Elections

Officially, it's the last day to register to vote, but with a couple of qualifications to that statement.

First, if you are mailing in your registration form or having another person drop it off for you at a town hall, today is the last day. If by mail, it needs to be received by Oct. 19, with a postmark of today.

Second, the state allows local registration tomorrow. That means, you need to register in person, no drop-off registrations, at a town hall. In the City of Batavia, the location is the Fire Hall on Evans Street.

There are four candidates who have qualified for New York's presidential ballot:

• Hillary Clinton
• Donald Trump
• Jill Stein
• Gary Johnson

Other key races are U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, State Senate, CIty of Batavia Councilman at Large (click here (pdf)) for a complete list of offices on local ballots and the candidates in each race).

Richard Siebert, one of the county's elections commissioners, has said that he's expecting a record turnout for the Nov. 8 election.

"We’ve had a lot of activity," Siebert said. "We had a strong turnout in the primary. We had a 40-percent turnout on the Republic line in the primary. There’s been a lot of interest, both for Trump and for Hillary in our county. We normally experience anywhere around 70 to 72 percent in a presidential year. I think this year we will exceed that."

Up for grabs in New York for the presidential election are 29 electoral votes, which is 5.3 percent of the total electoral votes in the nation, and a little overf 10 percent of the 270 needed to win the presidency.

The county will be prepared, Dick Siebert, the Republican election commissioner, for a historic turnout on presidential election day, Nov. 8, Siebert told members of the County Ways and Means Committee at Wednesday meeting.

Where an off-year, local election might garner a 20- to 24-percent turnout, Siebert is ordering enough computer-readable ballots to handle an 80-percent turnout.

"One thing we don’t want to do is run out of ballots on a presidential election," Siebert said.

In his role as an election commissioner and as chair of the county's GOP committee, Siebert said he is seeing a lot of interest in this election.

"We’ve had a lot of activity," Siebert said. "We had a strong turnout in the primary. We had a 40-percent turnout on the Republic line in the primary. There’s been a lot of interest, both for Trump and for Hillary in our county. We normally experience anywhere around 70 to 72 percent in a presidential year. I think this year we will exceed that."

The fact that both the Republican and Democratic primaries were strongly contested until late in the season, helped drive interest in this year's presidential election, Siebert said.

Plus both top-party candidates are polarizing.

"This campaign has been going on forever," Siebert said. "Everybody has been following it. It seems like it’s never ending. Trump has his supporters. He has his people who love him. He has his people who hate him. Same thing with Hillary. There are people who love her and there are people who hate her. There’s just a lot of extra interest this time."

As GOP chair, he said he's getting a lot of requests for Trump lawn signs. He just got a batch of 300 in and half of them are already gone.

He said the Democrats will soon get Clinton signs in and Siebert expects strong demand for those signs as well.

"This will be our busiest election in my 13 years as a commissioner," Siebert said. "We had strong turnouts before, but there just seems to be so much more vocal interest locally, at least in Genesee County."

Even so, the election staff is ready, he said, though it will be a long day.

"We’re well staffed," Siebert said. "We’ve got great crews out there. We add on people where we can, but we suspect that our workers will be busy right from six o’clock straight through until nine o’clock at night. Unfortunately, some of them won’t even get a break."

The biggest problem he expects on election day is people turning out who never registered to vote.

"We’ll get complaints that 'I can’t exercise my Constitutional rights because I can’t vote,' " Siebert said. "Well, they can’t vote because they didn’t register, even though they think they did, but they didn’t it. It makes it a very touchy year."

The deadline to register for the general election is Oct. 14.

The turnout was low, lower than expected, in a pair of primary elections held yesterday that if not for some prior planning from the county's election commissioners could have cost county taxpayers $17,000.

Four people voted in the Reform Party primary for the 61st State Senate District, and all four votes went to incumbent Michael Ranzenhofer, who apparently was facing a write-in challenger, but there were no write-in votes in Genesee County.

In the Working Families primary for the same race, the Democrat's nominee Tom Loughran defeated Andrea Liszka 1-0.

