After six months of discussions, five public hearing and the expenditure of $100,000, the five Republicans and five Democrats on the county redistricting commission agreed on Thursday to disagree and not recommend a plan to the Nassau County Legislature.
Commission Democrats at the conclusion of four-hour public hearing declined to present an alternative to a plan offered by Republicans when the five Republicans voted against a motion to adjourn the hearing and reconvene on Saturday.
“Since we believe this procedure is a sham, we will not participate,” said Bonnie Garone, a Democratic commissioner who spoke on behalf of fellow commission Democrats.
Garone said the Democrats were officially protesting the process.
When the Republicans moved for consideration of their map, the Democrats refused to participate in the vote.
The five Republicans all voted for the controversial map, but the Democrats’ refusal left the Republicans’ map one vote shy of the commission majority needed for approval.
By the time the votes were taken, virtually all of the many county residents who had savaged the Republican plan and criticized the Democrats as well in the several hours of testimony preceding it had left county legislative chamber where the hearing was held.
Republican redistricting commission chairman Frank Moroney said Albany-based Skyline Demographic Consultants has been paid $48,000 of a $95,000 contract, for preparing what he called an “incumbent-blind” map. He said the Republican commissioners had not yet seen charges from Manhattan law firm Jones Day for a $100,000 contract and spent less than $100,00 on staff costs.
Garone said the Democratic commissioners had spent “roughly” $135,000 on staff salaries, mapping software and computer equipment to prepare their map.
“This map was developed under very fair standards and would be upheld in a court of law,” Moroney said to a chorus of catcalls from a packed county Legislator chamber earlier in the hearing.
Garone preceded Moroney’s comments by complaining about a lack of cooperation from the Republican commissioners. She said the Republican commissioners didn’t provide their Democratic counterparts a copy of their map before they published it on the county Web site.
“Most outrageously, the Republican commissioners have refused to speak with us on how a map should be redrawn,” she said.
The proposed map would place Kings Point and Saddle Rock and part of the Village of Great Neck in a different district than the rest of Great Neck and shift boundaries in New Hyde Park and the Willistons. The plan required approval both by the full 10-member commission and the county Legislature.
The redistricting process dates back to 2011 when a plan passed by Republicans in the county Legislature was entangled in court proceedings following opposition by Democrats. Republicans said the changes were needed for the county to comply with changes in population shown in the 2010 census.
Garone said a plan released earlier by the Democrats only changed 17 election districts among the 19 county legislative districts.
After the hearing, Democratic commissioner Steven Markowitz said the Democrats never intended to produce a separate map and only scrambled three staffers to do so after the Republican map was published.
“We wanted to make as few changes as possible,” Markowitz said. “They stonewalled us.”
The Republican map was displayed on video screens during the hearing and drew a steady barrage of criticism during the hearing. The Democratic map, which was distributed in print version, drew mild support.
Criticism of the Republican map primarily centered on its separation of Kings Point and the Village of Great Neck from the rest of Great Neck into a district with Plandome and Manhasset, the division of the Five Towns area into three different legislative districts and the perceived dilution of districts with dominant minority populations.
“There is no way this could be considered a map except in a Marx Brothers movie,” said Howard Weitzman, a Democratic former county comptroller and mayor of Great Neck Estates whose name has been mentioned as a possible challenger to County Executive Edward Mangano.
Weitzman called the Republican map “the most bald-faced power grab in the history of Nassau County” and predicted the result would be a 12-7 Republican majority in the county Legislature if it was adopted.
“We urge you to find another solution to the county’s need to redistrict and to leave the Great Neck peninsula intact,” said Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman.
Kreitzman said splitting up his village on the map “defied logic.”
Asked to explain expenditures behind the commission’s work, Moroney said $500,000 had been divided between Democratic and Republican commissioners with each side taking $225,000 apiece and leaving $50,000 for “common expenses.”
“You took $500,000 and you did something like this when people are looking for jobs,” said Floyd Ewing of Westbury.
He said he didn’t understand why the Republicans tied a “sliver” of the Sherwood Gardens section of Westbury where he lives to Garden City, with obvious cultural and income disparities between the two communities.
“What you’ve done with that $500,000 is wasted everybody’s money,” said Lakeview attorney Fred Brewington, who called the Republican map “an abomination” that violated the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Early on in the proceeding, Democratic commissioner Robert McDonald said he didn’t understand why Moroney, a non-voting commissioner, was presenting the Republican map. Garone followed that by asking residents if they wanted to hear from Moroney or the Republican commissioners. They shouted, “The commissioners!” but the Republican commissioners remained silent.
Nassau County Legislator Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde) said a similar redistricting commission deadlock occurred 10 years ago and is likely to recur.
“It’s the way it’s set up. It will probably always deadlock,” Nicolello said. “It’s a flaw in the county charter.”
Nicolello, whose New Hyde Park base would be divided into two districts under the Republican plan, said he thinks a differently configure bipartisan commission is the solution.
“I think the commission failed because they didn’t collaborate to come up with a map. There was no attempt to do that,” said Nassau County Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck).
Bosworth said she thinks the Republican map is Mangano’s map and he should drop it as a potential redistricting solution.
“It’s his responsibility to listen to the people and veto it,” she said.
A spokesman for Mangano’s office could not be reached for comment.
The county legislature faces a March 5 deadline to come up with a redistricting plan.
