The Onondaga County Legislature Friday sent what is normally a routine document to the county’s Board of Elections. This document is far from routine, though.
Wednesday, Republican Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon didn’t look at what he was signing his name to. He signed a message approving a measure to let voters decide this November whether to limit the term of future County Executives and Comptrollers to three terms of four years each. He also signed a document vetoing the term limits measure, but his signature approving the local law arrived first at the county Legislature Clerk’s desk and the body’s chair and its lawyers say that’s the one that counts.
The measure went to the Board of Elections today to be put on the ballot, but the Republican elections commissioner rejected it.
Legislature Chair Nicole Watts said in a statement, "We will allow this legal process, in accordance with the laws of New York State, to run its course," a strong hint that they will sue.
As for McMahon, he maintains it’s a trivial error and should be overlooked in favor of the veto he said publicly he would do. In a statement, he said the Democratic majority were acting like this was a political victory and were taking advantage of what he called a clerical error.