All of the voting was carried out at the Elections Office in County Building #1. If Commissioners Dick Siebert and Lorie Longhany hadn't devised a new policy for small elections, the balloting would have been held at locations in each of the county's towns. By setting up one polling location, the county was able to hold the primaries at essentially no cost.

In explaining the plan a week ago to county legislators, Siebert said the turnout was expected to be only 15 to 16 voters.

"That might be a high estimate," Longhany said.

There is one registered member of the Reform Party in Genesee County, and with a potentially contested race for the nomination in the 61st Senate District, there must be, under state law, a countywide primary election.

That would be the case even if there wasn't also a primary in the 61st District for the Working Families Party, which has 221 registered members in the county.

Those two primaries could have cost county taxpayers $17,000, but election commissioners Dick Siebert and Lorie Longhany worked out a plan and developed a new policy, with guidance from state election officials, to have one consolidated polling station, in County Building #1, for the Sept. 13 primary.

Rather than expending $150 per election machine to have them moved to each of the 17 polling locations in each town and the city, a member of the county's maintenance staff will move five or six machines to County Building #1, the location of the election board's offices, eliminating that cost.

The plan also means fewer ballots need to be printed.

Siebert said the expected turnout is only 15 to 16 voters.

"That might be a high estimate," Longhany said.

The commissioners briefed members of the county's Ways and Means Committee at yesterday's meeting.

The members of both parties were notified of the polling place change through First Class mail and told that if the change presented a hardship, the voter could request an absentee ballot. The commission has received one ballot request.

"I think we have all the bases covered," Longhany said.

For the Reform Party, Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer is the sole official nominee, but a member of the party in the district filed a request  for an "opportunity to ballot," which opens the door for a write-in vote.

For Working Families, there are two nominees for the 61st District line, Thomas A. Loughran and Andre N. Liszka.

County Building #1 is located at 15 Main St., Batavia. The polling stations will be on the second floor and will be handicap accessible through the building's elevator, which is by the entrance on the west side of the building near Ellicott Street.

Genesee County is rolling out a new interactive mapping system and over time, they can add new features to aid with information discovery and search.

One of the first new services unveiled is an interactive elections map.

To use the map, there is an icon in the upper right that looks like a stack of papers.  Click on it. If you click on the link, then, for either of the major parties, it will reveal a legend for what the colors of the map mean. Since Donald Trump swept the county in the latest primary election, that color coding isn't terribly revealing, but if you look at the Democrats, you can see which precincts went for Hillary Clinton and which for Bernie Sanders.

Erin Pence, with the Genesee County Planning Department, said there will be detailed map of national, state and local elections available after the November vote, with layers appropriate to each election.

The standard countywide GIS map is available by clicking here. It still provides several layers or current and historical data about the county, enough to get lost in for hours for the curious.

Just as he did in all but one county in New York, Donald Trump was the big winner in Genesee County in Tuesday's primary election, while Hillary Clinton did not do as well against her remaining rival for the nomination, Bernie Sanders.

Republicans preferred Trump by a wide margin locally, giving him 3,673 votes to 1,234 for John R. Kasich, and 974 for Ted Cruz.

The local Democrats mostly went with Sanders, giving him 1,539 votes, with 1,262 for Clinton. 

Clinton carried the state, however.

Press release:

Genesee County Deputy Sheriff, Christopher Parker, age 47, will be seeking the position of Sheriff in this year’s election.

Prior to his law enforcement career, he worked in the Buffalo area supervising dozens of employees in day to day operations before coming to the Sheriff’s Office in 1997. Parker is currently assigned to the Road Patrol on the day shift but also served in the courthouse prior. He graduated from Elba Central School earning a Regents Diploma in Math & Science going on to get his degree from Genesee Community College. After being hired, Parker went on to graduate from Erie County Central Police Services Basic Police Officer Training Academy.

Parker has been an active member of the Office’s Honor Guard since its inception and had the privilege of traveling to and participating in ceremonies in 2015 during National Police Week to honor America’s fallen officers and one of Genesee County’s own.

