Welcome back to Wonky Wednesday.  Each week I do a deep dive into the election and registration data that makes up the electoral landscape of our home, Onondaga County.  I hope by looking into this data we can glean that this everchanging county is not monolithic as once thought and competition for Democrats, and all registrations, can be found everywhere.  This week I take a break from the march through our towns to look at the Onondaga County Board of Elections Annual Report released last week.

Every year Election Law requires each Board of Election in New York State to prepare a written Annual Report.  This report is distributed to each County Legislator, the County Executive, the County Comptroller, and posted on our website at onvote.net (under Election Regulations).  We prepare the report in April of each year after the County closes its fiscal year. The report touches on just about every part of our mission to serve the voters of Onondaga County.  In its pages you will have data on staffing Budgets, and election statistics.  

Today’s Wonky Wednesday I will dive into a few highlights from the report that was not covered earlier this year with my post 2020 wrap up series. Previously I did Wonky Wednesday posts on Early Voting, Absentee, Affidavit and Court Orders, as well as 2020 Turnout.  Today I will be highlighting some statistics from our Budget Performance, Staffing Levels, Workload, and I will be providing some stats not included in the Annual Report on Commissioner Salaries in Onondaga County.

The 2020 local Budget for Onondaga County consisted of $3,228,917.22. This is the total impact of dollars on Onondaga County residents.  The major expenditure categories are Permanent Staff (the 14 full time employees and 2 Commissioners) at 32%, Temporary and Season Employees (Techs and Inspectors that work the poll sites) at 21%, Employee Benefits for the Permanent staff at 18%, Interdepartmental Charges (charges from other county departments) at 18%, And Supplies at 10%.  The OCBOE Commissioners submit budget requests for everything but the Benefits and Interdepartmental charges.  Those portions of our budget are controlled directly by the Office of Budget and Management.

In addition to the local budget Onondaga County Board of Elections spent $1,274,706.49 in Grant Expenditures.  This is where the OCBOE found State, Federal, or private Grants to offset local dollars.  This effort to utilize grant money by the OCBOE kept our Department from going over budget in a year where COVID-19 created tremendous burdens on county budgets and Board of Elections throughout the nation.

The overall budget is looked at in three stages.  The OCBOE submits a budget to the County Executive and County Legislature based on our experience in what we need to spend in an Election Year.  The County Executive and Legislature then alters the budget and finally adopts it. Finally, the OCBOE tries to expend local dollars below both the Adopted and Submitted budgets.  However, we have a mandate at the Board to spend what is needed to cover state and federal mandates to service the voters for an election.

In 2019 then County Comptroller began a year long attack on the OCBOE for being irresponsible and “blowing our budgets”.  This led me to start compiling historical data on our budgets going back to my first year as Commissioner.  There were only two years where the OCBOE failed to keep expenditures below our submitted budget 2016 & 2018.  The historic nature of the turnout in those elections is the direct cause for those discrepancies.  In both years, the turnout broke expected levels.  In 2017 we were under our submitted budget but over the cuts made by the County Executive and Legislature.  In that year we also had historic turnout for a mayoral election which helped drive up costs.  However, in all three years the much of the reason for going over budget was beyond the OCBOE control.

In these two slides you see the Direct Appropriation Spending as well as the Interdepartmental spending.  As I noted earlier the OCBOE only has control of certain portions of our budget.  This is all under the Direct Appropriation label.  In the three years we went “over-budget (2016, 2017, 2018) our direct appropriation, the spending controlled by the BOE, was under our submitted budget amounts, though over the cuts made at the legislature.  In fact, at my time at the BOE we have never spent more than our submitted budget request.  

Where the budgets went over was in the direct appropriations.  Again, this portion of our budget is created and controlled by the Office of Management and Budget.  We have no control over the spending or creation of this budget. None of this nuance was shared by then Comptroller Beadnell in his many public attacks on our department.

The austerity of the Onondaga County budgets is most noticed when comparing to the other counties.  In 2021 that austerity continues.  Our adopted budget of 2.8 million is 10^th highest of upstate counties, but we have the 6^th highest registered voter population.  The proportional proposed spending of $9.28 per voter is the 5^th worst in the entire state and way below the average of $17.99 per voter for all Upstate Counties and $18.80 per voter for counties over 100k.

The main source of this inequity comes from the refusal to add permanent staff to our department.  Despite all the Election Reforms passed and the dramatic increase in workload we are at the same staffing levels that we had when we started in 2013.  The 14 full time permanent staff represent 1 full time staffer to every $19.2k voters. Throughout Upstate New York the Boards of Elections average 1 full time staffer for every 7.3k voters, Again Counties over 100k voters average 1 for every 8.3k voters.  Even if the County adopts my proposal for 2021 to add 4 full time permanent staff, an increase of over 25%, we still will have the worst ratio in the state.

