The Otsego County Democratic Committee wants to end American military offensives in Iraq, institute a single-payer health-care system in New York state and ban burn barrels in the county.
These are but three of about 50 planks in a platform approved last week by the committee. Other stands it has taken include promoting municipal power, establishing countywide commercial districts to control "strip development," funding public education through a graduated income tax and replacing the state Assembly and Senate with a one-house legislature.
The committee also would have the United States sign the Kyoto Treaty, abolish the Electoral College and withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Roberta Puritz-Hayes, vice chairwoman of the county’s Democratic Party, called the party’s platform "an outstanding document. ... I think anyone who looks at this will see it is specific and we’re serious about instituting changes."
Puritz-Hayes said the committee realizes that much of what is in the platform pertains to issues that are being debated far beyond Otsego County.
"It’s true we’re a small county, but changes can come from the grass-roots," she said. "If we start to speak up, maybe our representatives will pay attention."
Charlotte Koniuto, chairwoman of Otsego County’s Republican Committee, said she was surprised by the scope of the Democrats’ platform and disagreed with several planks.
"It looks like a wish list to Santa," she said. "A lot of what they’re talking about is way beyond them."
Koniuto said she disagrees with the Democrats’ stance on Iraq.
The Democratic committee supports ending offensive military operations in Iraq, setting a date for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, returning ownership of Iraq’s resources and assets to its people and reducing overseas presence of U.S. troops.
"We can’t just stop our military operations," Koniuto said. "When you start a campaign like this, you’ve got to follow it through and end it, too."
Democrat Regina Betts of Worcester, who helped draw up the platform, said, "There are many ways besides war to solve problems such as they have in Iraq, and we should be exploring them."
Koniuto also said a single-payer health-care system in New York state would be expensive and not workable.
"I don’t think they’ve considered the costs of what they’re proposing," she said.
Betts said that from what she has learned, a single-payer system would be cheaper than the current health-care system, and everyone would be covered.
Koniuto said she does not favor banning burn barrels in Otsego County.
"I think you have to use your common sense," she said. "You don’t burn things that shouldn’t be burned, and if your neighbors are out on the deck, you should wait until later to burn."
For people who live in the country, a burn barrel is a practical way to get rid of papers, she said.
Another plank the Democrats have approved is: "To preserve the integrity of one-person, one vote, oppose the Help America Vote Act Of 2002 (HAVA) and ban electronic software from any use in voting, recording, and tabulating in local and New York State elections, in favor of the present system of mechanical voting machines."
Koniuto, who is the county’s Republican elections commissioner, called this "a step backward. We have to go forward with computerized voting machines. They’re being used more and more, and this is the way we’ll be voting in the future. I don’t see why they want to take us backward."
Adrian Kuzminski of Fly Creek, a member of the Democratic Committee, said computerized voting machines are very expensive and can skew results.
"If you can’t trust the vote, you don’t have democracy," he said.