Letters: Our Lake, Our Democracy, and Political Expediency

At the August 3 Common Council meeting, colleagues warmly bade Josephine Martell farewell in another unannounced announcement of her departure from one of the two Ward 5 seats. The meeting date also marked the middle of the independent petitioning period for candidates to qualify to appear on the September primary election ballot.

It was at the end of a long meeting when Common Council members acknowledged Martell’s leaving and discussed the question (directed toward each other?) about the process to replace her. There was a pause. Mayor Myrick seemed to doubt whether the matter should be discussed openly during the public meeting.
After a few words from members, he quickly deferred to City Attorney Aaron Lavine, who explained the procedure for appointing Martell’s replacement. That procedure seemed likely to be pursued. Senior member Cynthia Brock raised doubts, based on her experience, about appointing someone to the seat.

What does appointing someone to Martell’s seat in the middle of primary season say about the state of democracy right here in the Democratic establishment of Ithaca? Martell already announced early July that she would vacate. Have Mayor Myrick and Common Council members taken lessons in political expediency above democracy?
Am I having deja vu?

Whomever would be appointed by the Mayor and Common Council would have a clear edge over most competitors in any ‘open’ election in the future. There is an election coming this November for half the Common Council seats, with primaries this September. Now is the time that candidates are able to petition independent of the political party apparatus to get on the ballot.

Since Martell is clearly leaving – albeit two years before the end of her term that runs through 2019 – why has the Common Council not chosen to let Ithacans who are interested in Martell’s vacant seat already present themselves in a primary? Why has there been no public conversation happening since she announced her plans to leave, as the petitioning period marches to a close?

Thursday evening’s meeting in one of the most liberal cities in the whole blue state of New York primarily addressed lake front development at a time when our lake suffers serious health threats like algae blooms to the point of park closures. Also, 27 acres of invasive hydrilla has recently been spotted to the north of the same fair waters that border our city.

The GOP has started taking stabs at Governor Cuomo’s management of Upstate New York, likely originating from the threat of his potential presidential bid. U.S. Rep. Tom Reed is playing kiss and makeup with people at the political margins through his appeals in major media outlets, also touting his leadership role in ‘bipartisan’ committees, after full support of Trump as a part of his transition team. This is no time for infighting among the democratic minded. And yet …

I don’t want my Common Council members making back room deals about appointments in the heart of election season when members are clearly vacating. I don’t want my mayor and Common Council to hide the processes of democracy from the public eye and pull out rules from the shadows of lesser known documents for the sake of political expediency, while there are perfectly known democratic elective processes already in place.
These are times to demand democracy. When Democrats demand less from their democracy, democracy loses.

One wonders who is in the background waiting to replace Martell in her seat, and why things have played out this way. Perhaps it’s a perfectly logical replacement. But what are the stakes for our state of representation in a geographic and political home where this has been the trend on more than a couple past recent occasions?

A citizen concerned with any form of political expediency that trumps our democratic state of unity. A citizen in favor of working together for our livelihoods, our lake, and the state of the state.

 

Jake Jacobson
Ithaca