Submissions

Public Comments Return to Archived Submissions Page

• Lois
  November 1, 2021
  View File
  Thank you for this opportunity to testify at the Albany IRC public hearing session on Zoom. My comments, in written form, are attached.
  
• Michael
  November 1, 2021
  NY's 45th Senate District needs to retain all of Warren County. The City of Glens Falls and the surrounding town of Queensbury have a population of nearly 50,000 people and have historically and traditionally been part of the North Country. Our social fabric, our heritage and our identity comes from the Adirondacks and the underpinnings of hard work, community support for one another, hospitality and tourism that are iconically 'North Country'. When Governor Cuomo lumped Warren County into the Capital Region for economic development reviews there was outrage but no opportunity to effectively communicate it or effectively change the designation. It was wrong then and it is wrong now to include Warren County with the Capital Region. The 45th Senate District has always been and should remain focused on the main travel corridor currently defined as I-87, the "Northway". The Northway supplanted the historical travel route of NYS Route 9 that wound it's way north from Glens Falls to Plattsburgh and the Canadian border. Route 9 itself replaced the plank roads, forest paths and waterways utilized by the the early explorers, first settlers and notably the French and British armies during the Seven Years War. The Hudson River permitted passage all the way up to Fort Edward and then the military road was constructed to Lake George and that is essentially the path that Route 9 follows. Crossing the Hudson River between exits 17 and 18 marks the boundary to the 'North Country'. Glens Falls developed because of its water power and became the center of commerce for the raw materials sourced from the Adirondacks. That connection persists to this day with major employers like Finch Paper relying upon the wood harvested from the 'North Country' to directly employ over 700 people and indirectly supports thousands more. You can also see evidence of the connection through the circulation geography of the daily Post Star newspaper and the weekly The Chronicle newspaper - both based in Glens Falls and distributed widely throughout all of Warren County and further into the southern portion of the 45th Senate District. There is no sense of belonging to the Capital Region within any portion of Warren County. There is no doubt the 45th Senate District is rural in character. The population density is easily analyzed and not in dispute. In such a rural district, the concept of 'compactness' should be the number one factor the IRC applies to making determinations about the 45th Senate District, and keeping Warren County's population part of it as an adherence to the historical and dominant travel corridor is just common sense. Representation of the constituents means being present in all parts of the district. Travel thus becomes essential to doing the job of representing a large and rural district. It only makes sense to prioritize the travel corridors when drawing the boundaries of the districts and making it feasible for an elected representative to actually do the job.
  
• Daniel
  November 1, 2021
  View File
  PDF version of NYS Assembly map for the Capital District submitted earlier.
  
• Steven
  November 1, 2021
  I am writing to urge the continuation of the current Assembly district configuration that includes Albany, New Scotland, Guilderland and Bethlehem. Between 2010 and 2020 the Town of New Scotland’s population went from 8,648 to 9,096, a gain of 448 people or a 5% increase. The Village of Voorheesville with a population of 2,756 constitutes 30% of the population of New Scotland. Just outside of Voorheesville there has been huge residential development. For example, Kensington Woods – will have 169 homes when completed, Country Club estates- 36 homes, and Le Vie Farm - 17 homes for a total of 223 homes. Assuming 2.6 people per household (the Voorheesville figure) there could be a total of 580 people in these homes. Several of these projects are near completion. Undoubtedly a large percentage of growth of New Scotland’s population has come from these developments. There are also other proposed residential developments in northeast New Scotland that have yet to be approved. The population of northeast New Scotland is clearly oriented to the towns of Guilderland, Bethlehem and the City of Albany for employment, shopping and services. The current Assembly District should be retained.
  
• James
  October 31, 2021
  View File
  
  
• Chaya
  October 30, 2021
  Please keep Kew Gardens Hills the way it is on the districting map in order to preserve the cohesion of the Jewish Community's voice in voting. Making districting changes would dilute our community's voice.
  
• Mary
  October 30, 2021
  Testimony New York Independent Redistricting Commission Draft Redistricting Plans Submitted October 30, 2021 by Mary Kadlecek, 1 Bell Tower Drive #2205, Watervliet NY 12189 Please keep together in a single Congressional district r the entire NY Capital District community of interest. This testimony focuses only on the northern boundary of proposed Congressional district X, from the NYIRC "Letters" Congress plan. I see this boundary as defining an appropriate approximation to the northern boundary of the Capital District community based on its economic and transportation patterns and the identifications demonstrated by its residents. Traffic and commerce flow continually between Saratoga and the Tri-Cities. Daily participation in common activities and resources makes Southern Saratoga County a full partner in the Capital District identity, with a Congressional representation interest coinciding with the greater Capital District, and different from the adjacent Adirondack region. • Transportation: CDTA offers intensive service in southern Saratoga, with regularly-scheduled buses connecting Saratoga with Schenectady and express commuter lines running between Saratoga and Albany. • Employment: Many Capital District residents’ jobs take them to or from Southern Saratoga County. • Financial Institutions: Bank branch locations define a Capital District community of interest. On the north, banks founded in Schenectady now extend branch coverage to Saratoga, and at least one Saratoga bank has located a branch in Albany. • Entertainment and Sports: Important venues like the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Saratoga Race Track draw audiences from across the Capital District, while people from Saratoga County routinely drive into the Tri-Cities all year around for theater and sporting events. • Education and Health Care: Capital District residents define their community by regularly driving or busing outside their immediate neighborhoods for medical care, private education at all levels, sports training and advanced music or arts education. Much of this traffic flows between the Tri-Cities and Saratoga County. A single Congressional District should represent the shared interests of the Tri-Cities and the large number of Southern Saratoga County employers and employees, financial institutions and clients, students and teachers, performers and audiences who are part of the Capital District community.
  
