COLONIE — The Town Board tonight will call for a public hearing on a local law changing the term of supervisor and clerk from two years to four years.
The plan, if forwarded by the Town Board, would put the measure to a mandatory public referendum at the next general election, Nov. 8, 2022, and will not take effect until Jan. 1, 2023.
The next election for supervisor and clerk will take place in November, 2023. Earlier this year, Republican Peter Crummey defeated Kelly Mateja, a Democrat, and he will serve two years regardless of what the Town Board decides
Also, Town Clerk Julie Gansle, a Republican, defeated Gelen Heins for a third, two-year term.
“The Town Board believes an extended term will provide greater continuity to the office of town supervisor and town clerk and thus believes the extended term is in the public’s best interest,” according to the resolution on tonight’s agenda.
Members of the Colonie Town Board serve four-year terms as does the Receiver of Taxes and the three judges.
In the neighboring towns of Guilderland and Bethlehem, the supervisor serves a two-year term while the Town Board serves four years.
Colonie, though, has a population of 84,000 and is the largest town in Albany County and one of the largest in the state.
The argument for changing the supervisor’s term to four years is it takes the better part of a year to run for office in a town as big as Colonie.
Also, with the statewide change of the primary from September to June, a supervisor who takes the oath in January could face an inter-party challenge just 18 months later.
The public hearing, if forwarded by the Town Board tonight, will take place at the next regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, Dec. 16.
That is the last meeting of the Town Board before the new year — which will feature Crummey and two new board members — so it is expected the board will vote then on whether or not to put the resolution to a referendum, which is mandatory as per state Town Law, during the 2022 general election.
