Members of the county supervisors and mayors association (including the three villages and the city of Kingston) have been grousing about the county legislators‘ indifference to their issues for years. Last Thursday before the county charter review commission, they offered a retro proposal: abolish the county legislature and reinstitute a board of supervisors to act as a legislature.

Radical stuff, this proposal. And “very complicated,” according to former legislator Kathleen Mihm, D-Esopus, chairperson of the 11-member commission. Named after last year’s general election, the commission is a county-appointed body that is supposed to convene every ten years. The county executive named five members with majority and minority leaders of the legislature naming three each.

Boards of supervisors date to 18th century colonial days when town supervisors came to Kingston once or twice a month to deal with county affairs, including the annual budget. Ulster’s board of supervisors, in its final 1967 iteration, was egregiously undemocratic. The town of Hardenburgh, with about 200 residents, had one vote on the board of supervisors. Saugerties, with more than 15,000 residents, had one vote. Kingston, with about 15 percent of the county population, sent 13 supervisors to the county legislature, one from each ward. And so on. The old board of supervisors compromised of 33 members, one from each of 20 towns and Kingston’s 13.

The 17 counties that have boards of supervisors, including nearby Columbia County, operate under a system of weighted voting based on population. Every town would have a representative on the board, but while Denning would get one vote, Saugerties would cast 84. It’s complicated, but satisfies the rule of one person for one vote.

Peter Savago, R-New Paltz, the last chairman of the last board of supervisors, apparently liked the number 33. For one thing, it represented dozens of new jobs for the Republican Party, borne out by the 28-5 Republican majority from that first election. The first legislators ran in at-large districts, some with as many as five representatives. The 2006 charter established single-member districts.

Rochester supervisor Mike Baden, a Democrat and president of the supervisors and mayors association, called the organization’s proposal “a concept” in addressing the charter review commission. He was joined by former group president Jim Quigley, R-Ulster, and mayor Tim Rogers, D-New Paltz village. According to Baden, 16 of 24 association members voted for the board of supervisors concept, a solid majority.

Baden feels town supervisors by experience are well suited to serve on the county level. Supervisors are the chief fiscal officers of their towns, they develop policy, deal with taxes and personnel; in short, most of the things that county legislators do.

“It’s just another, unnecessary level of government,” Baden said. “A board of supervisors can do it more efficiently and at less expense.”

On another level, association petitioners cited an all-too-common political reality: “It’s hard to get people to run for office,” Baden said. “There is something like 14 uncontested races for the (23-member) county legislature. There just aren’t enough people.”

Some comments.

As some readers might remember, I’ve been an advocate for a return to the board of supervisors’ kind of government in recent years. By county charter, there’s only one way to effect that change: through a charter commission recommendation which would place it before voters.

Mihm, understandably guarded in her initial response, said there was a good deal of interest in her commission about the concept. Most members of the commission, which includes at least four former county legislators, are political wonks who love to ruminate on these issues. Common folk, less so. Mihm spoke to the possibility of appointing a special five-member subcommittee to study the issue to include any of its recommendations on the November ballot.

While I can’t put thoughts into the heads of these insiders, some might consider that the practical answer to the association’s long-held disgruntlement is to establish closer relations between the association and the legislature.

Before making any recommendations, I suggest the commission invite legislative leaders for their views.

Roger, Roger

Word around the NFL is that Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers might be coming to the New York Jets. I’d rather hear more from New Paltz village mayor Tim Rogers, a young leader with game.

Rogers, in a recent letter to the editor of Hudson Valley One, shared some interesting insights into the relationship between the village and town of New Paltz with that ivory tower on the hill called SUNY New Paltz.

The college, being a public entity, pays no taxes, and has a full market value of more than half a billion dollars, wrote the mayor. Wow. Rogers can’t put SUNY on the tax rolls but is asking our state representatives to petition the governor and the state legislature for more “impact” aid. He reports that 20 percent of town and village fire calls come from the college. SUNY has its own campus police.

Rogers, a Democrat and seemingly a fair-minded type, also recognized the positive financial impact of thousands of students and staff on the village and town. Like voting almost straight Democratic tickets.

I think there’s another positive impact from having a first-class university within our borders: the thousands of New Paltz graduates who remain in our communities to teach our kids, start businesses, marry locals and generally make ours a better place to live.

As for what Rogers and many before him see as inequitable sales tax distributions to towns and villages, all I can say is, tell it to your county legislators.

M&M on Parade

No, Me and Mario are not going to take our wildly popular political commentary radio show on the road. I refer to me and Michelle (Hinchey) briefly marching together in Sunday’s 35th annual St. Patrick’s Parade in Kingston. Our American Legion Post 150 color guard was stationed just behind a passel of local politicians, including our congressman, state senator, and county executive, county legislators, Kingston mayor, alderwoman-at-large and council members. I didn’t see

Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha. Maybe she was marching somewhere else; it’s a big district.

As it happened, I was carrying the New York State flag. Fellow vets carried the American flag, Post 150, VFW, MIA and county flags.

I got the attention of Senator Hinchey decked out in greenery as she was handing out candy to kids on the curb and waved her over.

“You’re my state senator,” I said. “Your father was a veteran. How’d you like to carry the state flag with us for a few blocks?”

“I would be deeply honored!” she exclaimed.

And the band played on.

It was the only time that I’m aware that a “civilian” marched in a parade with our veterans’ color guard.