The Update Desk: Fair Redistricting

A couple of updates related to my Grains of Salt post on voters in Syracuse approving a change to the city's Charter to bring us independent, fair redistricting:

First, Syracuse's Common Council President Helen Hudson talked with folks at WAER, our local PBS affiliate, about redistricting in general and what we might expect down the road.

The proposition was approved by a 76% to 23% margin, and Hudson, who says we're long overdue for a redistricting, "appreciates the strong support" the measure received. She gave just one example of  why we need to redraw the maps.

We know within the last twenty years, we've had a really huge influx of new Americans, and most of them are packed into District One, which is overpopulated. So we need to start looking at how we can reshape some of these districts and give people representation.

She also pointed out one of the things that drives people crazy about how districts are drawn: that there are places where multiple councilors represent portions of the same street, making it hard for residents to figure out who represents them - and, I'd add, potentially make it harder for neighborhoods like this have cohesive representation.

Hudson said that the next step is "to engage citizens in public hearings," with the goal of getting input on how the independent commission should be created.

We're going to be looking at civic involvement, how often you voted, demographics, racial makeups... We're going to be looking at a whole gamut of things to ensure that everyone gets the representation they deserve. 

She noted that folks interested in being on the commission will be able to apply, and said that the City Auditor, with no stake in the district maps, would receive resumes in the interest of keeping this process independent. She also noted that our officials are looking to other cities which have already gone this way for guidance, including Austin, Texas.

Also from our friends at WAER, we've learned that we have our first candidate for the DeFrancisco-Antonacci seat in the NY State Senate.

At an announcement held at Syracuse's Schiller Park, John Mannion announced he will run for the seat. Mannion, you'll recall, lost to Antonacci in a close race to fill the seat after DeFrancisco retired.

I've done it before, you know. A lot of the things in the platform are the same; it has to do with the environment, it has to do with the economics of the region, and education is always going to be important to me. We have have a positive change in the teacher evaluation system, but we still don't have a fair funding formula that's working for school districts. 

It's still not known whether there'll be a special election for the seat, but the Sonofa Gov, Andrew Cuomo, seems to be leaning in that direction, according to this report from one of our local TV stations.

The day after the election, when it appeared that Senator Antonacci would likely win one of the three State Supreme Court seats, Cuomo said that his "inclination would be to call a special election" if Antonacci resigns

He's already got another special election to call -- the one to fill the seat vacated when disgraced Congressman Chris Collins resigned and pleaded guilty in his federal insider trading case. And, it's "most cost effective" to have the special election on New York's primary day, Cuomo suggested, since the polls will be open anyway, and it's possible that the open State Senate seat could be handled the same day.

The problem, of course, is that waiting until April 28th would leave parts of Onondaga and Cayuga Counties without representation during the first four months of the legislative session which amounts to around 70% of the 57-day session. Having it sooner - it could happen sometime in March, I guess, based on the typically difficult rules for special elections, but that would be up to the Governor.

I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that folks in the district would rather spend the money and have someone representing them, than the alternatives: waiting until the session is almost over, or having someone appointed to fill out the term and letting the parties do their primary thing, with winners to face off in the general election in November.