The workload has dramatically increased over the last 4 years. In addition to the 500% increase in absentee ballots in 2020 we saw a record-breaking registration level.  New York State reforms that make it easier to register and update registrations through DMV have been vital to our increased turnout, but that fallout is an ever-increasing workload.  We processed over 100k registration forms in 2020 with 73k from DMV. This is part of an ever-increasing traffic that we have seen since 2016 when the DMV started allowing online registration changes.  This added workload along with no additional staffing has resulted in weeks of 12-hour days to avoid issues like we saw in Oneida County last year.  The human cost of this is starting to show as we are getting some burnout and turnover each election now.

Finally, I wish to address the controversy last year with the attempted reduction in my fellow commissioners and my salary.  I feel honored to be one of your Elections Commissioner and I recognize that to many in our community our salaries of $99,973 annually would be a blessing, and it is for me as well.  I hope that you can see from the amount of personal time and effort I put into this job that it is not a 40 hour a week 9-5 job for me.  Commissioners do not receive overtime and often work 50-60 hour weeks during Election Time and as you can see from the workload and new calendar throughout the year.  However, the attempted reduction in our salaries was justified both on the floor and in a release by the GOP legislators with faulty math to justify their hasty and last-minute decision.

Onondaga County is the 6^th most populous county in New York outside of NYC.  Our salaries are the 7^th highest.  In all the counties the state average I the Commissioner makes about $.49 per voter, we in Onondaga County only make $.32 per voter.  41 of the 57 counties have full time commissioners, they average $.42 per voter.  Commissioners of Larger counties usually make less per voter since they have additional staffing to compensate to spread out the workload.  As we saw in the last section Onondaga County is the least staffed County in the state per voter.  Even so Onondaga County’s rate is comparable to the $.29 average.  This ratio will get worse over time now that the County Legislature has exempted us from annual cost of living pay raises, something every other Department Head in the County benefit from, including themselves.  It is up to others to speculate on the motivation, but the math doesn’t add up.

I hope this analysis shows you the hard work and dedication of all our staff at the Onondaga County Board of Elections.  Despite the inequities placed on us the staff is committed to not only providing basic services but are a leader in Election Administration throughout the state.  I could not be prouder of them and I will continue to work to make sure these inequities are highlighted, and hopefully resolved, in the future.

Welcome back to Wonky Wednesday.  Each week I do a deep dive into the election and registration data that makes up the electoral landscape of our home, Onondaga County.  I hope by looking into this data we can glean that this everchanging county is not monolithic as once thought and competition for Democrats, and all registrations, can be found everywhere.  This week I investigate the Town of Onondaga.

The Town of Onondaga sits just South west of the City of Syracuse. There are no established villages in Onondaga which is a rarity for the large towns of our county.  The areas in the north of the town that border Syracuse more resemble the suburban portions of our county but as you travel south it becomes more rural and agrarian.  The county’s only community college, Onondaga Community College, in many way ridges both sides of this town sitting in between these contrasting portions of this town.  There are 2 county legislative districts that cuts through this town, but one just barely.  

Onondaga like many suburban towns have seen a steady growth of enrolled voters over the last few years.  This is not just the normal growth all areas received in 2020 because of increased registration during the Presidential contest.  Increased rental and housing subdivisions seems to be driving the population increase. We will get more data later this year when the census is released as well.

The current registration of the Town of Onondaga shows a Town equally divided.  Democrats have a small plurality over the GOP.  Conservative enrollment though makes up that gap, for now.  A large portion of the town enrollment is not enrolled in a party. There are two county legislative districts in this town.  County Legislative district 11 represented by John McBride makes up a large portion of the town and goes over into Camillus.  County legislative district 15 represented by Bill Kinne represents a few northern election districts.

Since 2009 the GOP has had a steady slow decline in this town. This mirrors the declines we have seen in other large suburban towns across the county and our country. Democrats on the other hand started a rapid increase in registration since 2015.  These opposite dynamics increased through the 2020 election and into 2021. Non-enrolled voters have also increased in this town made up ox-pat Republicans and younger voters that tend to shed party labels when they first register.

The two county legislative district portions of this town also represent its division.  OCL 11 is basically an even district and makes up most of the town.  The northern districts in OCL 15 tend to be more Democratic. Though the OCL 11 district looks mostly drawn in a congruent shape it was an interesting decision to carve out a more Democratic piece in the north and replace it with a more moderate portion of Camillus.  

