The Onondaga County legislature took the first official step Thursday toward what they hope will be a cordial and cooperative process to slightly redraw district lines for office holders. They’re following a court order to accommodate more than 1,600 incarcerated people with a residence in the county.
Lawmakers set the first public hearing on the initial drafts of the map. It appears Republicans made slight adjustments along the edges of most county legislative districts, especially those closer to and inside the city to accommodate the slight population change. Chairman Tim Burtis says he and Democratic Floor Leader Chris Ryan had a productive first meeting.
“We do have the majority right but so but there is the possibility of being sued again if they cannot agree to it."
Chris Ryan says his caucus will work toward agreement.
'I'm done suing people. I don't want to have to do that again," Ryan said. "I'm not sure how much different they [maps] can be because I'm also looking to create a piece of bipartisan legislation. If we just put everything in the shredder and start over, that probably won't be a good jumping off point. Hopefully we can get together."
Ryan says the democrats will submit their draft soon, which he says might improve district unity from the GOP version.
“They weren't big, huge moves," Ryan said. "There are a couple of them that that got better. But at the same time, I also think we have an opportunity, specifically some of the towns to keep some communities of interest whole. We're going to produce a set of maps that I think are going to be good.”
Unlike the previous process from 2021, Chairman Burtis says the county executive’s office is not involved in redrawing district lines. The lawsuit alleged the districts that were illegally drawn by Republican Ryan McMahon and his staff were gerrymandered and broke up minority voting blocs. The judge did not rule on those arguments. Burtis says they’re trying to keep the process clean.
“Obviously this is all a result of a lawsuit," Burtis said. "And so it is not lost on any of us what the decision of the judge was or what was talked about in that lawsuit. That is why we're keeping it tight with just legislators”
The public hearing on the initial drafts is set for November 19th at 5:30 in legislature chambers on Montgomery Street. The districts need to be in place before the 2025 election.
