A FOCUS ON GAY MARRIAGE STIRS UP NEW PALTZ ELECTION: From the New York Times

[Hmmm... headline has changed since this story ran on Nexis. Now it's "New Paltz Trustee Election a Test of Views on Mayor." Story seems otherwise unchanged though. --Eve]

Outsiders may see Tuesday's special election to fill one village trustee seat as politics at a microscopic level, but to residents of New Paltz the race has become a referendum on their 27-year-old mayor and the national attention he brought by conducting New York's first same-sex marriages here.

The mayor, Jason West, was prosecuted for solemnizing marriages without a license and ordered to stop by a judge. He stopped performing the ceremonies, but has been replaced by a series of ministers who now officiate same-sex marriage ceremonies for about 20 couples almost every week. Two ministers have also been charged by the Ulster County district attorney's office.

While the validity of the marriages will probably be determined when a series of related lawsuits work their way through the New York courts, the special election on Tuesday -- between Rick J. Remsnyder, who opposes the mayor and his policies, and Michael K. Zierler, who supports Mr. West -- will give voters in New Paltz the chance to weigh in on their mayor and the effect his civil disobedience has had on their village. Although it is only a special election to fill a vacancy created by a resignation, the campaign has created more buzz in the village than larger elections in previous years.

"There are more signs up for this election than I can remember for a long, long time," said Thomas E. Nyquist, who was the mayor for 16 years before Mr. West defeated him last May. "You can also see the level of interest through the large number of letters to the editor."

The election pits Mr. Remsnyder, a former mayor's son, using "Take Back the Village" as a slogan, against Mr. Zierler, a bearded freelance book editor whose answering machine plays "Give Peace a Chance." The candidates disagree about whether the mayor should have taken action on the same-sex marriage issue, and both say the election has exacerbated simmering friction between long-term residents and the politically active students of the State University of New York campus that dominates the village.

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posted by Eve at 4:06 PM | Link |

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