The significant six races we are looking at to get a glimpse of how a town reacts electorally show promise for Democrats looking to run in this town.  In the local year elections in 2019 we saw the typical results.  County Executive McMahon Had a commanding lead over his opponent.  County Clerk Dell’s race was closer.  However most surprising was the closeness of the County Comptroller race.  Masterpole came within just a point of Beadnell which contributed greatly to his win county wide.  In 2020 Katko dominated Balter but not as much as McMahon a year earlier. The NYS Senate Race Mannion outperformed the GOP Renna and Joe Biden won this town by double digits.  

The Town of Onondaga Democrats have chosen to nominate candidates by caucus in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic making petitioning problematic.  Supervisor, Clerk, Justice, 2 Town Councilors, Highway superintendent, and the receiver of taxes are all up for election in 2021.  If you wish to get involved with the Onondaga Democratic Committee contact chair Irene Workman at iworkman@twcny.rr.com and the Town of Onondaga Democratic Committee can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Town-of-Onondaga-Democrats-176112497354667.

Welcome back to Wonky Wednesday.  Each week I do a deep dive into the election and registration data that makes up the electoral landscape of our home, Onondaga County.  I hope by looking into this data we can glean that this everchanging county is not monolithic as once thought and competition for Democrats, and all registrations, can be found everywhere.  This week I investigate the Town of Marcellus.

The Town of Marcellus sits in the Southwest portion of Onondaga County.  The village of Marcellus sits in the northern part of the town surrounded by mostly farmland through the rest of the town.  Marcellus has generally been a GOP dominated town.  Recently though some Democrats have been able to win inside Town wide office.

Marcellus experienced the traditional vote population growth that a Presidential year will bring.  The village of Marcellus certainly has a more suburban feel then the rest of the town.  The southwest corner of the county of Onondaga has not seen the dramatic population growth that the northern and Eastern towns has seen.  This voter growth is probably more a sign of a more engaged populace rather than sign of overall population growth.

The current registration of the Town of Marcellus certainly shows a GOP dominated town.  Republicans make up 36% of the town with Democrats at 28% just barely outnumbers Non-enrolled (BLK) voters at 27%.  The town of Marcellus is one of the few towns that is not broken up by a county legislative district as the entire town is part of the 6^th OCL seat represented by Julie Abbot-Keenan.  It does have 6 election districts which are somewhat similar in size that divides the town.

Since 2009 the GOP has been stagnate in the Town of Marcellus.  While continuing to dominate the registration it has seen a longer decline with a slight uptick during the Presidential Election of 2020.  Democrats on the other hand have seen some real growth during that time.  At one-point non-enrolled voters outnumbered Democrats but that started to reverse in 2016. Democratic enrollment has gained steadily each year since 2016 and now surpassed the Non-enrolled population. The Non-enrolled population is gaining as well though, just not as high of a rate.

Marcellus’s six election districts show a more nuanced breakdown then the overall voter registration may tell.  The village of Marcellus are represented by Eds 3 & 4.  Democrats outnumber GOP enrollments in these districts. The Village of Marcellus is roughly a little more than ¼ of the total population of the town.  The other 4 Election Districts represents the large rural areas of the town.  The GOP domination in those election districts usually gives them an edge in electoral contests.  That may be changing though.

The significant six races we are looking at to get a glimpse of how a town reacts electorally.  In 2019 to no surprise the GOP swept the three races with the County Executive race and County Clerk race giving the GOP candidates a healthy edge.  Masterpole’s ability to eat into those margins in his race for comptroller certainly helped in his razor close win.  2020 though Marcellus acted in an interesting way.  Certainly, the margin in the congressional race was expected with Katko pummeling Balter.  We see though John Mannion pulling slightly ahead of Renna in the race for SD 50 and Joe Biden won by over 8 points.  This may signal a start of Marcellus becoming more competitive for Democrats, or a onetime reaction to Donald Trump and a Trumpian candidate in Angie Renna.

The Town of Marcellus Democrats have chosen to nominate candidates by caucus in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic making petitioning problematic. Marcellus Supervisor and two Town Councilor positions are up.  Tammy Sayre has already announced she is running for re-election for Town Council and is the lone Democrat that has been elected town wide   If you wish to get involved with the Marcellus Democratic Committee contact chair Nancy Bunn at nbunn@twcny.rr.com and the Marcellus Democratic Committee can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MarcellusDemocraticCommittee