New York Independent Redistricting Commission Maps (A-Democrat, B-Republican)

The New York Independent Redistricting Commission failed to meet consensus on creating a bipartisan set of legislative maps. The 10 commissioners voted along party lines, so no set of maps reached a majority, with the vote ending in a 5-5 tie.

Proposals by both the Democrats and Republicans keeps most of the 23rd Congressional District intact, but removes Tompkins County which includes Ithaca. Both maps also remove most of Livingston and half of Ontario Counties.

The Republican’s proposed map adds Binghamton to the district.

New maps are expected to be approved by the June primaries. You can view the proposed maps at https://www.nyirc.gov/plans. The Democrat’s map is plan A and the Republican’s map is plan B.

Among the changes currently being considered is changing the term-length for county legislators from two to four years.

Another would involve the reapportionment process, including making a determination on who would sit on the redistricting committee and also the process for finalizing a reapportionment plan. The committee is responsible for making recommendations for new legislative district lines every ten years, based on the latest census data.

And the commission is also considering adding new language to the charter that would include the salary for the county executive, county sheriff and county clerk.

The Commission will meet at 5:30 PM, Wednesday in Room 331 of the Gerace Office Building in Mayville. The meeting is open to the public.

The plan supported by Barmore is the one that eventually was approved by lawmakers by a vote of 15 to 7.  The redistricting plan not only brings the legislative districts into compliance with the 2010 U.S. Census but also reduces the number districts from 25 to 19, as mandated by a public referendum in 2011.

• VIEW COMPLETE REAPPORTIONMENT RESOLUTION APPROVED BY LEGISLATURE

• AUDIO: COMMUNITY MATTERS OCT. 18, 2012 INTERVIEW ON COUNTY REAPPORTIONMENT

The “Barmore plan” – as it has been called by some – has been criticized for favoring the republican party by reducing the number of districts with populations in urban areas, which often elect a democrat over a republican. However, Barmore says if anything, it is the plan favored by legisator Tom DeJoe (D-Brocton) – who also sat on the commission – that is the more partisan of the two.

“Basically Jamestown is big enough for four districts and the remainder, and the remainder is anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 residents.  The bottom line is, the plan DeJoe favors protecting the seat of every sitting democratic legislator, while the plan I favor shares the pain 50/50 down the middle.”

Barmore adds that during today’s vote on the plans, he’s asked that the plan favored by DeJoe and his fellow democrats be acted on first, followed by the plan he’s submitted for a vote.

“I have 13 solid votes and I’ve asked  [Legislature Chairman] Mr. Gould to present the one I don’t favor first, so that people who support that plan – once it is no longer on the table –  will come over and support the second plan. That way may see more than a 14 to 11 or 13 to 12 vote.”

Barmore made his comments during last week’s community matters program here on WRFA. A podcast of that show can be found at our Community Matters page.  Today’s vote by the legislature on the reapportionment plan take place this afternoon during a special meeting that begins at 2 p.m. A public hearing on the plans will take place prior to the vote.

Jamestown Legislator and minority leader Lori Cornell, a democrat, is announcing her support for the Redistricting Commission’s plan that redraws the legislature district lines in conjunction with the 2010 U.S. Census and the reduction in the number of legislative districts from the current 25 to 19.

According to a media release sent out Thursday by Cornell, the majority of members present on the Reapportionment Commission have fairly divided all of the new 19 districts in the county respecting town lines when possible. Pomfret, Jamestown, Ellicott, Busti and the City Dunkirk are towns with population greater than the maximum size allowed for a new county legislature district and thus will be represented by more than one county legislator in any plan. The reapportionment committee also divided the smaller towns of Gerry and North Harmony as it drew proportionate districts. Jamestown, the county’s largest community, is drawn in the reapportionment committee plan with four wholly contained and one legislative district shared with East Ellicott and Falconer.

