Medina officials split on moving village elections to June

Board may vote Feb. 23 on whether to put it as a referendum on March 18

MEDINA – Will the public get a say in whether the village moves its elections from March to June?

The Village Board is expected to vote on Feb. 23 whether the issue will be a referendum in the March 18 election.

During Monday’s board meeting, Mayor Marguerite Sherman and Trustee Jess Marciano said they favor putting it to a public vote.

Trustees Deb Padoleski, Mark Prawel and Scott Bieliski all said they favor keeping the election in March.

Marciano has led the effort to move the village elections back three months. She said the timing would be better for incoming board members who could ease into their roles of the running the village government.

With the election the third week in March, the elected board members start their terms on April 1 and then are tasked with putting together the village’s budget by April 30.

Marciano said that isn’t a good fit to have inexperienced people developing the village’s budget and setting the tax rate.

Other forms of local government – town boards, county legislature, fire districts and school boards – all have their elected officials start terms after the budgets have been developed.

Padoleski, a retired Medina village-clerk treasurer, said she is “hesitant” to put the issue to a public vote on March 18. She said the election would add more work to the clerk’s office in June during what is already a very busy time in the office.

Padoleski said it is beneficial for the new board members to have a say in the budget process. If the election was the third Tuesday in June – after the village fiscal year starts on June 1 – the newly elected board members “work with a budget you had nothing to do with.”

Prawel also said new board members gain a deeper understanding of the village government by being part of the budget process and working with the department heads on the spending plan for the village.

“I think you should be part of the budget process,” Prawel said. “It certainly helped me.”

Mayor Sherman said the public sits in many of the budget discussions and often offers feedback. But Prawel said that is different than having a seat at the table and making budget decisions.

Moving the election back would also mean warmer weather for the vote, and when candidates are out securing signatures for their petitions and campaigning. The candidate petitions – signed by at least 100 registered voters in the village – currently are due in early February.

Bieliski acknowledged the winter season is tough on candidates for getting signatures and going door to door. But he said he wouldn’t want to take office and have to work with a budget put together by the prior board.

“I’d rather work with a budget I created than one handed to me,” he said.

Marciano said she believes village residents ultimately get a better budget product with experienced board members working on the budget.

She said she will introduce the resolution on Feb. 23 to move the elections to June. If at least three of the five board members back that resolution, it would be on the March 18 ballot and would take effect in 2027.

“Let’s see how the residents feel and put it on the ballot,” Sherman said.