Two elected positions, one in the Town of Oyster Bay and the other in the U.S. Senate, will be going to hand-picked political appointees leaving the public without its choice of representation.

In the Town of Oyster Bay, the position currently held on the Town Board by Angelo Delligatti will be vacant January 1, as Delligatti assumes a seat on the bench. Filling his post in Town Hall until January, 2010, will be an individual selected by the Oyster Bay Town Supervisor and the Republican Party. At the federal level, the vacancy left by Sen. Hillary Clinton's move to become part of President-elect Obama's cabinet as Secretary of State will be held by a political appointee until January, 2011. That individual will be the hand-picked selection of Gov. David Paterson and the Democratic party.

In both instances, we believe the election law is wrong in allowing these posts to be held by someone not elected by the people they serve. Add to that, the astounding scandal involving the Governor of Illinois, and the appointment of President-elect Obama's vacant Senate seat, and we have about the best two reasons to press for timely elections under these circumstances—democracy and honesty.

We believe election law should be changed to require that in all these instances at the national, state and local levels, special elections be mandated so that the public will be served by a candidate of its choosing—not one selected through political patronage.

Al and Carolyn James

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