Opinion: 'Secrecy 10583'

Scarsdale’s “Non-Partisan System” describes itself on the internet as  “…representative government in its purest and most democratic form”.

 In a process secret from beginning to end, Scarsdale’s “Non-Partisan System” keeps secret the identities of persons seeking its  nominations to elective office, and it keeps secret what is said when those applicants appear before its nominating committee where neither the applicant nor the committee itself may discuss any issues. “Issues” are anathema.

The committee’s object is to divine from the applicant’s history the applicant’s desirability  as a mayor or trustee. If nominated, she runs in an uncontested election in which she will not campaign, make promises, raise or debate any issues. Is  this “…representative government in its purest and most democratic form”? In fact, the System’s total lack of transparency leaves Scarsdale’s citizens to walk around its electoral process like unemployed extras on a movie lot.  

The System defends its secrecy about the identity of applicants  on the ground that applicants would fear embarrassment should the public learn that they had not been nominated. Life, however, is not a play pen. The public’s supervening  right to know who were rejected is necessary for it to determine the integrity and judgment of the nominating committee. It enables them to see whether the System has discriminated against anyone or has manipulated the system for the advancement of the interests of individuals within the system. 

As for the System’s keeping secret what occurs before the nominating committee, the only place on earth where that justification could be claimed with a straight face is the fifth floor of a poorly lit asylum late at night. Do you accept the System’s belief that you should not be told what a prospective trustee or mayor knows, thinks, believes, plans, or desires concerning issues directly affecting our lives?  Is that secrecy proof of  “representative government in its purest and most democratic form” or is it the very opposite of a democracy?

In the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950’s, the secrecy of the Non-Partisan System was notoriously used by it to keep Jews out of Scarsdale’s public offices. (See, O’Connor, Carol A., A Sort of Utopia, Scarsdale, 1891-1981, pp. 98-100) Do you want class or religious hatred or social injustice of any kind to reappear in Scarsdale because of the Non-Partisan System’s infatuation with secrecy and your failure to strike it down? Look to history when it taps on your window. 

Accordingly, in  the absence of any justification for the egregious secrecy claimed by the Non-Partisan System, one should not support it.

A KINDER, MORE GENTLE, PARKING METER

I favor increasing metered parking from 15 to 20 minutes to which the meter will add a grace period of 6 minutes to prevent ticketing, all for the usual 25 cents. It will make travel, shopping, eating and personal appointments in the village occasions less marked by tension over the care and feeding of meters. This has been the experience in White Plains and other local governments. If it is good for them, why not for us? 

Harry Reynolds