June 2, 2020 (Rochester, NY) At the May 26th Special Meeting of the Monroe County Legislature, Republican County Clerk candidate Karla Boyce voted YES for a $500,000 tax increase to provide the Board of Election with 6 new political appointed positions.
This referral was pushed before the Monroe County Legislature as a ‘Matter of Urgency,’ giving legislators a few hours to review the significant budget increase. This comes at a time when County Government faces significant revenue shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar efforts were attempted by the Republican Majority at the end of 2019 to ram passage of the CABLE Act through the County Legislature in order to undermine the incoming Bello Administration.
The Campaign to Keep Monroe County Clerk Jamie Romeo released the following statement: “The Monroe County Board of Elections, like every operation in County Government, is facing unprecedented challenges. Earlier this year, Governor Cuomo rightly expanded access to absentee voting for New Yorkers, which has led to an increase in work for Board of Elections across the State. Rather than investing in the County workers working 8 to 10 hour days processing these applications, Karla Boyce and the Republican Legislature Majority resorted to the same tired politics of rewarding the few and connected.”
“We have consistently seen Legislator Boyce flip from her instinctive position on legislation after she remembers to get out in the community and talk to her constituents. I implore her to reconsider her support for this measure.”
In February 2020 Karla Boyce flipped her position on her own legislation, the unconstitutional “police annoyance law.” The proposal was drafted by partisan insiders without the input of law enforcement, who dubbed it “a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.” This ill-conceived proposal brought national attention to Monroe County as many communities across the country struggle with institutional bias, structural racism, and community-police relations. It was resoundingly and widely criticized, and likely to further mistrust of officers[1].