Niagara County lawmakers have taken a first step in a process they hope will lead to a switch from two- to four-year terms.
Members of the county legislature voted unanimously this week to hold a public hearing on the idea.
The hearing, to be held at 5:30 p.m. July 22 in the Niagara County Courthouse, would allow for public comment in anticipation of having the matter put up for a countywide vote in a public referendum this November.
If legislators decided to put the matter up for a public vote and if the referendum was approved in November, county officials said the proposed term change would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027.
Lawmakers pointed to a recent state decision to move local elections from odd to even years as the motivating factor in their decision to set the public hearing on the proposed change in term length. County officials also suggested that changing to four-year terms might spur more county residents to seek county legislature seats as they argue it is a challenge to run for election and reelection every two years.
“The Legislature Majority disagrees with the state moving local elections from odd to even years as we believe local campaigns and issues will get lost,” said Legislature Majority Leader Randy Bradt, R-North Tonawanda. “But since it is currently the law, barring any further court action, this would at least have us running in the years the governor is running, not the president. This means local races would not get lost in the national campaign, and given New York state government’s impact on local government, local issues would still be discussed.”
Legislators are running for election in both 2025 and 2026 because of the state law change.
Legislature Minority Leader Chris Robins, D-Niagara Falls, said he’s interested in hearing what the people have to say at the public hearing before deciding whether this should be sent to voters to decide.
“I think there are valid points on both sides of this that merit debate,” he said.
Both Bradt and Robins pointed out that 12 of the 15 legislators have no opposition this November, a situation they argue could be potentially improved with four-year terms.
“Democracy is dependent on fair, open and contested elections and yet it is difficult to get people interested in running for office,” said Bradt. “One of the reasons why is that right after getting sworn into office, the petition process for the next campaign starts just 13 months later. This perpetual campaign is a disincentive to running. The four-year term may help attract more candidates. But ultimately, it would be up to the voters to decide if they think this is a good idea.”
The New York state Legislature approved a law that was signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in December 2023 to move several local elections outside New York City, with some city, village and other elections exempted.
Democrats in the state legislature argued that shifting elections from odd-numbered years would reduce confusion for voters and increase turnout. Republicans described the push as a bid by Democrats to move local elections in line with presidential election years, which generally have a higher turnout.
Republicans in Onondaga County challenged the law in court, arguing that it was not “general law” and therefore could not be applied to all counties.
A lower court agreed with the plaintiffs, however, in May, a state appeals court reversed the decision, finding that while the state constitution grants local governments the right to a legislative body “elective by the people” and to adopt alternative forms of county government, the county’s do not have exclusive local control over how or when local elections happen are held. The plaintiffs have said that they intend to appeal the appellate court’s ruling to the state’s highest court.