CNC Leaders Offer Thoughts on the Non-Partisan System

The unusual events surrounding the last Scarsdale election for Village Trustee has triggered active discussions in the Scarsdale community about the non-partisan system and the selection of candidates to serve the village.This year, a standing trustee who was not nominated for a second term on the Village Board, won back her seat with write-in votes on the ballot. This caused some to question the nominating process. 

Last week, Max Grudin (MG) was appointed Chair and Daniel Finger (DF) Vice Chair of the Procedure Committee for the Scarsdale Citizen's Nominating Committee. Both are members of this year's graduating class of the Citizens' Nominating Committee who nominated candidates for Village Trustee and Village Justice.

We asked the two some questions about the system and how this year's results might affect the future:

Max and Daniel: Please tell us a bit about yourself: Where do you live – how long have you lived in Scarsdale? What is your professional background, what civic activities have you been involved in?

MG: I am originally from Ukraine. I have lived in Scarsdale (the Overhill area) for 10 years. Over the last 10+ years I have been working in the financial industry managing equity portfolios. I am the immediate past president of the Overhill Association and have been a CNC member for the last three years. Among some other commitments, I have participated in voter registration activities in Pennsylvania and have been active in supporting reforms in Ukraine.

DF: I am from Scarsdale and have been a Scarsdale resident for approximately 34 years including the last 10. I am an attorney and for the last 13+ years I have been practicing in White Plains with my parents and my brother at the law offices of Finger & Finger, A Professional Corporation. While I have been active in the village for several years, most recently I am serving on the Board of Architectural Review of the Village of Scarsdale and I have been a CNC member for the last 3 years. I am also a Coach and Grade-Coordinator (currently for the 2nd grade boys) of the Scarsdale Little League. Professionally, I am active in the New York State Bar Association and other professional associations.

Explain how the nominating process typically works (for those who are not familiar with our system).

Many years ago the village decided to adopt a non-partisan electoral process to guard against excessive negative campaigning. The process works, but it is a bit hard to explain. To simplify, it is an annual three-stage process. First, a thirty-person Citizens Nominating Committee (CNC) is elected on a rolling three-year term. The committee members equally represent each of the five elementary school districts of the village to make sure that each neighborhood's views are represented. The CNC meets to nominate a candidate for each vacant Village Office (i.e. Mayor, Trustee, and Village Justice).

As part of the nomination process, the CNC reviews the applications submitted on behalf of each candidate, listens to presentations from the candidates, and vets each candidate.

Together, the candidates constitute a "non-partisan slate" for the village elections. Most of the time the village elections are not contested, which means that there are no candidates other than the non-partisan slate.

Why was this year different?

The process this year proceeded the same in previous years and the CNC nominated the three candidates for trustee that it felt were the best candidates after reviewing all of the submissions and materials presented to it.

In order to further analyze the election and the process, we need to review the principles and procedures the CNC follows to see if anything needs to be done to improve the nominating process.

Having said that, we want to emphasize that we are dealing with volunteers. All Trustee candidates on this year's ballot had made tremendous contribution to our community. They are respectable and outstanding leaders of our community. One of our goals is to bring in more volunteers into the process. We honor the commitment of the current volunteers. This is a good way to attract new people to the process.

What are the benefits/pitfalls of the due diligence process?

Most candidates who present before the CNC have professional track record as well as a great track record of involvement in the community. Checking their references is typically rather straightforward. At that point it becomes a discussion whose candidacy is the best fit for the vacancy.

It seems that there may be a couple of slight discrepancies in the process. One is that candidates' names are not being publicized to protect their privacy and avoid any negative perception if they are not nominated. Of course, that is impossible when the candidate is a standing trustee. In that case failure to be renominated is in public view. The other issue is that a standing trustee has a public record on the issues faced by the village, while other candidates do not have that. This is one of the reasons why CNC members are asked to review each candidate's qualifications rather than their views on issues.

In the past few years it has been difficult to find people to run for the CNC. How may this have affected the process?

MG: My understanding is that in most years the CNC elections are competitive. I can speak about Fox Meadow - it is usual to have four candidates for two CNC vacancies. Of course, we encourage residents to run for the CNC to contribute their ideas and views. Has the somewhat limited pool of CNC candidates affected the process? My opinion is a firm "No". But there is no doubt that increased diversity brings a lot of benefits.

Being a CNC member is a rewarding experience. The committee meets about four times in the winter, but during that time you get to meet possible trustees and many other outstanding people in our community.

Do you think that standing trustees who are applying for a second term should be given any priority over new applicants?

MG: This question has been raised many times and the Procedure Committee will thoroughly debate it. I have heard an opinion that the CNC should review credentials and qualifications when applicants are nominated for their first term. When a standing trustee applies for the second term, should the CNC primarily consider whether that applicant had committed very significant errors? Perhaps, but this could also be a double-edged sword, as any failure to be renominated could be perceived as a great setback. All of us should recognize the effort made by trustees - it is indeed like a second job. We are very grateful to them for their service.

One other point I want to make is that up until the last two years it had been very unusual not to renominate a standing trustee. In fact, the only case when a trustee was not renominated was Edwin deLima many decades ago. I heard that perhaps the reason he was not renominated was that he had objected to converting downtown open space near Scarsdale Community Baptist Church to a parking lot. That space has since been bought with private money (I understand that the Overhill Association contributed funds) and converted into a beautiful downtown park that is now known as deLima park. This is one of the reasons why I think that consideration of position on issues has some downsides.

Does the CNC consider resident's views and the overall popularity of a standing trustee when deciding whether or not to renominate a trustee for a second term?

The CNC seeks feedback on each candidate. The representation of all neighborhoods on the CNC is supposed to act as one way to gauge residents' views on a trustee. A general measure of the overall popularity is not easy to assess though.

Is the Procedure Committee considering any changes to the resolution this year? If so, what is under discussion?

First, we believe that the system has worked very well for decades. We will proceed carefully. While we will certainly consider ways to improve the system, we want to make sure that we are not over-reacting to an isolated incident.

We want to express our gratitude to Howard Nadel and Lena Crandall for their effort in helping organize the work of the Procedure Committee. We have already started receiving written suggestions and we have had conversations with a number of people. If we choose to adopt any proposals, we will need to be careful about how to make them work within the Non-Partisan system.

Given what occurred, do you think we will see more challenges to the CNC in the form of independent candidates or write-in campaigns in the coming years?

It is important to have an option that allows a path to elections outside of the non-partisan system. That is a great check of the system. At the same time the overall track record of the present system has been very positive. Our Non-Partisan Resolution is not static. It was initially adopted in 1930. Since then it has been amended multiple times and it has served us very well over the years.