Petition Calls for Mt. Kisco Police Consolidation Referendum
While the debate over police consolidation continued during the May 4 Mount Kisco Village Board of Trustees meeting, the village attorney said there is no basis for a referendum on the contentious issue.
During the meeting, resident Kim Terlizzi presented a petition to the board containing 810 signatures calling for a referendum, but the board took no action and referred the matter to Village Attorney Whitney Singleton.
Despite the hundreds of signatures, Singleton said the village was not obligated to schedule a referendum. He pointed to the document “When and How to Conduct Referenda,” a project of the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials that was published in 2003.
“A referendum that is not specifically required or permitted by state statute is illegal and should not be conducted,” the document stated.
One of the local laws that would required a permissive referendum would be for the abolishment of a police department. Singleton said officials are not abolishing the department; the village will be keeping its chief and “a handful of officers,” with the number to be determined by the trustees, Singleton said.
Terlizzi is one of several residents who have publicly opposed the board’s intermunicipal agreement (IMA) with the Westchester County Department of Public Safety to consolidate police services.
The petition will also be sent to the Board of Legislators, which must approve the IMA before consolidation can be implemented. County Legislator Peter Harckham (D-North Salem) said that the matter passed the budget and public safety committees on May 4 and is tentatively scheduled for a vote before the full board next Monday.
The petition calls for a referendum to be presented to the public either at a special election or for the general election in November.
“We are doing the petition on the mayor’s direction,” Terlizzi said. “The mayor stated at the Apr. 20 board meeting, ‘If you want a referendum, bring in the signatures, and we’ll have a referendum.'”
Mayor Michael Cindrich declined to answer any legal questions regarding the residents’ petition.
Terlizzi said the petition drive was a difficult process that required educating many residents.
“It is a long, slow process, mostly because many residents know nothing about the issue,” she said. “Answering questions is taking up a lot of time. We are hoping that the village board, when presented with the petition, will finally listen to the will of the people and hold a permissive referendum. It is, after all, our police department.”
Harckham said it is his understanding that there is no legal mechanism to force the scheduling of a referendum because the consolidation is through an intermunicipal agreement.
He added that he has seen a petition with about 400 signatures supporting consolidation.
“I have heard from numerous senior volunteer first responders who favor the merger for both the improved command and control that will result from the merger, (and for) the additional assets as well,” Harckham said. “The merger will result in better police coverage at a lower cost to taxpayers. The merger makes sense at every level.”
