Redistricting plan paused, for now

Local Democrats and residents were overjoyed last week when the much-scrutinized county redistricting plan created by Nassau County Republican legislators was suspended. The vote was originally scheduled for Monday.

Last Thursday, State Supreme Court Justice Steven Jaeger issued a temporary restraining order against the County Legislature, preventing the Republican majority from enacting new district lines until the court hears more arguments in the legal battle over the plan. Jaeger barred the Legislature from voting on the Republican majority’s redistricting plan until the next court hearing, scheduled for May 26 — good news for many local community activists, who have grown concerned over the past few weeks about Republicans’ haste in passing the proposal.

County Attorney John Ciampoli drew up the plan shortly after results of the U.S. census were released in April. Jaeger’s decision came days after the Democratic caucus filed suit against County Executive Edward Mangano, Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt and the rest of the Republican legislative majority in order to stop the Republicans from approving the redistricting plan.

In addition to the vote being postponed until after May 26, Schmitt, a Republican from Massapequa, announced on May 16 that he would amend the proposal and table it until further notice.

Schmitt made sure to clarify that his amendments were in response to comments made on May 9, at a public hearing about the redistricting plan. During the hearing, the County Legislature heard testimony from a long line of speakers who charged that the Republican plan to redraw the lines of the county’s 19 legislative districts would, if passed, dilute the minority vote while shifting roughly half of the county’s population — more than 570,000 people in all — into new districts.

Many residents at the hearing said that county Republicans were rushing the plan in order to finalize it before the petitioning kickoff for political candidates: June 7.

Meanwhile, Schmitt defended the plan, saying that the county must redraw lines after the census if a district’s population is 10 percent greater than the allowable maximum of 70,000, which, in many cases, it is, while in others population has decreased. Thus, Schmitt said repeatedly, immediate redistricting is required.

Locally, the redistricting plan would add a portion of Elmont and a large section of Franklin Square to a district dominated by Valley Stream, North Valley Stream and Floral Park. Although Elmont and a large section of Franklin Square are currently united in District 3, the new plan would separate large chunks of the two communities, and only small parts of them would remain in District 3.

Aubrey Phillips, of Elmont, who runs the website Elmont.org, said that District 3’s population has become increasingly diverse since the 2000 census, particularly in Elmont. Phillips noted that the 3rd District, now represented by Republican John Ciotti, was 54 percent white and 29 percent African-American in 2000, according to the census. Now it is 38 percent white and 39 percent black.

Under the Republican plan, however, Phillips noted, the district would become 68 percent white and 14 percent black. Phillips asked Schmitt and Ciampoli why the district would be broken apart and minority voters would be shifted to other districts, but neither would comment. Ciampoli referred Phillips to the 19th District, which would no longer be located in central Nassau, but would be shifted to the county’s southwest border with Queens under the Republican plan. Ciampoli had said earlier that the new 19th District had the potential to become a third “minority district.” The county currently has two.

Under the plan, the current 19th District, which encompasses Merrick and Bellmore and is represented by Democrat Dave Denenberg, would merge with the 5th District, which is now represented by Democrat Joseph Scannell of Baldwin.

Phillips said that the new 19th District would not be a lock-solid minority district. Only a little more than half of the population would comprise minorities, he said.

Mimi Pierre Johnson, president of the Argo Civic Association, who ran for the State Assembly in the 21st District, said that to many Elmont residents who have worked for years to improve the community, the plan is a “slap in the face.” It would break apart the community, which has worked extremely hard to come together on several issues, including an economic vision plan, Pierre Johnson said. Elmont is home to seven civic associations, which work together on community issues.

“We pride ourselves on working hard — we are one community fighting for the goals of the community,” she said. “With this plan, you’re dividing school districts. You’re dividing families.”

Besides the obvious negative effects of the plan, Pierre Johnson added, there are many other potential consequences. “They haven’t even said exactly where the lines would be drawn, what roads they would follow,” she said, explaining that people aren’t fully aware of how the plan would affect school districts, civic associations or other subcommunities. “I may have civic members that will be in the 19th District, and the others in the 3rd. The things we fight for won’t be the same.”

Carrié Solages, an Elmont attorney who ran for County Clerk, said that under the proposed redistricting plan, a line would be drawn between his residence and the home of his neighbor, an Elmont Board of Education trustee. “The lines break relationships between neighbors who are uniting and tacking the same issues,” Solages said. “The plan breaks relationships and lessens the voting power of the Elmont community as a whole.”

Ultimately, Pierre Johnson said, the redistricting plan would dilute the minority vote, and make it nearly impossible for African-Americans in the community to be represented or to run for political office. “In the next 15 years, there would not be a minority kid in the district who could even think about running for office,” she said, adding, “it’s not a problem that [Republicans] want to stay in power, it’s a problem when you are not representing me for the right reasons. This is not a Democrat, Republican, black or white issue — it is a basic rights issue.”

Comments about this story? JNash@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 214.