What is the Dongan Patent and would it preclude Council Districts?
• The Dongan Patent for the Town of Brookhaven was issued through Governor Dongan and dated December 27, 1686, It was an historic and legal document that provided the foundation for Town government for almost 300 years. The Patent provided that seven Trustees should be elected annually, and of these, the first chosen should be the President. It also requires that a Clerk, one Constable, and two Assessors, should be elected each year. Provisions are made for a Town Seal and the raising of taxes. The patent gives the Trustees full power to sell or dispose of the proprietary lands of the Town, vesting in them that authority as agents. • The lands concerned are now usually considered the “bay bottoms”. • When the Town adopted it’s present structure of a Supervisor and 6 Councilpeople it had to follow NYS Town Law. That law mandated that the Trustees are the same as the Council. That said, during present Town meetings, you may notice that sometimes the agenda is broken into two parts – one