Parker has been a recipient of a certificate of appreciation, commendation, meritorious service and also distinguished service awards. He was a member of the flight crew for the New York State Police aviation unit until their hanger was moved from Batavia to Rochester. Parker has also received a MADD award for vigorous enforcement of intoxicated and impaired drivers.

In his role as a field training officer, he is involved in the training of newly appointed deputies and recruit graduates. 

“Being able to help train future deputies has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my job," he said. "It’s great to see them develop into someone that represents us at the Sheriff’s Office and this county well. Someone that will be my backup or help a citizen in their time of need and bringing integrity to it."

Being a Drug Recognition Expert has been one of Parker’s proudest work accomplishments being one of only approximately 200 so qualified officers in the entire state. He also just underwent training in Albany to become an instructor.

Parker's experience has included training of educational professionals in several counties on drug impairments and also with the Safe School Initiative to keep our most precious resource, our children, safe. He is also a member of the Oakfield-Alabama Central School safety team.  Reenactment DWI drills in schools throughout the county for over a decade has also been a rewarding experience.

“If we can stop even just one tragedy, it will have been worth all the time and energy that the fire departments, EMS and we as law enforcement dedicate to empower your children to make the right decision not to drink and drive,” Parker said.

Along with training Sheriff’s Office personnel on standardized field sobriety testing, Parker has assisted at the Monroe County Basic Police Academy in training recruit officers on the proper implementation of the tests. He is also a Leadership Genesee 2016 class participant.

“As Sheriff, I hope to bring loyalty, honesty and integrity to the position and make this county we live in as safe as can be. As a lifelong resident in the county, I plan to be here with my family and work with the residents here to make all of our families safer.”

Incumbent John Canale retained his Ward 3 City Council Seat and challenger Al McGinnis captured the Ward 4 seat after the last of the absentee ballots were tallied today.

Polling place and absentee ballots gave Canale a total of 123 votes ot 103 for Richard Richmond, and McGinnis had 180 votes compared to 143 for incumbent Pier Cipollone.

From our news partner, WBTA:

Election results from at least two Batavia City Council ward races will have to wait until next week to be declared final. Results from Ward 3 and Ward 4 are too close to call until absentee ballots are counted, according to GOP Election Commissioner Richard Siebert.

Unofficial results released by the Board of Elections late last night revealed:

Ward 3

• John Canale 111
• Richard Richmond 94

 
Ward 4

• Alfred McGinnis 161
• Pier Cipollone 131

 
This morning Siebert said absentee ballots in both Ward 3 and Ward 4 could change the preliminary outcomes.

In Ward 3, there were 50 absentees ballots issued, 23 have been returned so far.

In Ward 4, 72 absentees ballots were issued and 33 have been returned.

It is possible, Siebert said, that when absentee ballots are counted next week, the final numbers could declare a different winner.

Only 17 votes separate John Canale from Richard Richmond, and 30 votes separate Pier Cipollone from Alfred McGinnis.

Siebert said all absentees ballots must be post marked by Nov. 2 and must be received by the Board of Elections by Nov. 10.

The third City Council contested race was in Ward 2. The unofficial returns reported last night were:
 
Ward 2 

• Patti Pacino 133
• Lisa Whitehead 80

Incumbent City Councilman Pierluigi Cipollone, standing, and County Legislator Ed DeJaneiro work their phones while at Batavia's Original on Tuesday night trying to determine the outcome of the day's election.

Cipollone was challenged by Alfred L. McGinnis, who ended up beating Cipollone by 30 votes, 161-131 in Ward 4.

The Democrats gathered at Batavia's Original to await election results, while the Republicans were at City Slickers and the Libertarians were at Larry's Steakhouse.

All results are from the County Board of Elections and are currently considered unofficial.

Michael T. Cianfrini, interim county clerk, won the seat outright in an unopposed election with 5,128 votes.

Patti Pacino, in the pink, running for reelection in the 2nd Ward, beat Lisa Whitehead, 133 to 80.

Members of the Libertarian Party at Larry's.

Lisa Whitehead lost the Ward 2 election to incumbent Patti Pacino.

Incumbent John Canale held onto his Ward 3 seat, beating challenger Richard Richmond 111-94.

