NY Town Drops DP Benefits

January 6, 2005

EASTCHESTER, NY — Four years ago, Eastchester became one of the first communities in Westchester County to offer health benefits to the domestic partners of its employees. Critics charged that the town supervisor had rammed the plan through and voted him out of office. Now Eastchester has become the first town in New York to end the benefits.

At a meeting Tuesday night, the Town Board voted 3 to 2 to approve new union contracts and to end a town policy of providing coverage for domestic partners. The town's Civil Service Employees Association and police union agreed to dropping the coverage, saying their members had more pressing concerns. The two employees who have made use of the benefits will be allowed to continue to do so, but new employees will not be eligible.

Town officials say they took the action to save money, but when the issue arose four years ago, one local group condemned the idea of domestic partner benefits as an effort by gay activists to promote same-sex marriage. Gay rights groups said yesterday that the town's decision was a dangerous step backward that could eat away at policies that have become common in government and the private sector.

The town is out of step with what has become an established trend, said Ross Levi, director of public policy and government affairs for Empire State Pride Agenda, a gay rights group. One set of families is going to get protection, and another set is going to be left out in the cold.

Eleven states, including New York, provide domestic partner benefits for public employees. So do New York City and 128 counties around the country, including Westchester, Suffolk, Nassau and Albany counties, according to the A.F.L.-C.I.O.

The Eastchester decision in late 2000 to extend domestic partner benefits to town employees became an issue in the 2003 supervisor campaign, when the current supervisor, Anthony Colavita, ran against James Cavanaugh, the incumbent, in the Republican primary. Mr. Cavanaugh had successfully pushed for the domestic partner benefits three years earlier and ended up facing serious opposition from voters in his own party.

This is a real victory, Raymond W. Belair, a lawyer with Family First, a local group that opposed the policy, said yesterday.

In 2002, the group filed a lawsuit against the town, which it now plans to drop, and collected more than 1,100 signatures on a petition opposing the policy. After Mr. Colavita said he was willing to end the policy, the group endorsed his candidacy, and he narrowly won the 2003 primary.

This was always about the gay lobby chipping away to get to marriage, Mr. Belair said. And right now there is nothing more important than preserving marriage.

Mr. Belair said that he had been unaware of the contract negotiations that led to the board's action until earlier this week, but that he called Mr. Colavita yesterday to congratulate him.

Union officials said yesterday that there was not enough interest among its members to fight to keep the benefit, which covers 163 employees - 114 city workers and 49 police officers - in a town of 31,000 people.

There are things that the members need, and this was not something that was being used by a large number of them, said Gary Conley, president of C.S.E.A. Local 860, which covers Westchester County. It was not something that was particularly needed, and you have to decide what you are going to fight for. Not enough people thought this was worth it.

Mr. Colavita said that dropping the benefit was a financial matter. The two employees who receive the benefits cost the town $15,000 to $20,000 annually, he said.

That is a significant sum of money, Mr. Colavita said. People wanted to make this a moral and gross social issue, but the employees who it affects supported it entirely. No town employee is being excluded from benefits.

Mr. Levi, of Empire State Pride Agenda, disputed Mr. Colavita's economic argument. To say that that this is purely a fiscal issue is totally dishonest, Mr. Levi said. This is not saving the town one penny. It is just bad public policy.

Councilwoman Vicki Ford voted in favor of the domestic partnership policy four years ago and was one of two members who voted against repealing it, calling the action a step backward. This should not be about local politics, she said. This should be about respecting the individual who is doing work for the company or municipality.

Current employees have 60 days to apply for the benefits before the rule takes effect. By ensuring that members who used the benefit would continue to receive it, the union fulfilled its responsibility, said Jeff Meyer, the president of the police union.

But Josh Cazares, a co-president of A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s Pride at Work gay and lesbian group, said the decision by the two unions not to press the town for the benefits was surprising. We want to make sure that we have fairness and equality everywhere, so that anyone who wants these rights can get them, he said.