon Jr., R-District 13, Oneonta City Wards 5 and 6, five votes

—Jill Basile, D-District 14, Oneonta City Wards 7 and 8, five votes.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221.