BEFORE LATFOR, FEBRUARY 15, 2012, ROCHESTER, NY
My name is John Keevert. I am a resident of Rochester and a member of Common Cause/NY. I am testifying on behalf of the almost 20,000 Common Cause/NY members. Common Cause, in New York and around the country, is a strong supporter of a fair, independent and non-political redistricting process. Unfortunately, neither the redistricting process nor the proposed official maps are up to the appropriate standard this year.
The current district lines in Rochester are one of the examples which Common Cause/NY uses to show the effect of political gerrymandering in its public presentations about redistricting. That’s because the current maps for both the Senate and Assembly divide Rochester into three districts, but to very different effect. The current Assembly districts twist and curve through the City of Rochester in shapes that appear designed to elect three Democrats. The current Senate districts also split the City of Rochester into three, even though Rochester can fit within a single district. The Senate districts match portions of the city with large areas of the surrounding suburbs stretch far into rural areas in order to elect three Republican senators.
The proposed LATFOR maps continue this sorry story. In fact, the proposed Assembly districts for our area, as you can see on page six of this testimony, are almost unchanged from the existing districts. The Common Cause Reform Map offers an alternative for more compact districts that would better keep communities and neighborhoods together.
In the Senate, the proposed LATFOR plans, as you can see on pages four and five of this testimony, are even worse than the existing districts. Rochester remains cut up into three districts. For reasons unknown, SD 61 (Ranzenhofer-R) now extends into the city from the Buffalo region instead of SD 62 (Maziarz-R). Clearly these lines are not about how to best represent Rochester, but are instead designed to carve the city up to best serve the interests of Western New York incumbents. Indeed, no incumbent Senator actually lives within the City of Rochester.
Rochester’s suburbs are equally ill served by these Senate lines. Amazingly, Monroe County is broken between six different Senate districts, with only one district entirely within the county (SD 56). SDs 59, 61 and 62 stretch all the way into Monroe from Erie and Niagara through uniformly rural areas. As the Common Cause Reform Map shows, there is no demographic reason for these contortions. These proposed lines disenfranchise both the City of Rochester and its surrounding suburbs.
In Congress, the way in which our city has been treated in the current districts is a famous gerrymander. As you can see on pages seven and eight of this testimony, Monroe County is split between four different Congressional districts which extend dozens or even hundreds of miles into other regions. In contrast, the Common Cause Reform Plan for Congress focuses on creating regional districts. One district for the Buffalo metropolitan area, one district for the Rochester metropolitan area, and one district for the Finger Lakes. Yes, it can really be that simple if the lines are drawn with the public interest in mind, rather than tailored to the desires of the parties and their incumbents.
It is astounding to me, as a member of the public, that there is no proposed Congressional map yet. Since the official process has not yet been able to generate a proposed Congressional map, I suggest that you adopt the Common Cause Reform Map for Congress.
New York deserves a better set of district maps. I hope that you will take the Common Cause Reform Maps into consideration when revising the proposals.
In LATFOR’s draft, Senate Districts 59, 61, and 62 stretch from Niagara and Erie all the way into Monroe County.
Rochester and its suburbs are awkwardly broken between six different districts that extend far into surrounding rural counties.
The Common Cause Reform Plan orients separate districts around Buffalo and Rochester, recognizing that each city is the core of its own distinct regional economy.
Looking closer at Rochester, LATFOR continues to break the city between three districts.
This is a partisan gerrymander that disenfranchises Rochester communities. Not a single incumbent Senator actually lives within the City.
Common Cause Reform SD 56 keeps Rochester entirely within a single compact district with Irondequoit and Brighton.
Common Cause Reform SD 59 forms a Rochester suburbs district entirely within Monroe County.
These districts keep communities of interest together and would empower both Rochester and its suburbs with a stronger voice.
Assembly Districts proposed by LATFOR continue to divide local communities and neighborhoods.
These lines seem to be drawn to with the priority to maximize the chances of electing three Democrats.
The City of Rochester is too large to include in a single Assembly district, so the CC Reform Plan divides it as neatly as possible, attempting to keep communities and neighborhoods together as much as practicable.
Current Congressional districts in Western New York divide the region into an awkward jigsaw puzzle.
Rochester is plucked from Monroe County and connected to part of Buffalo by a corridor along Lake Ontario in NY 28 – known as the “earmuffs” district.
The Common Cause Reform Plan for Congress focuses on creating regional districts.
Individual districts can be drawn for the Rochester and Buffalo metro areas to replace the current “earmuffs” district.
Monroe County is currently split between four different Congressional districts which each extend dozens or even hundreds of miles into other regions.
Rochester and its suburbs could instead be contained in a single compact district that would provide a stronger, unified voice for the region in Congress.
