The Warren County Board of Supervisors must consider a change to the way they vote on issues now that the population in the Town of Queensbury is 4.5% larger than it was after the last census in 2010, and the board is asking the public for input.
The 20 supervisors from communities throughout Warren County vote under a weighted system with each supervisor getting a total number of votes that approximates the population they represent, and the most people that any board member can represent is 5,580 people.
Supervisors in smaller jurisdictions, say Warrensburg or the Town of Lake George, represent far fewer than the maximum and get fewer votes when the time comes. Supervisors in Queensbury have bumped up against the maximum number allowed by law after the latest census count, and the county must now make a change, according to a presentation by county staff last month.
The choice before the board is to raise the total number of people a supervisor can represent or give Queensbury a sixth supervisor so that the six represent fewer than 5,580 people.
Supervisors interviewed today said they are looking forward to public input, but they expect that the board will raise the number of people represented and keep Queensbury at five supervisors.
“I'd be shocked if that weren't the consensus,” said Supervisor John Strough, of Queensbury, even though he tends to want a sixth supervisor.
Supervisor Brad Magowan, also of Queensbury, said he has heard from constituents that they do not want to see the size of the government grow. His opinion was echoed by Rachel Seeber and Douglas Beaty, both of Queensbury, all Republicans.
Like Seeber and Magowan, Beaty talked to people in the county.
"Ninety-eight percent said, ‘Keep it as is’,” he said in an interview, adding that he spoke to many Democrats and independents as well as Republicans.
The percentage of the vote that Queensbury controls will not change by much whether five or six people hold supervisor positions. That sixth person, Magowan and Beaty argued, will be added to the government’s roll.
Supervisors are eligible for health insurance through the county and earn $18,815 yearly. Additionally, supervisors with other leadership positions may earn additional stipends, information from the county says. All in, it can be as much as $40,000 a year for the sixth person, Strough estimated.
Beyond the money, on the philosophical end, Magowan wondered if the sixth position would even be helpful: "What's one person more going to do?”
That would be one more person to hold committee positions, Strough and Peter McDevitt, of Glens Falls, said. Many of the county’s decisions are made in committee with the full board placing a “rubber stamp” on many of the committee decisions, Strough said. Having the sixth person would mean having more people to do committee work and affect change, Strough said. McDevitt added that an additional perspective from Queensbury might be helpful to the board. Strough and McDevitt have sparred with others on the board in previous meetings.
Also, they said, with a sixth person representing Queensbury, each would represent 4,861 constituents, down from the 5,580 they represent now and from the 5,833 people they will represent if only five people remain on the board.
The board will discuss the issue at Friday morning's board meeting and schedule a public hearing on the matter for later this year.