MAMAKATING – In responding to a voter registration challenge by Summitville resident Richard Morris, the Sullivan County Board of Elections (SCBoE) has "purged" the voter registration of Mamakating Planning Board Chairman John Piazza. Morris's challenge had claimed that Piazza is not actually domiciled in the Town of Mamakating, which would make him ineligible to vote in the town's elections.

"We purged his registration due to the fact that he's registered in Mamakating at his mother's house, and his mother is selling her house," said Sullivan County Election Commissioner Faith Kaplan.

Kaplan went on to say that Piazza had called the SCBoE stating that, in addition to his mother's home, he also owns several vacant lots in the town. The board told him, however, that the ownership of this land was insufficient.

"You're not allowed to register from vacant land," Kaplan said. "You have to have a domicile, and at this point he does not. Under those circumstances, it left us no alternative but to purge his registration."

Piazza's voter status would also have an impact on his eligibility to serve in local government, and would appear to mean that his tenure on the Mamakating Planning Board would come to an end.

Mamakating Town Supervisor Harold Baird said that he hadn't received any formal notice regarding Piazza's voter registration, and that he wanted to wait until he had more information before offering any definitive comment.

"I haven't got any official word from them [SCBoE] yet," Baird said. "When I get some official word, then I can do something."

He did say, however, that in the coming days he would be conferring with Town Attorney Richard Stoloff about the situation.

"I've got to look at the law, of how it reads, and then I have to discuss it with the town attorney, and make a decision from there," Baird said.

Mr. Morris, however, feels the law is unambiguous in regard to this matter. In an email recently sent to Baird, and which was copied to Town Clerk Jean Dougherty, Morris cites various regulations that would appear to indicate that Piazza can no longer serve on the planning board.

"Town Law Article 3, Section 23 (1) provides that every officer of a town, at the time of his election or appointment and throughout his term of office, must be an elector of the town. An 'elector' is a person who is eligible to register to vote in a town and must therefore be a resident of the town," one of the sections reads.

Another section, Public Officers Law Article 3, Section 30 (d)§ 30 states that office vacancies can happen for a number of reasons, one of which would appear to apply in this case. It reads:

"His ceasing to be an inhabitant of the state, or if he be a local officer, of the political subdivision, or municipal corporation of which he is required to be a resident when chosen," it says.

There are several other regulations Morris cites in his email, all of which appear to indicate that Piazza, by virtue of the fact that he was purged from the rolls, as a matter of law may no longer serve on the planning, as he is no longer a resident nor is he an elector of the town.

It should also be noted that Morris's email to Baird contains an attached copy of the SCBoE ruling.

When reached for comment, Piazza said that he didn't want to talk to the press at the moment. He did, however, offer his own assessment of the situation.

"I could care less about it," Piazza said. "And you can print that."

The next Mamakating Planning Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 13, 2010, at 7 p.m. In the interim, there will be a meeting of the town board on Tuesday, July 7, 2010, also at 7 p.m.