Cipollone at Batavia's Original.

In other notable races,

• Peter Yasses beat Gerald Heins 202 to 172 for the supervisor seat in the Town of Byron.
• Gary Graber held onto his town justice job in Darien, with 333 votes, beating back challenges from Michelle M. Krzemien, 242, Jennifer R. Nunnery , 200, and Wade A. Schwab, 109.
• In the Town of Le Roy, Steve Barbeau retained his supervisor post with 884 votes to 647 for Robert Scott.
• John R.  Duyssen was the clear winner in the Town of Le Roy race with 1,039 votes. Coming in second in the vote-for-two election was John J.  Armitage, with 817 votes. James D. Barsaloux IV received 604 votes and Justin Caccamise picked up 520.
• Local property owner James D. Pontillo has been pretty unhappy with the treatment he's received from Town of Stafford officials, but that didn't translate into a victory in the town's race for supervisor, where incumbent Robert Clement won 327 to 78.
• Robert A. Penepent has only a two-point margin over Brenda J. Mancuso in the Town of Stafford race for town justice, 334-332.
• In the town board race, there were four candidates and the top vote-getters were Donald L. Mullen, 268, and Robert F. Pacer, 183. Edward A. Ferris had 154 and Anthony J. Prinz had 133.

All primaries were Republican races. Results considered "unofficial."

City of Batavia, Ward 1:

• Viele, 110
• Doeringer, 25

City of Batavia, Ward 3:

• Richmond, 20
• Canale 41

Bergen, Town Clerk

• Truax, 57
• Smith, 213
• VanHoute, 33

Byron, Supervisor

• Heins, 114
• Yasses, 157

Byron, Highway Superintendent

• Forsyth, 173
• Leaton, 99

Byron, Town Council (vote for two)

• Cudney, 191
• Sackett, 114
• Klycek, 126

Bethany, Highway Superintendent

• Fleming, 56
• Merle, 75

Pavilion, Supervisor

• Knepshield, 117
• Howard, 130

Pavilion, Town Council, vote for two

• Carney, 36
• Clary, 109
• Davis, 177
• Rudgers, 123

Pavilion, Highway Superintendent

• Offhaus, 118
• Zarbo, 29
• Thompson, 94

There are primary elections in Genesee County today. All of the primaries are among Republicans.

City of Batavia:

• City Council Ward 1: Paul Viele vs. Kris Doeringer
• City Council Ward 2: Richard Richmond vs. John Canale

Bergen:

• Town Clerk: Michele Smith, Vicky Truax and Connie VanHoute

Bethany:

• Highway Superintendent: Norm Fleming vs. Joel Merle

Byron:

• Town Supervisor: Gerald Heins vs. Peter Yasses
• Town Council: John Sacket, James Cudney and Alfred Klycek (two seats)
• Highway Superintendent: Brian Forsyth vs. Davi Leaton

Pavilion:

• Town Supervisor: Theron Howard vs. Gary Knepshield
• Town Council: Kevin Clary, Dean Davis, John Rudgers and Donald Carney (two seats)
• Highway Superintendent: Steven Thompson, Joel Offhaus and Ronald Zarbo

If you're unsure of your polling place, the county elections office can be reached at (585) 815-7804.

Incumbent Andrew Cuomo won the statewide race for governor, but was trounced in anti-SAFE-Act Genesee County by Rob Astorino, 11,016 to 4,040, according to unofficial election results.

The governor's win propels Kathy Hochul, once Genesee County's representative in Congress, into the lieutenant governor's office.

Howie Hawkins, from the Green Party, was the top vote getter among third party candidates both locally and statewide. With 55 percent of the precincts reporting, Hawkins has 107,000 votes. He had 369 votes locally.

Libertarian hopeful Michael McDermott, who needed 50,000 votes to improve ballot access for Libertarians, will fall well short of the mark. So far, only 8,800 ballots are marked for McDermott. He received 150 votes in Genesee County.

In the local Congressional race, Chris Collins had 11,722 votes to 3,324 for James D. O'Donnell. The districtwide results posted by 13WHAM indicate Collins will win the race easily. 

