Redistricting Proposal Divides Nanuet into 3, District Lines Go Through Central Nanuet

Nanuet falls on an area that is at risk of being split up into three different districts. This means that each third of Nanuet will be representated by different districts.

With the news of this spreading around town, the Nanuet School District received several inquiries concerning the Rockland County Legislature’s Redistricting Plan and sent out a message to the community to clear up the fact that this plan does not split up the school district, just the county legislative district.

"The Rockland County Legislature has currently developed a redistricting plan, required by law as a result of the 2010 Census, which changes how Nanuet School District residents are represented in the Rockland County Legislature," said Nanuet School Superintendent Mark McNeill in his message.

McNeill stressed that "These changes have no  impact on your school district affiliation or your municipal (town) affiliation or your town or school taxes. It does not redraw town or school district lines—only those boundaries used to represent Rockland County's Legislative Districts."

However, although it doesn't affect the school district, it still is a large issue in how Nanuet will be represented as a voting block. The proposed map will start the dividing lines in the heart of Nanuet. The boundary lines for the newly-drawn proposed map are Church Street, Prospect Street and Main Street/Middletown Road.

"I believe it is very important for Nanuet to stay as much of Nanuet and as much of Clarkstown as possible," said Bob Jackson, a member of the Rockland County Special Committee for Redistricting.

Here's a break down of the three proposed districts that Nanuet will fall into and how many Nanuet residents will be in each one based off of the 2010 census:

Here is how much voting power Nanuet has in each of these districts:

Nanuet is currently in these same three districts, but the dividing lines go through Nanuet at an area that is not as central to the town as it shows in the proposed map. Both the proposed map and the current map of the districts are attached to the article.

A concerned Nanuet resident at the Nanuet Civic meeting agreed, saying that she thinks it would be best if Nanuet remained united.

"We need to ensure Nanuet has a voice of its own, so we can vote on what's important to us and get what we need for this town," she explained.

According to the Rockland County Special Committee for Redistricting website, "communities of interest" are of the utmost importance to the committee's decision making.

They define a community of interest as "a group of people concentrated in a geographical area who share similar interests and priorities." They continue to say that this can include villages or towns who wish to remain unified.

"Recognizing communities of interest may involve trade-offs," the website states. "It may be the only way to ensure that communities with shared interests are not split when they happen to cross municipal lines."

At a public forum meeting for the Redistricting Committee, Roberta Bangs of Nanuet stated that she was upset she was being represented by a legislator who, as she felt, didn't show an interest in Nanuet.

"Somehow we have a legislator right now who doesn't even attend the civic association meetings," Bangs said. "Many of our members haven't even met him. We feel we need to be one legislative district in Nanuet."

"I am not an expert at redistricting but I do have passion, I do love Nanuet, and I do know that I love my current 'status quo,' so I am going to try and rally the masses of Nanuet for a good old fashioned "banding together" that will go down in our history," said concerned Nanuet resident Sheila Morahan-Gick. "Rockland County—not just the Hamlet of Nanuet—should 'bear' the burden of this population explosion. There are some districts that have remain un-touched and that would need to be re-visited and boundaries questioned."

When redistricting, the committee looks to minimalize population deviation between districts, meaning they will try to keep all the populations roughly the same size, but there will be slight difference in each districts' population. Rockland County set a 3 percent total deviation rate for the districts' populations for 2011, which means that although it is impossible to completely equally divide the districts, the committee wants to aim for a low 3 percent rate of deviation.

Many Rockland County residents at the meeting expressed interest in keeping the school districts and towns as separate districts, suggesting that the 3 percent rate of deviation be increased in favor of less contiguous districts and more personalized districts.

Considering the strong ethnic and cultural groups that call Rockland County home, keeping each town a separate district would allow these groups to focus on what is important to their livelihood, as opposed to trying to appease different group interests in a larger, more contiguous district.

Legislator Ilan Schoenberger explained the reason behind the 3 percent deviation rate is to avoid interference from the courts.

"The further you get from the average, the perfect average, the more suspect the district becomes," Schoenberger explained. "When you get to the 5 percent deviation, the courts generally say it's probably okay but tell us why you did it. If you get to the 6 or 7 percent, you have to start talking what the compelling interest is as a government to go that high," adding that with a 3 percent deviation, the courts don't interfere unless there is a violation of the Votes Right Act.

Here are the percentages of population deviation for Nanuet currently after the 2010 census:

• District 14 is -3.39 percent
• District 9 is -8.76 percent
• District 15 is -5.5 percent

District 11, 13 and 7 have more than a 10 percent population deviation from the average, with District 7 coming in with 15.03 percent deviation. This chart is also attached to this article.

The current proposed map is option "A," which is what the redistricting committee chose to move forward with after their April 11 meeting. Other options that are not on the table include option "B," which was rejected by the committee March 29, and option "C," which was rejected April 11. Population breakdowns for option A and C are attached to this article.

Here's the Nanuet breakdown for option "C":

Here's how much voting power Nanuet has in each of these districts:

Every ten years, the federal government collects census data to determine population shifts. Redistricting is then required on county, state, and federal levels in order to match these population shifts so that the area conforms to the idea of "one person, one vote," as mandated in the U.S. Supreme Court 1964 ruling of Reynolds v Sims.

There are 17 legislative districts in Rockland County, all that need to be redrawn due to the new census data.

Redistricting does more than simply follow the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. It enables the government to follow the Federal Voting Rights Act, which outlaws discriminatory voting practices. It also prohibits the "dilution of minority voting strength," as explained on the Rockland County Legislature website.

It also helps to create contiguous districts and minimalize population deviation between districts. Rockland County set a 3 percent total deviation rate for 2011, which means that although it is impossible to completely equally divide the districts, the committee wants to aim for a low 3 percent rate of deviation.

However, creating contiguous districts, or ones where all parts of the district are connected, can also compact districts, which can upset some people living in the towns within the districts.

Compact districts ensures that all of the people living within the district are voting on the same issues, for the same candidates, and are affected the same way.

Nanuet falls on an area that is at risk of being split up into three different districts. This means that each third of Nanuet will be represented by different districts.

"The Legislative county re-districting will re-draw the hamlet of Nanuet as three voting districts once again, tearing apart our Hamlet and not having Rockland County 'bear the burden' of over-population," said Morahan-Gick. "Please still call and ask to get heard in an open forum. Let your voice be heard to keep the hamlet of Nanuet together. Voice your opinion. Be heard. Be counted! Thanking you for believing that Nanuet is and is worth fighting for."

• Friday, April 15 - The final maps will be presented to all legislators. This is not a formal meeting. The final maps just need to be submitted by this date. Once they're submitted they will be posted online.
• Wednesday, April 27 at 7 p.m. - Public Hearing for legislators to listen and comment on the public's opinion of the maps.

For legislative redistricting working maps, updated as of April 11th, 2011, visit
https://geopower.jws.com/rockland/MapsPage.jsp?folder_currentfolder=32227

14th District Legislator Bob Jackson (845) 638-5754 or JacksonB@co.rockland.ny.us

Co-chair for the Redistricting of Rockland Harriet Cornell (845) 638-5269 or cornellh@co.rockland.ny.us

*Editor's Note: There was a correction to the paragraph mentioning Map Option "C." Previously the article said that Option "C" was still on the table. Legislator Bob Jackson clarified that the committee narrowed down the list of options from "A" and "C" to just map "A" at the April 11 meeting.