New York State Insider: Update from the New York State Independent Redistricting Commissioners Imamura, Benger, Cuevas-Molina, Flateau and Frazier.

December 22, 2021

From the Chair of the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission David Imamura, and Commissioners Eugene Benger, Dr. Ivelisse Cuevas-Molina, Dr. John Flateau and Elaine Frazier.

We strongly disagree with the statements made by our colleagues on the Commission. When New Yorkers voted to create this Commission in 2014, they tasked us with maps that appropriately take into account the vast diversity of communities of interest found throughout our State.  As a result, we have been dedicated to incorporating public input into our work from the start and are grateful for the incredible participation of everyday New Yorkers in this process. Since July, the Commission has conducted 24 public hearings over 51 hours both in person and online. We have listened to testimony from over 630 speakers, and received over 2,100 written submissions, testimony, and maps with nearly 4,000 pages of public input from New Yorkers. 

Following the final hearing on December 5th, we began deliberations to synthesize public comment and create new maps reflecting public input in preparation for negotiating a compromise. Committed to the bipartisan process, we then shared these new maps with the other Commissioners but they did not reciprocate by sharing any new maps with us. Over several weeks, the entire Commission participated in bipartisan working groups across 16 meetings to discuss possible areas of agreement.  These meetings produced what we considered to be productive discussions on possible compromise maps where all Commissioners could reach a consensus that best reflects the needs of New Yorkers. 

Subsequently, the Commission’s bipartisan line-drawing team made changes with guidance from all Commissioners. Finally, we have proposed new maps that reflect both public input and compromises discussed during bipartisan working group sessions and vary significantly from our first draft "Letters” plan. The shift from our initial “Letters” draft both shows how impactful the testimony we received was, and our willingness to compromise with our colleagues.

We have reached out to our colleagues to share what we believe is a compromise that is in the best interest of New Yorkers and have invited them to engage in further dialogue. The choice is theirs.  While we understand the value of consensus among the Commission our utmost priority remains producing fair maps that best represent the people of New York State, including best accounting for public input and communities of interest.

 

David Imamura

Eugene Benger

Dr. Ivelisse Cuevas‐Molina

Dr. John Flateau

Elaine Frazier