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Brightwaters board refers term‑length and compensation proposals to referendum, schedules May 5 hearing
Summary
Trustees voted to refer a package of three proposed local laws—extending elected terms from two to four years (mandatory referendum), changing term‑limit structure, and authorizing compensation for mayor and trustees—to a public hearing on May 5; proposed compensation would be $5,000 for mayor and $2,500 per trustee.
The Brightwaters board voted to schedule a public hearing on May 5 for three proposed local laws related to elected office terms and compensation. Village counsel told the board that changing term length from two to four years triggers a mandatory referendum under Article 9 of the New York State Village Law; the board agreed to formally adopt that first law to start the referendum process.
At the meeting the chair said the proposed compensation would be an annual stipend of $5,000 for the mayor and $2,500 for each trustee (a total of $15,000), and that the board intends to include an explanation flyer for residents ahead of the hearing. Residents asked for a frequently asked questions document to clarify the changes and for data about other villages’ populations and budgets; trustees agreed to prepare materials and noted that placing a fixed dollar figure in the code could require future public hearings to change it, so they discussed placing compensation as a budget line item instead.
