By Alex Davidson
A proposed amendment to the City Charter would allow candidates for public office in Queens to run in elections without listing their party affiliation, potentially weakening the power of political parties in the borough.
Rockaway resident Frank Macchiarola, chairman of the Charter Revision Commission that drafted the amendment, told a Monday meeting in Manhattan that nonpartisan elections will encourage more people to vote in September primaries. He also said the new system would allow all voters to decide between the top two voter getters for an office rather than a field of candidates from many parties.
Eight commissioners on the 11-member Commission Monday voted to approve the amendment, which will be on the ballot in November.
“Each of us has the ability to hand the voters of this city the chance to be more directly tied to their democracy,” Macchiarola said. “We — the majority of us who inherently trust the people to decide their own future and who simultaneously believe that communities, interest groups and political parties will not only survive, but endure and thrive under an enhanced elections system — must not shrink from the great responsibility bestowed to us.”
The proposed amendment would alter the City Charter to establish a new system of city elections for the offices of mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough president and city council members.
September primary elections would be open to all voters and all candidates, regardless of party membership or independent status. The two candidates who receive the most number of votes would then square off in the general election.
The amendment would allow candidates to put their party affiliation below their names on ballots but would not require such a measure. It would also prevent candidates using public matching funds from receiving money from political parties or party committees.
Democrat-turned-Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed the concept of nonpartisan elections in the city and has vowed to promote the measure. He appointed the Charter Revision Commission that drafted the amendment that will appear on the November ballot. If it passes, the measure will take effect in 2009.
Two commissioners, Father Joseph A. O’Hare and William Lynch voted against putting the nonpartisan elections amendment to the voters. Commissioner Veronica Tsang was not present for the vote.
“I am concerned with both the process that we followed and the content of the commission’s proposals,” Lynch said. “I believe that putting out these kinds of proposals in this way hurts the cause of change and makes it much harder to do when it is really needed.”
Critics of the measure said the commission held its meetings during the summer to avoid a public outcry against the amendment. Similar gripes were heard last year when the previous Charter Revision Commission proposed the amendment to alter the powers of the public advocate — an amendment that voters approved.
Reach reporter Alex Davidson by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
