Two must go.
That’s how many representatives the Onondaga County Legislature will lose under a redesign — or redistricting — of the county’s legislative districts. The reasons: Shifts in the county’s population revealed in the 2010 Census and a push for money-saving consolidation. New boundaries will last until…the next census.
“Our final decision will determine the districts for the next 10 years,” said James Rhinehart, R-Skaneateles, chairman of the legislature.
And that helps make redistricting controversial. Sometimes, say political experts, the redistricting favors the majority party and the politicians more than the voters. County Republicans control the legislature with 12 seats, while Democrats hold seven. But the GOP members are promising cautious Democrats that they will be bi-partisan in the redistricting.
In principle, design of voting districts is driven by population, say experts. The law dictates that legislators must shift district boundaries when district populations change, said Kristi Andersen, a political scientist at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. “If population grows in one district and not another, the people in the higher-population district have less representation,” said Andersen.
For example, the most recent census found that in Onondaga County, population density decreased in Syracuse and increased in suburban and rural areas. And overall population dropped .8 percent overall. The 17 new districts’ lines will have to be drawn so that every district holds an even share of the county’s 467,026 residents—or about 27,500 residents each.
Party politics have played into redistricting for as long as political parties have existed, said Elisabeth MacNamara, national president of the League of Women Voters, in a telephone interview. The League is a watchdog and civic education organization, nationally headquartered in Washington, D.C.
“Although we have seen a trend toward bipartisanship lately, it’s hard to resist supporting your own party when you have the opportunity to do so,” said MacNamara.
Majority parties using political advantage to dubiously re-draw boundaries in their favor can alienate voters, MacNamara said. “It can be discouraging for voters when they feel like the representatives have elected the voters, and not the other way around,” MacNamara said.
That’s often called “gerrymandering” — coined in reaction to the 1812 redistricting of Massachusetts under then-Gov. Elbridge Gerry. One of the erratically-drawn districts resembled a salamander. Critics cited the strangely-shaped district as evidence that Gerry’s Democratic-Republicans were manipulating voter populations.
For their part, local politicians have created bi-partisan commission to redraw the boundaries. The commission consists of four Republicans and two Democrats. The Republicans are Chairman Rhinehart; Helen Kiggins Walsh, elections commissioner; Ryan McMahon, Syracuse District 3 common councilor; and Nick Pirro, former county executive. The Democrats are Linda Ervin, county legislator of DeWitt; and Ed Ryan, elections commissioner.
Republicans say they have agreed to share the redistricting fairly. “We’ve crafted a fair plan that would drop one city Democrat seat and one rural Republican seat, and we’ve expressed that plan to the Democrats,” said Richard Lesniak, R-Baldwinsville, the GOP floor leader.
But Democrats are wary. “The Republicans have worked on their plans, and we’ve worked on ours,” said Mark Stanczyk, D-Syracuse, the Democrats’ floor leader. “We’re hoping for fairness, but we’re prepared for whatever they dish out.”
The legislature will vote on the commission’s recommendation during a special session on April 14.
(Michael Leess is a senior newspaper and online journalism major.)
-30-
