Governor Kathy Hochul
Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Assembly Member Carl E. Heastie
Senator Mike Martucci
Assembly Member Aileen Gunther (co sponsor of this bill)
December 7, 2021
Memo of Support
A. 8272/S. 7389
AN ACT to amend the general city law, the general municipal law, the public authorities law, the real property law, the town law and the village law, in relation to replacing all instances of the words councilman or councilmen with the words council member or council members.
The Sullivan County Democratic Committee supports good candidates without regard to gender, race, national identity, religion. And we promote women as candidates and as elected officers, as well as in other leadership positions in Sullivan County.
We were appalled that the terminology in Election Law for towns such as most of the towns in Sullivan County, with populations less than 10,000 – and therefore called Second Class – forced the use of the term “councilman”, though the candidate may have been a woman.
We are pleased that A 8272 addresses this problem, and that henceforth, the term “council member” will be used on all legal documents, petitions and any election literature.
The Sullivan County Democratic Committee strongly supports Assembly Bill 8272/Senate Bill 7389.
We encourage you to support it as well.
Anne Hart
Chair