In the state Senate race, Micheal Ranzenhofer has 11,949 votes to 3,157 for Elaine B. Altman. Ranzenhofer is the projected winner of the race.

In the Assembly race, Steve Hawley had 13,580 votes to 532 for Mark E. Glogowski, running as a Libertarian.

A ballot measure to change redistricting procedures got 6,752 yes votes locally and 6,168 no votes. The measure appears to be passing statewide.

A proposal to allow e-filing of proposed legislation in Albany had 9,389 yes votes and 3,840 no votes locally. The measure appears to be passing statewide.

The Smart Schools Bond Act had 6,668 yes votes and 6,778 no votes locally. The measure appears to be passing statewide.

In the City of Batavia, a measure to realign wards to keep up with population shifts passed 1,818 to 885.

Remember to vote today.

Press release:

The Genesee County Conservative Party has endorsed the reelection of Assemblyman Steve Hawley.

He has shown over and over that he represents the thoughts and wishes of the district. It has been hard for him with the Downstate liberal majority controlling the State. But he has kept on trying and has not gone the path of “go along to get along” that many have taken.

He has been a very strong supporter or the 2nd Amendment and our right to own firearms if we want. He supports the full repeal of the SAFE ACT, which only punishes legal gun owners and does nothing to stop crime. Steve Hawley has been endorsed by the NRA and the local pro 2nd Amendment group, SCOPE.

He is pro-business and has received a 100-percent rating from Unshackle Upstate and the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Steve owns his own local business, hiring local people.

This November, we ask you to vote on the Conservative Party line (Row C) and show your support for Steve Hawley.

On Behalf of the Executive Committee,
Dann G Neale
Vice-Chairman Conservative Party of Genesee County

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and former Genesee County congressional representative Kathy Hochul have been declared the winners of the Democratic Primary race.

They also were the top choice of local Democrats.

According to Genesee County unofficial results, Cuomo beat Zephyr Teachout 427-187, with Randy A. Credico receiving 45 votes.

Hochul topped Tim Wu 505 to 156.

In the Republican Primary for supervisor in Bethany, Carl L. Hyde Jr. beat Edward F. Pietrzykowski Jr. 74 to 26.

In the primary for Independence Party delegates to the 8th Judicial District convention of the 139 Assembly District, Debra M. Buck-Leaton beat Carol A. Sheehan 14-7.

It's Primary Day in New York.

Here's what you can vote on at your local polling place.

Countywide Democratic Primary, Governor (vote for one)

• Zephyr R. Teachout
• Andrew M. Cuomo
• Randy A. Credico

Lt. Governor (vote for one)

• Kathy C. Hochul
• Timothy Wu

Countywide Independence Party Primary

8th Judicial District Delegate (vote for one)

• Carol A. Sheehan
• Debra M. Buck-Leaton

Town of Bethany (Republican), Supervisor (unexpired term) (vote for one)

• Carl L. Hyde Jr.
• Edward F. Pietrzykowski Jr.

A one-vote margin was all the difference needed to elect Michael Welsh town justice in Le Roy.

He beat Scott McCumskey 817-816, according to the Genesee County Elections Commission, which completed counting absentee ballots from last week's election.

In the other closely watched and tight race, incumbent Ed DeJanerio held onto his 21-vote margin over challenger Bob Bialkowski for a 405-372 victory.

It was a clean sweep for the GOP in Batavia's race to fill three at-large seats on the City Council in a year when the party was facing a new challenge from local Libertarians for the first time.

Eugene Jankowski Jr., Brooks Hawley and John Deleo easily secured four-year terms on the council.

Libertarians Jim Rosenbeck and Lisa Whitehead finished eighth and ninth in the crowded field.

Hawley, the lone incumbent among the winners, got 1,179 votes, according to the still unofficial tally.

"We visited almost every street and home in Batavia,” Hawley said. “People saw how dedicated we are and they believe we will use that dedication in City Council as well.”

Hard work was part of the GOP strategy this year, said city Chair Matt Landers, who acknowledged the Libertarian presence on the ballot and the fact the new local party was out working hard helped motivate the Republicans.

