Storied upstate NY village OKs dissolution vote

SENECA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — Voters in the upstate New York birthplace of the women's rights movement have approved a proposal to dissolve their village government.

Tuesday's ballot proposal to dissolve the village of Seneca Falls into the surrounding town of the same name passed by a vote of 1,142-1,037, with 125 absentee ballots still to be counted.

If the vote stands, the nearly 180-year-old Finger Lakes village will dissolve Dec. 31 2011.

Supporters say dissolution will do away with costly duplication of governmental services and slash village property taxes.

The village was the site of the first known women's rights convention in 1848. It also claims to be the model for Bedford Falls, the mythical upstate community depicted in Frank Capra's 1946 Christmas movie classic "It's a Wonderful Life."