http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/03weekwe.html

June 3, 2007

The Week in Westchester

By TIM MURPHY

Chief Katonah’s Descendants Oppose Stewart

Descendants of the Indian chief for whom the Village of Katonah is named
have joined efforts to block Martha Stewart’s home-improvement empire from
patenting the town’s name for her line of furniture.

Ms. Stewart’s company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, “has no right to
exploit the name of one of our ancestors for her own profit and gain,” said
Steven Burton, a member of the Deer Clan Council of the Ramapough Lenape
Indian Nation. “Trademarking our ancestor is wrong, wrong, wrong.”

Mr. Burton lives in New Jersey, but says his tribe’s roots can be traced
throughout the tristate area, including Katonah, whose land was sold to
white settlers in the 1680s by the Indian chief who is its namesake.

Last week, Mr. Burton and other Indian descendants of Chief Katonah joined
“Nobody Owns Katonah,” a campaign organized by the Katonah Village
Improvement Society against the patent request. The society formally filed
its opposition to the patent request in late April; Martha Stewart Living
Omnimedia has since filed a motion seeking the dismissal of the opposition.

Mr. Burton said that he had no problem with the company using the name
Katonah for a product line, which it already does — the line is sold at
Macy’s — just as he had no problem with the town’s use of the name.

“But she wants to trademark it, and that’s a whole different ball of wax,”
Mr. Burton said. “Trademark Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter or Prince of Wales
instead.”

Lydia Landesberg, president of the Katonah Village Improvement Society,
said that her group appreciated the tribe’s support. “This is a moral issue
about protecting the identity of our village,” she said.

Diana Pearson, a spokeswoman for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, declined
to comment on the tribe’s opposition to the patent. (Other Indian leaders
nationwide have echoed their opposition, The Associated Press reported last
week.) Company representatives have said that they were only seeking a
patent to prevent knockoffs of Ms. Stewart’s Katonah line, not to stop
local merchants from using the name.

But Ms. Landesberg is skeptical. “If they get the trademark, anybody who
wants to open a business here using the town’s name will need to seek their
permission,” she said. “They could really stop just about anybody.”

Dobbs Ferry Elections to Remain in November

The final results are in, and local elections in Dobbs Ferry will remain in
November.

The proposal to move elections to March was defeated by 14 votes. The final
tally was 793 to 779, according to the County Board of Elections officials,
who released the numbers last Wednesday. Elections officials waited a week
to count outstanding absentee and affidavit votes to allow time for all the
absentee votes to come in.

“The election will remain in November, just as it is now,” said Carolee C.
Sunderland, the election board commissioner.

Mayor Joseph J. Bova, who supported moving the election date, was resigned
to the result, but expressed disappointment that there wasn’t greater voter
participation. Only 1,566 of the village’s 6,000 registered voters voted on
the referendum. “We had about the same number of signatures on the petition
as the number of people who voted yes,” he said.

Supporters of moving the date said local issues get lost when they are
mixed in with state and federal elections, and smaller parties get poor
placement on the ballot.

Opponents argued that there is larger turnout when elections are held in
November, with state and federal races, and less chance of having a measure
pass as a result of low voter turnout.

“It was quite a dramatic ending,” said Dr. Gregg Ury, an opponent of the
measure. “But I thought the people of Dobbs Ferry indicated once again that
they favor November elections where many more residents participate in the
democratic process.” BARBARA WHITAKER

Larchmont Firefighters Sue Over Paying a Chief

Volunteer firefighters in Larchmont sued the village last week to block the
hiring of a paid fire chief, and nearly all active volunteers have resigned
in protest, effective this month.

The firefighters last Wednesday sought a preliminary injunction in State
Supreme Court to block the hiring of Richard Heine as chief. They already
have an elected chief, Chris McDonald, and they say a second chief,
appointed and paid by the village, is illegal, unworkable and presents
command risks.

James Sweeney, a spokesman for the volunteers, who has served with the
department 30 years, twice as chief, said it would be dangerous if two
chiefs showed up at a fire.

“Who’s in charge?” he asked.

Mayor Elizabeth N. Feld said there was nothing dangerous about the
situation. “All calls for service are being answered,” she said.
“Volunteers are serving under the chief’s direction.”

She defended the village board’s authority, saying the idea of hiring a
paid chief had been discussed in the village of 6,500 for 20 years.

Ms. Feld said the board had decided it was time to make the department more
accountable. With a $2.4 million budget, 15 career firefighters, at least
two dozen volunteers and millions of dollars of equipment, the department
was also faced with additional emergency preparedness demands after 9/11,
she said. “It’s unrealistic to expect that kind of accountability from a
volunteer,” she said.

Mr. Sweeney said the department had been governed for 100 years by a Fire
Council elected by volunteers. The 15 paid members of the department have
traditionally reported to the volunteer chief.

Mr. Sweeney said having a paid chief who answers to a mayor or village
board leaves volunteers with no say in how the department is run.

“That’s why it’s so devastating,” he said.