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tc_court120hThe County’s Independent Redistricting Commission Thursday decided on a favored, 14-district plan to reapportion County legislative districts.

The Commission supported a slightly modified version of a 14-district scenario favored at its previous meeting; the revised map tweaks election district boundaries in the King/Troy Road and Hayts/Bundy Road areas in the Town of Ithaca.  Elections Commissioner Elizabeth Cree again advised that the Board of Elections prefers the 14-district option, which most closely follows current election districts.

Before making its recommendation, the group again reviewed maps approved at its last meeting (each the same outside of the City of Ithaca with three different City maps being presented).  The Commission was provided revisions that addressed concerns the Elections Commissioners had mentioned at the last meeting—for the King/Troy Road, and the Hayts / Bundy Road areas.

Regarding County district boundaries within the City of Ithaca, the Commission has not yet received further input from the City Redistricting Committee on its view of district boundaries.  While Commissioners stressed that they did not want their action to be seen as making a decision for the City on the lines for municipal wards, they did, at least for now, identify the four-district configuration contained in their favored countywide scenario as the preferred City map.  It was stressed that the County Commission has a responsibility to move ahead to meet its deadline for submitting a recommendation to be submitted to the County Legislature. If the City Redistricting Committee makes a determination within the timeframe allowed, the County Commission promised to take that under consideration.

“The Commission has made good progress toward meeting its goal of submitting its recommendations to the County Legislature by March 1, 2012,” said Commission Chair Hank Dullea.  “The proposed redistricting plan that will be the subject of public comment in the immediate weeks ahead meets the constitutional standard of population deviation while respecting municipal boundaries, neighborhood interests and practical considerations for the Board of Elections.  We have incorporated many of the suggestions made at our previous public hearings in August and September, and we will welcome further comments from the public at our hearings scheduled for January 31 and February 9.”

The January 31 hearing will be held at the Dryden Town Hall and the February 9 session at the Tompkins County Public Library, both hearings beginning at 5:30 p.m.  County redistricting scenarios may be viewed at the Redistricting Commission’s web site at (click on 'Maps'.)

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