At-large voting, a needed change

Posted

To the Editor:

On March 22, the Board of Education voted 5-0, with two abstentions, to bring Proposition Three to a vote. If approved, it would alter the election system in East Meadow beginning in May 2019. Under the present system, a candidate for the school board must declare that he or she is running against a specific person. As this year’s race has shown, that type of election can cause much animosity within our community.

The proposed system would allow people to run “at large” for this volunteer position. The candidates who receive the highest number of votes would be seated on the Board of Education. For instance, if there were two openings on the board and five people ran, the two candidates who received the most votes would win the election. This could encourage highly qualified people who were uneasy vying one on one against their neighbors to run.

The at-large system was proposed to make East Meadow a nicer place. There is no reason that we need to vilify our well-meaning neighbors just because we want to make a difference ourselves.

Running at large would give each candidate the opportunity to explain why he or she is the best person for the position. In no way would this take away voting rights from anyone in the community, as a small but vocal group of politically connected members of our community have suggested in this paper and on social media. In no way would it encourage bloc voting or political patronage, which have both happened under our current system.

Five members of our current Board of Education thought this might be a positive step for East Meadow. (A later attempt to remove the proposition failed). We did not choose to change the voting procedure; rather, we voted to bring the choice to the community. I encourage you to consider Proposition Three and vote on May 15 at your local elementary school. Remember, this is also the day we vote on the school and library budgets and for this year’s trustees.

Scott Eckers

East Meadow

Editor’s note: Eckers is president of the Board of Education, but he said he was speaking on his own behalf, not the board.