“They were working very hard and they are an upstart group with a passionate base and we definitely took them seriously,” Landers said.

Rosenbeck received 358 votes and Whitehead 243 votes. 

The low vote totals didn't discourage party Chairman Phil Ricci at all, who told the party members at their election headquarters at Larry's Steakhouse that Rosenbeck would become the committee chairman of the party's new city committee.

“We started with a small group of concerned, like-minded citizens, set with the task of creating an alternative to the existing political parties,” Ricci said. “That little ragtag group grew into a solid core group of committed individuals who felt strongly enough about our core principles, and even stronger about the lack of real choice, to give it a go.”

Jankowski, a former Batavia PD lieutenant, said after a hard-fought campaign, he's ready to get to work, serving his community in a new capacity.

"We work well together, people respect us and they want us to be their leaders in the community," said Jankowski, who received 1,269 votes.

Deleo, who garnered 1,309 votes, said the three winners will make a good team going forward, just as they did as campaign mates.

“We all have our own strengths and together it works for the best,” Deleo said.

Rosenbeck remained upbeat about the Libertarian effort.

“It has been a success and we wish the GOP well,” Rosenbeck said.

Rounding out the field were Diana Kisiel Kastenbaum, 586 votes, Thomas Clark, 552 votes, John Demske, 631 votes, and Rose Mary Christian, 406 votes.

Katenbaum, a Batavia native who moved away for many years and then returned to her hometown vowed to stay involved in her community.

 “I sit on a couple boards, Go-Art and Landmark Society, and I will continue working for the citizens of Batavia,” Kastenbaum said. “As a citizen I can be as active as I choose to be and I hope to be.”

For complete election results visit WBTA.com.

Top Photo (by Howard Owens): Phil Ricci speaks to Libertarian Party members.

John Deleo, Joe Gerace and John Roach watch the election results get posted at the GOP headquarters for the night at City Slickers (photo by Howard Owens).

Remember to vote.

Contested races for the Genesee County Legislature

• District 5, Earl W. Funderburk and Rochelle M. Stein
• District 6, Gregg H. Torrey and Esther G. Leadley
• District 8, William G. Fava, Marianne Clattenburg and Robert W. Brown
• District 9, Edward DeJaneiro Jr. and F. Robert Bialkowski

City Council At Large (nine candidates, vote for 3)

• Diana K. Kastenbaum
• Thomas R. Clark
• John F. Demske
• Brooks M. Hawley
• John Deleo
• Eugene A. Jankowski Jr.
• RoseMary Christian
• James M. Rosenbeck
• Lisa M. Whitehead

Byron Town Board (vote for two)

• Donald L. Liles
• Jeffrey J. Thompson
• Suzanne J. Fuller

Le Roy Town Justice (vote for one)

• Scott M. McCumiskey
• Michael T. Welsh

Le Roy Town Board (vote for two)

• David R. Paddock
• Thomas V. Stella
• Kelly F. Carlie

Pembroke Town Board (vote for two)

• Craig E. Blake
• Edward G. Arnold Jr.
• John J. Worth

Stafford Town Board (vote for two)

• Ronald T. Panek
• Robert W. Mattice
• June Wallace

There are six statewide ballot initiatives to consider:

Proposal 1: Casino gaming. The purpose of the proposed amendment to section 9 of article 1 of the Constitution is to allow the Legislature to authorize and regulate up to seven casinos for the legislated purposes of promoting job growth, increasing aid to schools, and permitting local governments to lower property taxes through revenues generated.

Proposal 2: Additional Civil Service Credit for Veterans with Disabilities Certified Post-Appointment. The purpose of the proposed amendment to section 6 of article 5 of the Constitution is to grant additional civil service credit to veterans who are certified as disabled after they have been appointed or promoted to a civil service position. The State Constitution currently grants veterans additional credit on civil service exams (5 points for an original appointment and 2½ points for a promotion). Disabled veterans are entitled to additional credit (10 points for an original appointment and 5 points for a promotion). Veterans are eligible for only one grant of additional credit, and so a veteran who is appointed or promoted before being certified as disabled currently is not eligible for the higher amount of credit he or she would have received if he or she had been certified as disabled before his or her appointment or promotion. This amendment would create an exception to the one-time-only additional credit rule. It would permit veterans who are certified disabled after having already received credit at one appointment or promotion, because of their status as veterans, to receive additional credit one more time after certification of their disability. After being certified disabled, a veteran would be entitled to an additional grant of credit equal to the difference between 10 and the number of points received at the initial appointment or promotion. This would bring the total additional points of civil service credit such a veteran can receive to 10 for either an appointment or a promotion.

