New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Alders’ give-and-take aims to equalize ward populations
NEW HAVEN — It was a night of friendly bartering.
Members of the Board of Alders huddled in small groups Tuesday as they hashed out boundaries that will equalize populations in the city’s 30 wards based on the 2020 census.
At the center of the horse trading was Jake Conshick, the city’s new GIS (Geographic Information System) analyst. Hired less than a month ago, Conshick volunteered for the assignment.
“It is fun. I honestly find this very intriguing,” Conshick said.
He said he was familiar with the software and felt it would be easier for him to jump in to tackle the issue.
Beyond the ward boundaries themselves, another goal is to not split them among state House or Senate seats.
Such splits mean some residents now see their polling places change depending on whether it is a local or a state election year, which some may find confusing.
All evening, Conshick plugged in data on a digital map to show how close the movement of certain census blocks would come to an acceptable range of residents in each ward.
The ideal size is 4,467 persons, but it could vary by 5 percent over or under for a low of 4,243 to a high of 4,690 residents.
The initial calculation a few weeks ago showed which ones would need a contribution from a contiguous ward or a subtraction for those over 4,690, but there have been some surprises.
In the 18th Ward, the 2020 census consolidated several census blocks as calculated in the 2010 census, which left an unexpected deficit of 552 residents.
This could only be corrected by taking residents from the contiguous 17th Ward. Another rule does not allow a town to split a census block.
Alder Sal DeCola, D-18, and Alder Sal Punzo, D-17, have proposed some changes that would affect a number of streets.
Half of Soundview Terrace, a portion of Upson Terrace, an additional piece of Townsend Avenue, half of Elizabth Ann Drive and all of Hopkins Drive are among the changes going from Ward 17 to Ward 18 on the East Shore and Annex neighborhoods.
If needed, some wards can make multiple trades, depending on how many others are contiguous.
Ward 18, which is at the end of the east side of the city’s land mass, is contiguous only to Ward 17.
“When you are at the end of the line, it is easy. You can only go one way,” DeCola said.
“I just want to make a decision that is best for everybody,” Punzo, a retired school principal, said.
In Fair Haven, Alder Sarah Miller, D-14, has a proposal that would place Farren Avenue and some side streets, such as Lancraft Street, in Wards 8 and 13, and possibly Ward 17.
They currently are in Ward 14, isolated across the Quinnipiac River, which has been an issue for decades.
As part of the proposal, Ward 14 would absorb some of Wards 15 and 16, leaving all of Ward 14 in “the peninsula of Fair Haven,” Miller said. “It is still just a draft, but it would be an improvement.”
“We just want the wards to make more sense from a neighborhood perspective,” Miller said.
While Wards 14 through 16 mainly are Fair Haven, there are also small sections of the neighborhood that are in Wards 8, 9 and 10. “It just doesn’t feel cohesive,” Miller said.
It wasn’t clear whether it was possible to have fewer alders representing Fair Haven to more easily work as a group. Currently, some alders have to attend multiple management meetings, she said.
“The issues in East Rock are really different than the issues in Fair Haven,” Miller said. “It is really tough on Election Day. It is really confusing.”
Alder Anna Festa, D-10, now represents portions of East Rock, Cedar Hill, Quinnipiac Meadows and Fair Haven. She will give up Gando Drive and a portion of Middletown Avenue to Ward 12.
Miller agreed that Alder Rose Ferraro Santana, D-13, should take the portion of Quinnipiac Avenue up to Judith Terrace that is now in Ward 14.
The changes discussed among the alders Tuesday will result in an interim working map that could change again as trading continues to bring Westville/Beaver Hills Wards 26 and 27, which have too few numbers, and Newhallville’s Ward 21, which has too many, into compliance.
The Special Committee on Ward Redistricting will meet next on April 26. Alder Evelyn Rodriguez, D-4, who is chairing the committee, urged residents to share their concerns with their alders.
She said she is checking to see whether they can present a draft map for a public hearing before a vote by the May 31 deadline. This has been requested by good government groups, such as the League of Women Voters.
Rodriguez said the alders are making progress and she credited the help received from Conshick in making that possible.
Members of the Board of Alders hashed out boundaries that will equalize populations in the city's 30 wards based on the 2020 census.