Redistricting effort could use Ulster as model

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. » The Dutchess County Independent Commission on Reapportionment could look to guidance from Ulster County as it begins the task of drawing new district lines for the Dutchess County Legislature’s 25 districts.

During its first meeting, on Feb. 25, the commission began to flesh out how it will function and discussed drawing on the expertise of Ulster County and others as it works to craft a district map that, for the first time, won’t be created by county legislators.

The seven-member commission elected Richard Keller-Coffey as its chairman and Keri Peterson as its vice chairwoman.

Of having an independent reapportionment commission, County Executive Marc Molinaro said: “This is a really important reform measure that we think establishes for us just the right method of ensuring legislative lines that are developed after each census are not an exercise of politicians picking their voters.”

The seven-member commission is charged with using 2020 U.S. Census data to redraw the county’s legislative district lines to reflect population shifts within the county. It must file the plan with the county Board of Elections within six months of receiving the Census data, and the new lines must be in place for the November 2023 election of county legislators.

Historically, district boundaries have been determined by the party in power at the time, which frequently resulted in district lines that were gerrymandered, or drawn in a way to ensure the party in power remains in power.

In 2009, Democrats, who at the time controlled the Dutchess County Legislature, attempted to change that, pushing through a local law requiring that the district lines be drawn by an independent body. In 2010, when Republicans regained control, they repealed that law, giving the power back to the Legislature.

In 2019, though, the GOP-led county Legislature unanimously agreed to let voters decide whether district lines should be drawn by an independent commission. Voters responded overwhelmingly in favor of the move.

With no data is expected until fall, the commission intends to spend the next several months reviewing materials, including the district maps from the last two times the lines were redrawn, and reaching out to experts in the field and others who have gone through the process, such as Gerald Benjamin, a local government expert who retired in 2020 from SUNY New Paltz, and Ulster County government leaders.

Ulster County was among the first counties in the state to move to independent redistricting. Benjamin was a member of that Legislature’s first redistricting commission, which created the districts now in place.

A second Ulster County Independent Commission on Redistricting has been formed and is in the early stages of crafting new district lines for the coming decade.