Yorktown town board members turned down a request from a group of citizens to schedule a public hearing about the creation of a Department of Public Works (DPW) on Tuesday.
Town officials said they need more information – including flow charts, estimated cost savings and procedures – before they could bring up the issue to the public.
"It's a significant structural change," Yorktown supervisor Michael Grace said.
The group of Yorktown residents, that includes two former town supervisors, to adopt a local law that would eliminate the position of elected highway superintendent and transfer that function to a newly created Department of Public Works (DPW).
The four-year term of the current highway superintendent Eric DiBartolo expires on Dec. 31, 2013, and members of the group are aiming for the referendum to be placed on the Nov. 6 ballot, so there is no election for a highway superintendent in 2013.
Jane Daniels, an advocate for the change and a spokesperson for the citizen group on Tuesday, said the deadline to get the referendum question on the ballot is Sept. 1.
If the referendum is approved, the DPW position would become operational as of January 2014.
Grace said the plan was worth exploring, but the issue was too important. He did not want to rush changing a 200-year tradition of having an elected highway superintendent without having all the facts and information.
"I think this is a major, major step you're taking," he told group members. "There is a reason for the history. There is reason for the precedent. You're taking away from the public the ability to make the choice on another elected official, which has a major impact. [...] There is a philosophical case to be made to not change it."
Daniels said the Yorktown Citizens Group for a DPW would make all the research for the town. Their estimates for cost savings to the town are $200,000 to $300,000, something current highway superintendent Eric Dibartolo called "false."
"It seems like [you] have all these thoughts but really nothing is put together," DiBartolo said. "It will take you seven to nine years to hit the $100,000 mark. [You]'re throwing out this number to be very flashy to the residents so everyone thinks this is a great thing."
Neighboring municipalities that have made the change so the highway department is part of a Department of Public Works are Cortlandt, Bedford, New Castle, Greenburgh and Harrison.
Members of the group have said the campaign in not directed toward the current highway superintendent, who has been controversial over the last few years, but rather they're focusing on that department because it's the area where money could be saved.
Councilman Nick Bianco disagreed.
"This is all that's about – they don't want him," he said. "Let's cut to the chase."
The group's plan is to replace the elected highway superintendent position with a department of public works (DWP), which would centralize the current dispersed system.
"It's an issue worth exploring," Grace said.
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DPW could do all of that so there is nomore wasteful spending or taxpayers money being misused and at the sametime it stops any form of corruption. The DPW can vote on matters and decide on what cuts can be made to save taxpayers money. Careful monitoring of all expenditures is so important because noone is there to watch over public officials and town employees spending on the taxpayers dime. THE DPW can do all of that and even monitor all school spending in order to keep spending at a very minium. The people can greatly benefit from this committee. Nomore free rides on the taxpayers dime should be the town's new way of thinking.
The new committee will save the people tons of money, and will keep everyone honest.
I really have no idea if a DWP will save the town (us ) money. It may it may not. But I do believe in Democracy. There is a group of people who want it put up to a public vote. Lets have a referendum where both sides produce evidence on which the citizens can use to make an informed decision. . What are some people so afraid of? Adding a referendum to the ballot in November will give the people the power to make the decision. What is so wrong about that? Nothing, unless of course you don't believe the citizens of Yorktown have the abilities needed to make a decision.
Personally, I was appalled when I learned several years ago that the highway superintendent could install speed bumps on a road with absolutely no approval from the town board, and that there was nothing the town supervisor could do to make him correct it when residents complained. He then had to waste town money reducing and eventually removing most of them. For me, that alone is reason enough to do away with the highway superintendent as an elected position.
I believe in the right of citizens to use initiatives, referendums and recalls. It does not matter if I agree with what they want, I just agree with their right to ask that the citizens vote on it. Five men sitting in a room should not have the power to stop democracy in action. If They truly believe that their position is valid they should not fear the referendum process, but should welcome it. On the totally different topic of smaller government, I have only one thing to say "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it"
The Town and the School Districts are completely separate entities, and the Town has no jurisdiction over the Schools. The Schools operate solely under the State Department of Education. The Town collects the School tax for the School District which may have caused the confusion.
When the current Highway Superintendent was elected, the Town improved tremendously. The streets were plowed, potholes repaired, and Streets repaved. Now the Streets are filled with potholes. I noticed this degradation begin about the same time the Superintendent came under attack. He may just be burned out in the job, I have no idea what happened. Having served on a Board, and also worked in Industry, you cannot reconfigure a business overnight. It takes study, facts, figures, reallocation of resources, a reporting structure. There are so many variables, it is very easy to get it wrong. I am not sure I would rush this initiative. I am neither for or against the DPW, or maintaining the status quo. I would suggest the Town Board take their data, collect their own data. compare the two and see if this is both feasible and executable. Knee jerk reactions are rarely fruitful. The people that are bringing this forward should keep the issue alive,that is how change is brought about.