Proposal 3: Exclusion of Indebtedness Contracted for Sewage Facilities. The purpose of the proposed amendment to section 5 of article 8 of the Constitution is to continue to allow counties, cities, towns, and villages to exclude from their constitutional debt limits indebtedness incurred for the construction or reconstruction of sewage facilities. The State Constitution currently provides that indebtedness contracted on or after January 1, 1962 and before January 1, 2014 for the construction or reconstruction of facilities for the conveyance, treatment, and disposal of sewage shall be excluded from the constitutional debt limits of counties, cities, towns, and villages. The effect of the proposed amendment would be to extend for 10 years, until January 1, 2024 the period during which sewer debt will be excluded from the constitutional debt limits of counties, cities, towns, and villages.

Proposal 4: Settling Disputed Title in the Forest Preserve. The purpose of the proposed amendment to section 1 of article 14 of the Constitution is to resolve competing claims of title between the State and private parties to land located in the forest preserve, in the town of Long Lake, Hamilton County. The State Constitution generally forbids the lease, sale, exchange, or taking of any forest preserve land. The proposed amendment would allow the Legislature to settle 100-year-old disputes between the State and private parties over ownership of certain parcels of land in the forest preserve by giving up the State's claim to disputed parcels. In exchange, the State would get land to be incorporated into the forest preserve. The land exchange would occur only if the Legislature determines that the land to be conveyed to the State would benefit the forest preserve more than the disputed parcels do.

Proposal 5: In Relation to a Land Exchange in the State Forest Preserve with NYCO Minerals, Inc. The purpose of the proposed amendment to section 1 of article 14 of the Constitution is to allow NYCO Minerals, Inc., a private company, to continue its mining operations in the town of Lewis, Essex County. The State Constitution generally forbids the lease, sale, exchange, or taking of any forest preserve land. The proposed amendment would allow the State to convey approximately 200 forest preserve acres to NYCO Minerals for mining. In exchange, NYCO Minerals would give the State at least the same amount of land of at least the same value, with a minimum assessed value of $1 million. This land would be added to the forest preserve. When NYCO Minerals finishes mining, the company would restore the condition of the land it received in the exchange and return it to the forest preserve. The proposed amendment also would allow NYCO Minerals to test to determine the quantity and quality of the mineral to be mined on the land to be exchanged before the exchange occurs. It would require NYCO Minerals to give the State its test results so that the State can use them to determine the value of the land to be conveyed to NYCO Minerals. The proposed amendment also would require that if, after testing, NYCO Minerals does not want the forest preserve land, NYCO Minerals still must give the State at least the same amount of land of at least the same value of the land that was disturbed by the testing. This land would be incorporated into the forest preserve.

Proposal 6: Increasing Age until which Certain State Judges Can Serve. The purpose of the proposed amendment to sections 2 and 25 of article 6 of the Constitution is to increase to the age of 80 the maximum age until which Justices of the Supreme Court and Judges of the Court of Appeals may serve in the following circumstances: (a) Justices of the Supreme Court are currently required to retire in the year they turn 70 years old, but are eligible to continue to perform the duties of a Justice of the Supreme Court for three additional two-year terms upon a certificate that their services are needed by the courts and that they are competent to perform the full duties of the office. The proposed amendment would make them eligible for two additional such two-year terms, upon the same certification of need and competence; (b) Judges of the Court of Appeals are currently required to retire in the year they turn 70 years old. The proposed amendment would permit a Judge who reaches the age of 70 while in office to remain in service on the Court for up to 10 additional years in order to complete the term to which that Judge was appointed.