Pleasantville voters will play a part in a statewide referendum on whether New York should hold a constitutional convention.<\/p>\n
A constitutional convention, which is voted on every 20 years, would allow New Yorkers to amend the state’s constitution. If New Yorkers vote yes on the referendum, it will be the first time the state has held a constitutional convention (also known as “Con Con”) since 1967.<\/p>\n
As with any political debate, voters have reasons to support a convention, which can reform the constitution for “modern times,” while others oppose it and view it as an attack on the constitution.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Thomas] Jefferson said each generation should change the constitution,\u201d Pace University Law School professor Nicholas Robinson said during a League of Women’s Voters Forum in March.<\/a> \u201cLet\u2019s get into an inter-generational debate, generation to generation, not to throw out the constitution but to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n Robinson may not see a convention as “throwing out” the constitution, but Peter Fiumefreddo, a member of the Mt. Pleasant Democratic Committee and Chairman of the New York State Medal of Honor Committee, shares a different viewpoint.<\/p>\n “You can do a lot of unnecessary changing to the modern time if the convention goes through,” Fiumfreddo said. “The constitution and amendments we follow have been that way for years, there’s no need to change it.”<\/p>\n Fiumfreddo, whose membership in the Democratic committee allows him to work with Pleasantville, says he does not anticipate Pleasantville voters will support a convention.<\/p>\n “There are a lot of teachers in the area who oppose it because they are worried about their pensions, and veterans I work with oppose it because of pensions and they’re worried about changes to the second amendment,” Fiumfreddo said.<\/p>\n Another concern for Pleasantville voters could be the cost of a constitutional convention. While the exact cost of a convention has been disputed<\/a>, it is expected to cost taxpayers at least $40 million.<\/p>\n “From what I’ve observed, voters place more of an emphasis on fiscal responsibility in Pleasantville and Westchester County because of the high taxes, specifically the high property taxes, in the county,” says Ryan McLeod, who has worked on multiple campaigns in Westchester County and has worked in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration.<\/p>\n “Westchester has one of the, if not the highest tax burden in the country, so even if a convention won’t realistically cost that much for the county, a lot of voters will oppose it just based off seeing a number that high,” McLeod said.<\/p>\n Sixty-three percent of voters voted no on the ballot question in 1997.<\/p>\n\n