(Photo Source: Unsplash).
The Cortland County Redistricting Commission discussed the number of legislators on the county’s governing body, as well as their criteria for communities of interest at its meeting on Monday.
As part of the apportionment process that occurs every 10 years after U.S. Census Figures are released, the county is seeking to redraw its legislative boundaries to be able to provide fair representation to residents based on updated population figures.
Census data indicates there has been a 5.1 percent decline in population across the county since 2010, which has spawned questions regarding the number of county legislature seats moving forward.
For every district, there must be a 5 percent increase or decrease from a proportional number of residents per district. In the county’s case, if they were to uphold the current 17 legislature seats, it would mean the district must stay within 5 percent more or less than approximately 2,753 residents. This number is the total Cortland County population divided by the 17 districts.
The commission is meant to present results to the legislature on the new legislative districts within three months of being formed, as agreed upon by commission members last Monday. Commission members noted they would like to be through with the process before the end of March, giving the county a chance to write a local law with the new districts.
Currently, there are proposals to shrink the legislature down to 13 and 15 seats, and another one to stay at 17. The maps can be found here, and the proposals are here. These proposals are set to evolve with further commission meetings. Residents interested in applying to provide input to the redistricting commission can do so here. The county will stop taking applications Feb. 13, legislative clerk Savannah Hempstead said.
For legislator Cathy Bischoff (D-LD3) the commission should discuss the fundamentals of representative government and how that fits the proposed maps.
“Let’s talk about what it means to represent ‘x’ number of people and what is reasonable (for a representative to take on),” she said. “For legislators, what it comes down to is being able to represent the county well. That means, what does it take to walk or drive a district to meet people. If you as a legislator want to represent your folks and meet with them and get a good sense of where they are, what does it take to do that and what is a reasonable number of residents per district.”
Part of the redistricting process also encompasses considering communities of interest and how the outcome of the process may affect them.
“People (join) together because of race, economic interests, religious interests, geographic location, political boundaries, and environmental impacts,” Legislature Democratic Minority Leader Beau Harbin (LD2) said. Harbin offered examples such as Lapeer’s Amish community as a potential community of interest.
“That is a community of interest in our area that we want to consider to keep within the same district so they are represented as a group,” he added.
Farming communities and residents living near the area known as the Kettle Lakes would be examples of communities that could be kept within the same districts due to shared economic interests and environmental concerns, respectively. The Kettle Lakes Watershed represents an area of close to 20,000 acres in northern Cortland County and southern Onondaga County. The biggest lakes in the area are the Crooked, Little York, Song and Tully lakes.
Harbin noted he would also like to see the commission look at communities of interest beyond just those sharing economic and religious interests.
“We have always said within the city of Cortland, you have different issues that mean a lot to you,” said legislative chair Kevin Fitch (R-LD8). “For the rural areas, they end up feeling like they are not being represented.”
Fitch criticized federal and state lawmakers. He noted the current regulations are not conducive to a fair process.
“The 5 percent rule stifles and gets rid of real representation,” he said. “The state of New York and the federal government are terrible when it comes to this.”
The commission will continue discussing these issues at upcoming meetings.
