(Photo Source: Kevin L. Smith/The Cortland Voice).
Members of the Cortland County Redistricting Commission unanimously moved to extend the deliberation period for local officials to come to an agreement on new legislative boundaries for legislative districts at its Wednesday meeting.
The new extension would require the commission to present their findings on a new collection of legislative districts redrawn based on 2020 U.S.Census data by the May 26 county legislature meeting. The county would have to also host a public hearing for their proposal sometime prior to the legislature’s vote in late May. The previous deadline was scheduled for April 24.
To extend the deadline, Legislative Minority Leader Beau Harbin (D-LD-2) initially brought forth an amendment to the existing redistricting local law that initially indicated “the (Redistricting) Commission shall study the population data within three months after appointment.”
Initially, Harbin had requested a three-month extension, bringing it to six months total, but noted he hoped the commission would be done with the process prior to that.
“We needed to give ourselves some additional time so we have the time to do the work we need to in order to have this discussion,” Harbin said.
Legislators Kelly Preston (LD10) Majority Leader George Wagner (R-LD-15) and Legislative Chair Kevin Fitch (R-LD8) opposed the decision to add another three months, but ultimately agreed the commission could definitely use a time extension.
“We have the time,” Wagner said. We need to make wiser use of it.
Harbin said he asked for the longer extension for practical reasons.
“I just don’t want us to come back and say: ‘we are having great discussions, we need another month,’ and have to do this all over again,” Harbin said.
Once the county reaches a decision, they will need to seek expert help from a licensed land surveyor to work on legal descriptions for the eventual new maps, county planning director Trisha Jesset said.
“If the maps are utilizing stream banks or other census blocks delineated not by existing roads, I do not have licensed surveyors who can do that,” she said. She noted the county also hired a licensed surveyor during the previous redistricting process a decade ago.
The commission and its Citizens Advisory Committee also discussed the size of the county legislature.
Lime Hollow Board of Directors President Forrest Earl said he favored the redistricting options presented by the planning board that include 15 legislators.
“I recommend reducing the number of legislators incrementally every 10 years,” he said. “I don’t think reducing the number makes it less representative of the population.”
Village of Homer mayor Hal McCabe also spoke in support of the options with 15 legislators, but noted he would like the commission to explore options with 11 or 13 districts.
“I am not sure why we are not allowed to even consider that,” he said. “My goal is to keep the village of Homer whole, which is part of the goal of the legislature.”
County resident Danielle Wimbish said she did not have a preference in current proposals, but did favor a larger representative body.
“I want to stick with the idea that to allow more people to have their say is better,” she said.
Former village of Marathon mayor Bill McGovern questioned the decision to reduce the size of the legislature.
“What is the benefit? We may need 17 legislators at this point. What is the goal of dropping the number?,” McGovern asked. “I am not convinced, but I am still open to the discussions. I am looking at keeping municipalities whole.
The committee will bring back the proposal to reduce the number of seats down to 13 at the request of several commission and committee members at the March 23 meeting. The legislature will then vote on the proposed extension to the commission’s tasks on March 24.
