by Alex Brooks
The Grafton Town Board held a public hearing on Thursday June 17 on its proposal to have a sole appointed assessor rather than the current system of having three elected assessors. There were about 30 citizens who came to the hearing. The room was just about full.
The proposal, if approved, would make the change as of December 31, 2010, and it does not call for a public vote. Town Attorney Sal Ferlazzo said the Town Board has the option to either hold a public referendum on the change or not to have one and simply vote on it as a Board. The Board chose not to have a public vote on the matter.
Former Assessor Bill Middleton presented 150 letters signed by people in favor of keeping the present system. These were form letters drafted by Middleton. He went door to door asking people to sign the letters. He said of the people he asked, 150 signed a letter and two did not want to. He said many were very enthusiastic and commended him for making the effort. After presenting the letters, Middleton requested that a referendum be held to let the voters weigh in on whether they would like this change to be made.
Doug LaRocque said the proposal takes the accountability of the assessors out of the hands of the voters of Grafton. He felt the Board had an obligation to hold a public referendum before making a change of this magnitude. He said they had followed the legal requirements but not their moral and ethical duty to the voters.
Some among the public wanted to know who came up with this proposal. The answer was Councilman Ed Fredricks. At this hearing, though, Fredricks had little to say, and the case for changing to an appointed assessor was made primarily by former Town Supervisor Tyler Sawyer. His main point was that an appointed assessor is someone who has chosen this as his career and is therefore a professional with a commitment to continuing education and building his or her expertise. He was critical of the work of Grafton’s elected assessors, saying they had a tendency to allow assessments to fall further and further away from full value because they want to please the voters who elect them. He said “We’re at 8% of value here now.” Sawyer said there is 40% more turnover among elected assessors than appointed ones, and he felt keeping the same person in office longer leads to more consistency and more expertise. He noted that the trend in Rensselaer County has been toward appointed assessors. In 1983, 52% were elected, and now only 12% are elected and 88% are appointed.
Rick Bly said he could see the merits of the arguments on both sides, but he felt the Town should be able to vote to make this decision.
David Buckley also felt the voters should decide, but he said so far more stridently, and indeed, histrionically. He strode towards the front of the room, and in a speech full of “Tea Party” overtones he concluded, “We should be able to choose our own assessor. This is an outrage.” He then paused to announce that he would be running for Grafton Supervisor in the next election and presented the Town Board with about a dozen yellow “Don’t Tread On Me” flags and said to them, “Shame on You!”
Many others also said that the decision should be made by the voters, not by the Town Board alone. Late in the meeting Doug LaRocque spoke again. He said “Consolidation of power into the hands of a few is what is happening,” here and elsewhere, and he felt it was not a good trend.
The Assessor situation began to change at last November’s election. Charlie Hamill, who had been Chairman of the Board of Assessors, declined to run for another term, and the Democrats put up only two candidates, Bill Middleton and Julie Darling. They were both elected, and the third seat was won by Craig Surprise with a small write-in vote. Surprise is the appointed assessor in several of the neighboring Towns. Since that time both Middleton and Darling have resigned. Last month the Town Board appointed Helen Hemendinger to one of the vacant positions, and one remains vacant. Hemendinger has served as Clerk to the assessors in Grafton for many years.
Town Supervisor Allison Kirchner said she expects the Town Board will take up the matter at either its July or August meeting. She said she has not fully made up her mind how she feels about the issue, and the Board has not discussed their reactions to the public hearing yet. She did mention that the current system gives the Town Board no power to do anything if there are problems with the work of the assessors. She thought it might be advantageous to have the assessor be accountable to the Town Board.