REDISTRICTING HEARINGS:

Wed. Feb. 1
10:30 AM
St. Francis College
Founders Hall Auditorium
180 Remsen St.
Brooklyn

Every 10 years there is a census and after every census the entire country goes through the push and shove of redistricting. Each party tries to get an advantage for the next 10 years. That is normal...but the degree to which they go can vary from reasonable to so convoluted that it once created a whole new term: Gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is creating a district that goes so far out of its way that it looks ridiculous to any rational person.

These days reform minded folks, mainly Democrats, are pushing for independent redistricting, while Republicans are doing their utmost to consolidate power by gerrymandering every chance they can. I touched on this back in 2007 when Assemblyman Michael Gianaris came to a local political club meeting to discuss non-partisan redistricting. Gianaris pointed out overzealous gerrymandering by Republican Tom DeLay in Texas got him admonished by the House Ethics Committee. Assemblyman Gianaris put it well: let's focus on doing it fairly and getting it right, leading to more competitive races. That's why I am a Democrat, we think like that more often than Republicans seem to. Too bad Democrats don't ACT on it more.

Well that was back in 2007 and now that the census has happened and we are faced with an actual redistricting battle, it is time to doing it fairly and getting it right. But the Republicans in the State Senate have proposed an old school gerrymandering as an attempt to give themselves more power. My State Senator, Velmanete Montgomery, discussed this at a recent CBID meeting and brought in the proposed maps for the Brooklyn senate districts.

The proposed maps include some really strangely shaped districts. The one I will be in (SD20) would be composed of one pretty large area in Prospect Heights and further East. Then it has a small blob South of Greenwood Cemetery. Connecting them is a very strange arm that is about a block wide for most of its length. I happen to be in that strange arm, right about the elbow. When you see a district with a random long arm one block wide connecting two blobs, you KNOW the district is a textbook example of gerrymandering. SD22 is also very strange, consisting of 3 blobs connected by two narrow arms. The details don't matter. The key thing is the Republicans are behaving in a typical greedy manner while most Democrats I know are pushing for independent, non-partisan redistricting.

For all those Russians considering voting for Teabagger Republican Storobin against Lew Fidler, keep in mind that the Republican redistricting plan completely screws over the Russian voters. Why would Russians vote for a Republican now that it is clear Republicans don't give a rat's ass for them? In fact the Republicans seemed to have deliberately gerrymandered to limit the Russian vote. Strange.

But it isn't just Russian voters who are getting screwed by the Republican scheme, though they are one of the worst examples. All of NYC is getting screwed because Republicans are proposing districts that squeeze more people per district into NYC districts than in upstate districts, which is blatantly unfair because each and every district is supposed to represent roughly the same number of people. That's why we do it after each census! To divide the districts unfairly completely negates the purpose of linking the redistricting to the census.

This population deviation even makes the Republican Gerrymandering Scheme legally dubious. For state legislative districts, it is considered constitutionally dubious if the largest and smallest districts are more than ten percent apart. The Republican scheme pretty much reaches that limit and so puts NY State on shaky constitutional grounds. Many reform groups advocate ideally for no more than 6 percent apart, a standard some states (e.g. Montana) and Colorado even sets the standard more stringently (5 points). There are legal justifications for greater variance, most specifically in order to comply with the Voting Rights Act. But maintaining partisan control over a state legislature is NOT a legally justifiable reason to deviate from equal and fair districts.

For upstate folks, there is a good analysis of your districts over at Daily Kos.

A couple of quotes from that article:

Republicans hold 32 seats in the current 62 seat Senate. The fact is that the only way they do so (Assembly Democrats hold virtually 2/3's of the 150 assembly seats) is the outrageous gerrymander of 2002 and the fact that several districts that otherwise vote reliably, albeit narrowly, Democratic consistently vote for the same Republican fossil Senator year after year. In order to maintain a Republican majority this trend must continue. Districts must be outrageously gerrymandered and slim Democratic districts must continue to elect Republicans to the Senate. In order to enhance their chances Republicans have created a new, 63rd district, crafted to elect a specific Republican, Assemblyman George Amedore, but even this district is a narrowly Democratic favoring district...

Governor Cuomo has threatened to Veto these district lines and I wholeheartedly support that veto. A fair and non-partisan redistricting would result in districts that are, first of all essentially equal in population and therefore representation, and secondarily return a Democratic majority Senate approaching 2/3's...

I should point out that the non-partisan redistricting plan pushed by Democratic Assemblyman Ginnaris was never acted on by Democrats when they were in power. The likes of Monserrate, Diaz, Espada and Kruger kept the whole State Senate locked in a power struggle more concerned with the egos of Monserrate, Diaz, Espada and Kruger (three of whom are now out because of various crimes or scandals) than with anything to do with good governance. Too bad Dems didn't act on Ginnaris' suggestion because if they had we wouldn't be faced with the Republican Gerrymandering Scheme this year.

We need to speak out against the Republican Gerrymandering Scheme and speak out for an independent, non-partisan plan.

For our Brooklyn readers, here is the hearing you can go to:

Wed. Feb. 1
10:30 AM
St. Francis College
Founders Hall Auditorium
180 Remsen St.
Brooklyn

You can find a full schedule for the state here (PDF).

Speak out against Republican Gerrymandering and push the often lazy Democrats to actually FOLLOW THROUGH with independent, non-partisan redistricting they always talk about.