Cornell says there will actually be two plans to be considered by lawmakers when they vote for a plan later this month. She says lawmakers can either accept the plan drawn by the non-partisan commission or go with a redistricting plan established by legislator Larry Barmore (R-Gerry), who also serves as the legislature’s majority leader. Cornell accuses the ‘Barmore Plan’ of being drawn unilaterally with partisan political interests at the forefront. Although Barmore is one of two legislators who serves on the redistricting committee, Cornell claims he has presented an alternative plan without seeking input from other committee members – and that the Barmore Plan intentionally and unfairly draws Jamestown legislature districts at the largest possible size to intentionally contain more voters than other drawn rural districts.

Cornell says both plans will be put up for a vote during the legislature’s Oct. 24 voting session and she is urging her colleagues to go with the plan that was approved by the majority of the redistricting committee, rather than with the plan that will be presented as an alternative by Barmore.

The changes between wards are: 225 people will be moved from Ward 1 to Ward 2, 167 from Ward 2 to Ward 3, 71 from Ward 5 to Ward 3 and 77 from Ward 6 to Ward 1.  The ward boundaries wont go into effect until the 2013 election.

The independent panel is charged with redrawing county lines that are not only reflective of the 2010 Census, but also reflect just 19 legislative districts. There are currently 25 legislative districts, but a public referendum last November called for that number to be reduced. The commission has until the spring of next year to finalize a plan and have it approved by the legislature, although Barmore and DeJoe both agree they’d like to see it completed sooner.

Tonight’s meeting beginst at 6:30 p.m. in Room 331 of the Gerace Office Building in Mayville. It is open to the public.

“Everybody walked away smiling,” DeJoe says. “Some other ideas were thrown out there by the board of elections about some other possibilities that people didn’t think of and everybody walked away very open minded. Nobody had any agenda that I could see and we’re ready to work together in a positive matter, and that was impressive.”

As far as the first meeting went, Barmore says the commission members basically got an update on how the reapportionment process works and were then asked to develop their own redistricting plan and bring it to the next meeting.

“We basically went over the work that we had done last year and explained to the new people why we had done what we did,” Barmore explains. “Basically the concept was fairly acceptable to everybody I think. At the end of the day we just decided we all had the numbers now and we all had an idea of what redistricting could look like. We challenged everybody to go home, start putting numbers together, come up with a plan and see if they can look at it with new eyes and make something better than we already have. We’ll come back together on April 10 and everybody’s going to bring what they came up with and we’ll bring it all together and see how it looks.”

The independent panel is charged with redrawing county lines that are not only reflective of the 2010 Census, but also reflect just 19 legislative districts. There are currently 25 legislative districts, but a public referendum last November called for that number to be reduced. The commission has until the spring of next year to finalize a plan and have it approved by the legislature, although Barmore and DeJoe both agree they’d like to see it completed sooner.

The other members of the panel are Fredonia’s Minda Rae Amiran from the League of Woman Voters; Fredonia’s Kevin Sanvich – selected as a representative of the County Chamber of Commerce; and citizens Michael Haddad and David Sheppard of Jamestown, Sharon Kaminski of Fredonia, and Ray Rusboldt of Dunkirk.

The County Legislature Clerk’s Office says the first meeting of the panel is Tuesday, March 27 at 6:30 p.m. in the Gerace Office Building, Mayville, N.Y.  The independent panel, comprised of two county legislators and six residents, will work to redraw county lines that are not only reflective of the 2010 Census, but also that reflect just 19 legislative districts. Officials say they’d like to have the new lines finalized by no later than June of this year.

JAMESTOWN – A Jamestown man is in police custody after being involved in a high-seed chase through Jamestown late yesterday morning. Jamestown Police say 24 year-old Thomas Bascom was spotted by a Town of Ellicott officer driving a vehicle that was reported stolen from a parking lot on Jones & Gifford Ave. Bascom allegedly failed to stop for the patrol vehicle, and continued through several side streets on the city’s west side.

Officers from Jamestown and the Sheriff’s Department joined the pursuit as it continued into the downtown, where the stolen vehicle then collided with another vehicle at the intersection of 6th and Spring Streets. Bascom then attempted to flee the scene on foot but was apprehended. He was charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, reckless endangerment, and multiple vehicles and traffic charges and sent to the county jail. No serious injuries were reported.

