20 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 8, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Community board term limits approved by Queens voters
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@cnglocal.com
@QNS
Th e hotly-contested ballot question
over whether New York City community
board members should be term-limited
was answered on Election Day by the
voters.
It was a resounding yes.
According to the city’s Board of
Elections, 72 percent of voters citywide
said ‘yes’ to Proposal 3, which would
impose term limits on community board
members limiting them to a maximum of
four consecutive two-year terms.
Supporters of term limits argued they
would ensure turnover and make the
boards more diverse and representative of
their communities. Opponents, however,
believed term limits would cost community
boards members with “institutional
knowledge” of land use and development
rules.
Th e provisions take eff ect this coming
April; current community board members
will not have their previously served
terms counted toward the new term limit.
All community board members are
appointed by the borough president
and local City Council members; their
appointments are for two-year terms. Th e
terms are staggered in such a way that not
all community board members are up for
reappointment at the same time.
Another proposal asked voters to create
a “Civic Engagement Commission” that
would increase participation in the democratic
process on several levels, including
citywide participatory budgeting, which
would allow residents to vote on ways to
spend city funds. Th at won approval with
65 percent of the voters.
Th e most popular proposal turned out
to be the fi rst ballot question that would
amend the city’s campaign fi nance system
by making changes designed to address
persistent perceptions of corruption associated
with large campaign contributions.
Th is measure would cut the maximum
amount of campaign contributions allowed
for candidates running for city offi ce.
Th at proposal was approved by 80 percent
of voters.
“Th e Charter Revision process is
designed to improve democracy in New
York City and tonight, the voters have
spoken,” Charter Review Commission
Chairman Cesar A. Perales said. “Th e
Charter Revision process is one designed
to engage New Yorkers about the future
of their city and that is exactly what happened.”
Near 40% turnout in Queens helps fuel Cuomo landslide
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com
@robbpoz
Close to 40 percent of all registered voters
in Queens showed up at the polls on
Election Day and helped propel the state’s
leading Democrat to a massive victory.
According to preliminary vote totals
from the New York City Board of
Elections, approximately 465,304 people
cast ballots in the top race on the
2018 ticket: the gubernatorial contest
between incumbent Democrat Andrew
Cuomo and Republican challenger Marc
Molinaro. Both candidates ran on a ticket
with their lieutenant governor candidates
(incumbent Lieutenant Governor
Kathy Hochul for the Democrats, former
Rye Councilwoman Julie Killian for the
Republicans).
Th at preliminary total is almost double
the amount of Queens residents who
voted in the 2014 race between Cuomo
and Republican rival Rob Astorino;
244,720 ballots came from the World’s
Borough in that contest.
Th e state Board of Elections counted
1,166,584 active voters in Queens
as of Nov. 1 of this year. Th e turnout
in Tuesday’s election in Queens indicates
that approximately 39.9% of active
Queens voters participated in the election;
by comparison, just 23% of Queens
voters cast a ballot in the 2017 mayoral
race, and 23.5% of voters in the borough
showed up for the 2014 gubernatorial
election.
Moreover, Cuomo — despite facing a
diffi cult primary from Cynthia Nixon in
September and a testy campaign from
Molinaro in recent weeks — also doubled
his vote total in Queens from 2014. Th e
unoffi cial city Board of Elections count
currently has Cuomo with 366,373 votes
across the Democratic, Independence,
Working Families and Women’s Equality
lines; in 2014, he secured 179,742 votes in
total from the same lines. Th at translates
to a 103.8% surge in votes for Cuomo.
Because of that surge, Cuomo carried
every single Assembly district in the borough,
including those with large pockets
of Republican voters such as the 23rd
District (Howard Beach and the western
Rockaways), the 26th District (parts
of Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck and
Whitestone) and the 28th District (parts
of Glendale, Forest Hills and Middle
Village).
Cuomo found his biggest support in
the 33rd Assembly District, represented
by Clyde Vanel, in southeast Queens. He
garnered 32,044 votes there, according to
the preliminary city Board of Elections
count. Th e fewest votes for Cuomo were
in Flushing’s 40th Assembly District, represented
by Ron Kim, where just 10,402
votes were cast for the governor.
Even so, Molinaro in 2018 outperformed
Astorino in 2014, garnering
85,683 from Queens. Th at’s a 69 percent
increase from the total Astorino received
in Queens during the last gubernatorial
contest. Molinaro secured more than
10,000 votes in just two Queens Assembly
districts: the aforementioned 23rd and
26th districts.
So Republican voter participation
also surged in Queens — but not nearly
enough to meet the “blue wave” that
struck the borough on Election Day.
Photo by Philip Kamrass
Governor Andrew Cuomo won every single Assembly district in Queens during his re-election on
Nov. 6.
File photo/THE COURIER
Members of Community Board 2 at a presentation
Election 2018
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