The Scarsdale Procedure Committee Invites Scarsdale Voters to Submit Suggestions to Improve the Non-Partisan System

The Scarsdale Procedure Committee (PC), whose members are representative of Scarsdale’s five elementary school neighborhoods, is inviting Scarsdale voters to help improve the non-partisan election system’s governing document and the Citizens Nominating Committee (CNC) processes. To accomplish these important tasks, the public is being invited to review and comment on a summary of proposed amendments to the document known as the Non-Partisan Resolution, which are available on the PC’s website here, along with the current Non-Partisan Resolution marked to show proposed changes.

According to PC Chair Michelle Sterling and Vice Chair Peri Zelig, “The Scarsdale community’s non-partisan system of electing qualified candidates for village office is governed by the Non-Partisan Resolution – a living document that, since its adoption in December 1930, has been amended 42 times, most recently in November 2018. The system administered by the PC establishes a method for selecting a slate of qualified candidates for Mayor (every two years), Trustees (every year according to staggered terms), and Village Justice (every four years). Periodically, the community is asked to comment on proposed changes to the Resolution which are ultimately submitted to the electorate for a vote on ratification. Today’s announcement represents a collaborative opportunity for Scarsdalians to make a positive difference in the civic affairs of Scarsdale.”

This annual non-partisan election procedure, which is managed by residents of Scarsdale and is similar to the School Board Nominating Committee system, works like this: the PC administers the annual recruitment and election of voting members of the 30-member CNC. CNC members – six residents from each of Scarsdale’s five elementary school districts – are elected by their neighbors to vet and nominate a slate of candidates for Village office positions which may be open in any given year. By contributing input on potential revisions to the Non-Partisan Resolution, Scarsdale voters play an integral role in the process that helps to select Village government, another unique feature of Scarsdale’s non-partisan system in which partisan politics and electioneering is avoided.

Procedure Committee chairs Sterling and Zelig stated that “all comments received by the PC from Scarsdale voters and community organizations during the 90-day public comment period, from June 27 through September 2022, will be reviewed by the PC. At the end of its public review, the PC will propose amendments that, in the Committee’s judgment, should be presented to the electorate on the Tuesday November 15, 2022 ballot, when the voters go to the polls to vote in a new class of Citizens Nominating Committee members.”

The members of the 2022-23 Procedure Committee are: Michelle Sterling, Chair, Peri Zelig, Vice Chair, Christian Callaghan, Susan Douglass, Madelaine Eppenstein, Carly Grossberg, Elena Kanner, Jon Krisbergh, Liz Lashbrook, Barry Meiselman, BK Mungia, Abigail Sterling Olsen, Camille Roche, Emily Shteinhauz, Ilissa Siegel, Jill Spielberg, Laura Thierer, Jay Wechsler

The Procedure Committee invites the public to review and submit comments about the proposed amendments via email to Procedure Committee Chair Michelle Sterling, and members Madelaine Eppenstein.

Public and Media Contact: michellesterling1@gmail.com; meppenstein@eppenstein.com