County gets ‘C+' for women in government
By JOE PARMON-Telegram Staff Writer
Published: Monday,
November 13, 2006 2:53 PM CST
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HERKIMER - Herkimer County has earned a grade of “C-plus” for the
number of women serving in elected office in county government,
according to a report card issued by The Susan B. Anthony Center for
Women's Leadership at the University of Rochester.
The grade
actually stacks up favorably compared to other counties, the
majority of which received grades of either “Unsatisfactory” or
“F.”
The grades were based on a survey comparing the number
of women in local elected offices in 2002 and 2006. While women make
up 52.7 percent of the state voting population, they hold just 17.4
percent of the seats in the 57 county legislatures outside of New
York City, an increase of only .8 percent from a figure of 16.6
percent in 2002. Herkimer County saw an increase from 17.65 percent
of women in county government in 2000 to 23.5 percent in 2006.
Of the 17 members of the Herkimer County Legislature, four are
women - Claudine Grande of Herkimer, Mildred Wheeler of Herkimer,
Jean Maneen of Ilion, and Dolores Walawender of
Herkimer.
“Women still have not reached ‘critical mass' in
local governments,” said Nora Bredes, director of the Anthony
Center. “Research in sociology and political science shows that when
groups reach 35 percent representation, they support each others'
beliefs and values and can affect change. In government, women's
‘critical mass' can change the substance and style of political work
and turn increased attention to such issues as domestic violence,
child protective services, foster care, health care, and women's
poverty.”
Women made progress in leadership positions over
the past four years, noted Bredes. The number of women county
executives increased from one in 2002 to three in 2006, while two
more women have been elected as presidents or presiding officers of
their county legislatures, bringing the total to six. Meanwhile,
four out of the five cities in the survey have women serving as
president or speaker of their city councils.
In a new measure of leadership for 2006, the Anthony Center found
that 11 counties have elected women to serve as district attorney, a
critical law enforcement role.
In the spring, the Anthony
Center will hold its second policy summit for women holding offices
in county and city governments across New York state. The first
conference, in November 2004, brought 75 women to Rochester to
attend two days of workshops and panels by public and policy experts
and business and community leaders.
“By coming together,
elected women get a strong sense of their ‘critical' mass and how
they can address issues that are important to the lives of families
in their communities,” said Bredes. “Chile's new female president,
Michelle Bachelet, has filled half of the posts of ministers,
under-secretaries, and regional government officials with women,
saying that ‘when there are few women in politics, politics changes
women, but when there are many women, it is politics that
change.”
