Special Election Set Over Council Races "The Islip Town Board voted last Tuesday to schedule a special election on April 4, 2006, to ask voters if they want to switch to electing town board members district by district, rather than at-large. The decision was a major victory for proponents of council districts, who have struggled unsuccessfully for more than a decade to place the issue on the ballot. Through the years, the town clerk had rejected four sets of petitions seeking to schedule a referendum on council districts. Islip Republicans, who occupy all five seats on the board, had long opposed districts because they would very likely help Democrats get elected. The board voted, 4 to 1, to approve the special election, with Councilwoman Pamela Greene opposing it. She said she favored holding the referendum during the regularly scheduled November election. But proponents, including Peter McGowan, the Islip supervisor, said they favored the April date because it would give the town enough time to draw up districts and withstand any potential legal challenges and the board could be elected by districts in the November 2007 election. Vivian S. Toy IN BRIEF: ISLIP Correction: November 27, 2005, Sunday A brief report Oct. 23 about a proposal to change Islip's town board elections to a district system from at-large voting misstated the action the board took Oct. 18 on a plan for an April 2006 referendum on the issue. The board voted to hold a hearing on the matter; it did not vote to hold the referendum."