POLICE CHARGE MAN AFTER DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE INCIDENT

JAMESTOWN – A Jamestown man is in the county jail after being arrested early Tuesday morning for allegedly choking a woman and holding her against her will. City police were called to a home on the north side of the city for a domestic disturbance. The victim reported to officers that she her estranged boyfriend – 31 year-old Robert Grazulwicz – allegedly forced entrance into her home, forcibly restrained her and also choked her. Police located Grazulwicz a short time later at his home and arrested him on related charges. He is currently in the city jail awaiting arraignment.

COMMISSION TO BEGIN REDISTRICTING WORK LATER THIS MONTH

MAYVILLE – The independent redistricting commission in charge of redrawing the new Chautauqua County Legislative Lines could be meeting later this month to begin the process of reapportionment. That’s according to Chautauqua County legislator Lori Cornell (D-Jamestown), who tells WRFA the panel is currently working on a schedule that will allow all members to attend and take part in the process. Cornell was one over several lawmakers who actually wanted to see the panel reduced to 15 members, but the group eventually settled on 19 members during last month’s voting session.

Some have said that a reduction of the legislature will hurt representation from residents in rural areas of the county. Larry Barmore’s (R-Gerry) district covers a rural area northeast of Jamestown and says regardless of where the legislators live, a lower number will mean more work.

“I represent four different governemnts – Gerry, Ellicott, Falconer and Sinclairville. I attend all those meetings and I assist them in any issues they may have,” Barmore told WRFA following February’s voting session. “We have six legislators in the city of Jamestown and none of them – that I am aware of – ever attend the Jamestown City Council meeting, nor are they probably really welcome there as the city of Jamestown would just as soon govern itself. And so, a rural legislator has so much more work to do than a city legislator. Until you’ve been here you don’t realize what there is to do.”

Barmore added, “When I was on the outside I used to make the same criticisms that I hear now. And now that I’ve been here for more than four years and you find out the amount of work there is to do, it’s just overwhelming…. Almost every single night of the week I have a meeting someplace. It’s a lot of work involved in this. I’m not complaining because I really enjoy it and I enjoy the service to the people. But it’s not just coming to Mayville once a month and coming to a committee meeting and arguing back and forth. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into this job.”

Barmore is one of eight people who will serve on the reapportionment commission. The other members will be legislator Tom DeJoe (D-Brocton), Fredonia’s Minda Rae Amiran from the League of Woman Voters; Fredonia’s Kevin Sanvich – selected as a representative of the County Chamber of Commerce; and citizens Michael Haddad and David Sheppard of Jamestown, Sharon Kaminski of Fredonia, and Ray Rusboldt of Dunkirk.

The independent reapportionment commission is expected to hold its first meeting at the end of this month, although an exact date has not yet been announced. The deadline for finalizing new plans to be presented to the legislature for approval is June 1.

SALES TAX EXEMPTION ON CLOTHING PURCHASES UNDER $110 RETURNS APRIL 1

MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards would like to remind businesses and residents that on Sunday, April 1, 2012 clothing under $110 will once again be tax exempt.

In an effort to increase the state’s revenue for two years, the New York State Legislature enacted a 2010-11 State Budget in August of 2010 that repealed the sales tax exemption on clothing and footwear under $110. By amending the sales and use tax law, the State Legislature created a three phased change to sales tax exemption that would affect counties across New York State and eventually restore the tax exemption to its previous amount.

“The State has modified its tax policy on numerous occasions as to the sales tax exemption on clothing,” said County Executive Greg Edwards. “The County policy has not changed but businesses need to be aware of this upcoming modification so that they may act accordingly.”

The first phase, from October 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011, eliminated the sales tax exemption on clothing and footwear. This was projected by the New York State Division of Budget to raise $330 million in revenue for the State’s fiscal year 2010-11.

The second phase, from April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012, provided an exemption on clothing or footwear that is less than $55 per item or pair. This was projected by the NYS Division of Budget to raise $210 million in revenue for the State’s fiscal year 2011-12.

The third and final phase will begin on April 1, 2012 and it will restore the original exemption on clothing and footwear items that are less than $110.