Chemung County redistricting: Why executive, Legislature are at odds, and what's next

After a back-and-forth between legislators and county executive Chris Moss, Chemung County has a new legislative map that could be in place for the next decade.

Next, Chemung County voters will have their say.

The Chemung County Legislature this week voted to override a veto from Moss, who gave a thumbs down to the new district map developed by the county Legislature over the last several months. The county was required to go through the redistricting process and redraw its legislative borders to reflect population shifts in the 2020 Census. The map approved by county legislators will go before voters in a public referendum in November.

The redistricting process included community outreach through public hearings and presentations, with attendance from groups such as the Economic Opportunity Program and the Elmira/Corning NAACP.

Georgia Verdier, president of the local NAACP, said the educational campaign was crucial to the process.

“We wanted the community to fully understand, 'What is redistricting, what does that mean?' Many people didn’t have any real sense of any of that,” said Verdier. “They were hearing about things happening and redlining and they were not aware, so our objective was to create awareness for people because knowledge is power.

“We figured if more people understand what all of that meant, they would be more involved in government or whatever is happening in their communities.”

Moss, Legislature at odds over redistricting process

Redistricting has been a source of disagreement between the Legislature and the county executive since the start of the effort in February, when Moss indicated he would veto whatever end product was created by the Legislature’s redistricting committee.

Moss said the redistricting committee should have consisted of an independent panel rather than a group of legislators. He also assailed the committee for a lack of diversity, and said any redistricting study should have included an analysis of the size of the Legislature and whether or not it fits the current population of the county.

Moss, who has frequently been at odds with the Legislature, believes the number of legislators should be reduced. Chemung County has one legislator per 5,900 residents, a ratio that Moss said is “out of whack” with other New York counties governed by a charter.

“I think this committee was all set up about self-preservation,” said Moss. “You’re not going to have legislators come back with a recommendation to the remainder of the Legislature saying we should cut our numbers. Because if we cut them to nine, 11, 13, that means there’s going to be some legislators in the coming years that aren’t going to have districts to run in, which is going to make it more competitive.”

Legislature Chairman David Manchester countered that Chemung is the second-smallest New York county to employ an elected county executive. Manchester also pushed back on Moss’s critiques of the redistricting committee. The chairman said the two women members of the Legislature declined to join the committee, so he chose to diversify the committee geographically with three members representing the City of Elmira and two from rural areas.

The Legislature does not have any minority representatives, which limited the potential diversity of the redistricting committee.

“By law, (redistricting) is a Legislature mandate, that the Legislature is the one that reapportions the new census population into the existing districts,” said Manchester. “Our charter says it’s the Legislature, it doesn’t say a(n) (independent) committee, so it cannot be anything other than the legislators.”

Christina Sonsire, an independent who represents the 7th District, said the county executive’s attacks on the redistricting process were “offensive.”

“There was input from the minority community,” said Sonsire. “I’ve reached out to some of the folks who participated and have heard nothing but good things on the process. In the future, I think involving more of the public directly is a good idea, but the committee did its job here. I have a hard time finding anything to fault in the outcome.”

Chemung’s maps reviewed by New York Census and Redistricting Institute

The Legislature voted to override Moss’s veto 12-1 Monday night. The redistricting plan initially passed the Legislature by a 14-1 margin, with 4th District Republican Joe Brennan casting the lone ‘no’ vote.

Chemung County contracted the New York Census and Redistricting Institute at the New York Law School to oversee its redistricting process. Senior Fellow Jeff Wice reviewed the county’s final plan and determined it meets all state and federal criteria while adhering to the county charter. The adopted maps favored a “least-change plan,” keeping most residents in familiar districts. State and federal laws govern much of the process, including population guidelines and requirements to respect communities of interest and the cores of preexisting districts.

On the question of downsizing the Legislature, Wice noted that among New York’s 41 counties that have county Legislatures, the average size of those bodies is 15. That is right in line with Chemung County’s figure, although the population per legislator varies widely by county. Wice advised against trying to change the size of the Legislature during the redistricting process.

“You don’t want to change the shape of the airplane and then try to disassemble it at the same time,” he said. “They just don’t work together.”

If Chemung County does not settle its redistricting process on its own, Wice said a special master could eventually be appointed by the state to take over the process, at the county’s expense.

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Verdier hopes the redistricting process leads to a more informed citizenry that is better connected to its representatives in county government.

“So many times we’re upset because people are not involved in the issues impacting their community, but if they’re not knowledgeable about what is occurring, they don’t get involved,” said Verdier. “We had a lot of Zooms to get a better understanding of, 'What does this redistricting mean, how (does it) impact your community, your area?' (Residents also got) to know their representatives, so if you have some issues or concerns, this is the individual you contact.”

Chris Potter can be reached at cpotter@gannett.com or on Twitter @ChrisPotter413. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: What's next for Chemung County's redistricting process