• Philip
  October 29, 2021
  As a life-long resident of Allegany County and serving as a member of the Caneadea Town Board for 38 years, I am writing to STRONGLY urge the Commission to keep the Southern Tier districts for Congressional, Assembly and Senate as they are. We, along the I-86 corridor, are so different from our northern neighbors in so many ways. Aligning Allegany County and the other counties in the Southern Tier with our urban neighbors to the north would virtually wipe out our voices from the corridors of state and federal governments. I have seen this in reality in Section V athletics. For 40 years I was involved in school administration and coaching in Allegany County. Fr several years I was a member of the Section V Council. It was always a challenge to get the section (comprising primarily of schools in the greater Rochester area) to understand and listen to the dynamics and needs of the rural smaller schools in the Section V of the NYSPHSAA. The two geographic areas are just so different. As the Town Supervisor for 31 years, I can testify to the immeasurable value of having NYS Senate and Assembly representatives from the Southern Tier. Without their personal knowledge of and complete genuine interest in our region, our town without doubt would not be where we are today. Please recognize the differences between the northern and southern regions of Western NY. Please don't take away our unique voice in governments' discussions. Please keep the Western NY Southern Tier Districts as they are. Thank you. Philip G. Stockin Town of Caneadea
  
• Zully
  October 29, 2021
  As a nurse working in the 16th district. I often see families that enter the community have difficulty with finding permanent housing. They are also unaware of what resources are available to them while attempting to reside in the Coop City area. There is also an ongoing issue with safe streets near our schools. At PS189 on Steenwick Ave., it took 10 year of petitioning to get a sidewalk for our children to safely walk. Now we need to go further in identifying Steenwick Ave. as a school area. Posting of speed limits, painted school crossing in the street on the block of the school and put in speed bumps on both Steenwick Ave & Reedsmill Lane. The community need street cleaning service. Often the sewer system fumes escape in to the air quality around our school and streets are never cleaned by sanitation. These are topics that are being looked at currently. If there is redistricting. All of these issues will fall to the wayside again taking a community of color ten paces backward.
  
• Kurt
  October 28, 2021
  The Capital district of New York should not be carved up. It is one very interrelated community and should be represented as such. It would be like separating Niagara from Buffalo. It is a bad idea.
  
• James
  October 28, 2021
  Thank you for your public service and your interest in redistricting. I thought you might be interested in the updated “Guide to Fair Maps,” written for citizens, commissioners and legislators. This Guide covers issues such as: Why Fair Maps are so important to preserve our representative democracy; A straightforward test for gerrymandering; and A procedure to eradicate gerrymandering while achieving other desired redistricting criteria. https://preprints.apsanet.org/engage/api-gateway/apsa/assets/orp/resource/item/614c754539ef6a9cf8274171/original/fair-and-square-redistricting.pdf (more than 1950 views and 1500 downloads on the American Political Science Assoc. Preprints Page.) Jim Fox
  
• Patricia
  October 27, 2021
  As a resident of New Rochelle, I am extremely concerned that thereare plans to segment NY-16.   It is imperative that there is equity across the district and we keep communities of interest together.  We are the example of a diverse district, socio-economically and ethnically. The optics of removing us from the district appears to minimize the black and brown voter. This is gerrymandering.
  
• Katherine
  October 27, 2021
  Since I work full-time and cannot attend the Nov 1 meeting to make a public comment on the current process of redistricting, I am sending my comments to you here. I want to be clear that all people have a right to be represented in a way that serves their interests, not the interests of the party in power. So that mean the revised maps must keep the current congressional map that includes the Capital District communities of interest together. We do not want new districts created with communities that do not have common interest, common infrastructure and common geographics. That does not make sense towards the intended goal of our democracy to serve the citizens not political parties or political powerbrokers. As maps are revised, it does make sense to add residents needed for the new district by including towns that may share more in common with the current communities that make up the Capital District. This can be accomplished with small border expansions of the current district. The cities of the Capital District - Albany, Amsterdam, Rensselaer, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady and Troy are the only acceptable centers for a congressional boundary, since they are keeping intact a greater urban community of interest. This also applies at the county level: keeping the counties intact as a revised map is drawn is again how common interest are kept in cohesive voting districts. Please follow my points above as it is clear that the draft maps submitted do all the wrong things – and do not work for fair representation for the people of the Capital Region. Three clear ways they violate our interests are they separate the Capital District counties, separate sever communities of interest, and and create new districts with communities that do not share common infrastructure, geographies and interests. Thank you for your careful consideration of submitting to the NYS Legislature a revised map that protects the democratic rights of all citizens ! Sincerely, Katherine Murray
  
• Luis
  October 27, 2021
  Our recommendation is that there be a better distribution of the electoral map to include rather than exclude. It is clear that in Districts AD70 and AD71 there may be a more equal distribution in favor of Hispanics. Part of the residents in the eastern part of AD71 (around The Esplanade Garden Plaza) should be part of AD70. Part of Manhattan Ville, AD70 and Morning Side, the northern part of AD69, must be included to be added to the southern part of AD71. This will ensure that this Hispanic majority sector has a sufficient number for an equitable and exclusive distribution to allow Hispanic representation in the state assembly.
  
• Alfred
  October 27, 2021
  Good afternoon to the Independent Redistricting Commission. Followed is my testimony as a resident of Co-op City. I am extremely concerned that there are plans to segment NY-16. Many residents here attend churches in Mount Vernon, shop in Pelham Manor and New Rochelle as well as frequent the New Roc facility with our family and friends. It is imperative that there is equity across the district and we keep communities of interest together. We are the example of a diverse district, socio-economically and ethnically. The optics of removing us from the district appears to minimize the black and brown voter. This is gerrymandering.