Latinos and NYC Council Redistricting:
A Call for Real Public Input
Note: As the redistricting process for the NYC Council begins to wind down with this second round of public hearings before the NYC Districting Commission is set to submit its final proposed maps to the NYC Council for approval, it appears that the public will not have an opportunity to comment on that final proposal before it is submitted to the Council. While the commission expended much time and resources in conducting public hearings before and after submitting a preliminary plan, it doesn't seem to make sense that they decided to skip holding public hearings to review their final proposal. Concerned that this truncated public review of the Commission's proposal to the Council only serves to politicize this process more than necessary an deprives Latinos and other protected classes under the federal Voting Rights Act from fully participating in this process, NiLP sent the letter below to the NYC Districting Commission requesting that they hold at least one public hearing on their final proposal before submitting it to the NYC Council.
---Angelo Falcón
National Institute
for Latino Policy (NiLP)
October 22, 2012
Mr. Carl Hum
Executive Director
Mr. Alan Gartner
Assistant Director
NYC Districting Commission
253 Broadway, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10013
Dear Carl and Alan:
Hi. It was a pleasure meeting with you a couple of weeks ago on October 4th to discuss my organization's concerns about the New York City redistricting process.
I since conferred widely with my colleagues and Latino community leaders on what we discussed and would like to reiterate our position for the record that the Commission needs to hold a public hearing to allow community comment on your final proposal before it is submitted to the City Council. Based on our discussion, it is clear that there will be significant changes in the current preliminary plan that you recently released after the current round of hearings. The Latino community and the public in general will need some lead time to be able to seriously analyze the final proposal before it is presented to the Council, which is a more political process the commission was created to correct for.
You mentioned that before submission it would be possible for you to get input on the final proposal from Latino and other community advocates on a one-to-one basis and that it is possible for the City Council to hold hearings before taking a vote on the plan. As I tried to point out, I think these are less desirable alternatives to the Commission holding at least one citywide public hearing on the final proposal.
You pointed out that you are constrained from holding such a hearing by the City Charter because it is not something that it mandates. After reviewing the Charter, we see nothing that prevents the Commission from holding such a hearing or hearings and, I would argue, doing so is more the in the spirit of the Charter's goal of creating an open redistricting process that maximizes wide public input.
We also believe, as I told you, that such an opportunity for public input on your final proposal would more fully comply with your obligations under the federal Voting Rights Act. It would assure that protected classes would have a more direct voice in determining your final proposal to the Council.
As you know, my organization has objected publicly to the underrepresentation of Latinos on the NYC Districting Commission. When the 15-member Commission was first established in 1991, it had three Latino members; today, three decades later, despite the dramatic growth of the city's Latino population, it still has only three members. Certain Latino communities, most obviously the Dominican community, are not represented on this panel. As a result, it is our belief that the Commission must do everything possible to provide Latinos and other protected classes the opportunity to provide you with their concerns about the plan you will be proposing to the Council.
Such an open process through the very end would result in providing your final proposal to the Council with greater force and legitimacy. It will, in addition, be in the spirits of the Voting Rights Act and the City Charter in calling for an open process which with results we all will have to live with for the next ten years.
Once again, it was a pleasure meeting with you to discuss our concerns. We appreciate he Commission's commitment to assure the fullest possible participation of the Latino community and the public in general in this important process, but are concerned that shortchanging it at the critical stage where you hand it off the the Council could singlehandedly undermine your efforts until this point.
If we can be of further assistance, please let me know.
Best wishes for a successful redistricting of our City Council.
Un abrazo,
Angelo Falcón
President
cc:
Benito Romano, Chair, NYC Districting Commission
Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General, US Justice Department
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn
NYC Councilmember James Oddo
Juan Cartagena, President and General Counsel, LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Tracy Shaffer, Voting Rights Section, US Justice Department