Published: July 08, 2008 10:54 am            

New Albany redistricting proposal leads to hard feelings

Members of the committee charged with redrawing New Albany’s voting districts took exception to having their character questioned during Monday’s City Council meeting.

Mark Cassidy — a committee member who was not one of the original plaintiffs in a lawsuit that forced the council to consider redistricting — said Councilman Steve Price’s recent accusations that their work was politically motivated was unfounded.

“The committee was not out to get anybody,” he said. “We did nothing behind closed doors.”

The council split a vote 4-4 (Pat McLaughlin was absent) on a measure to approve the committee’s redistricting plan.

If approved, it would leave Price and McLaughlin in the same district, as would be council members Diane McCartin-Benedetti and Jeff Gahan.

Price — who voted against the measure along with Gahan, Benedetti and Dan Coffey on first reading — said he was entitled to his opinion.

“I won’t put it on a blog, I’ll tell it to your face,” Price said. “(Redistricting) should be a council decision.”

State bylaws require a city council to approve redistricting measures, according to Price. He said each member should sit down to hash out a plan to eliminate any element of bias, an opinion that drew laughs from some members of the committee.

He said when you allow a committee of people who are not elected to decide voting districts, they could harbor a grudge.

The committee was comprised of at-large councilmen John Gonder, Jack Messer and Kevin Zurschmiede, along with local residents Roy Hardy, Randy Smith and Cassidy.

Of the six, only Smith was one of the original plaintiffs. Lloyd Wimp was a part of the lawsuit, and told the council the legal action would be revitalized if they don’t reach a fair decision soon.

“Many of us have no intention of letting this go into the 2011 election as is,” Wimp said.

He added it doesn’t matter if a committee, federal judge or the council comes up with the plan, it just needs to be addressed.

The lawsuit was filed to force the council to follow constitutional laws regarding redistricting after an official census. The districts have to be as close to the same number as possible, according to the law.

Messer said their numbers weren’t exact, but felt they were as close as possible. The council is free to go back and move around districts as long as the numbers are consistent, he said.

Messer and Cassidy pointed to lack of participation by the council members seated by district as a sign of indifference.

“That told me you were alright with (the plan),” Messer said to Price, after saying no other council members except those on the committee attended any of the redistricting meetings, which were open to the public.

Benedetti said that was the point of having a committee — council members are bogged down with assignments and responsibilities so they can’t be at everything, she said.

Zurschmiede suggested that if the council could not pass the redistricting plan submitted by the committee, then a private firm should be hired to do the required work.

Floyd County Clerk Linda Moeller said a lot of time and effort went into the redistricting plan, though she does have one problem with it.

“The concern I have is the split of the precincts,” she said.

Splitting precincts can confuse voters and lead to people voting in the wrong district, according to Moeller.

The second and third votes for the ordinance could come at the July 17 meeting.



West end rezoning moved to Plan Commission

By a vote of 7-1(Bob Caesar voted against), the council agreed to let the Plan Commission hold a public hearing and make a recommendation on whether areas of the west end should be rezoned.

The measure — sponsored by Coffey — requested the commission review the zoning status of West 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th streets, along with West Spring and West Market streets.

After the commission makes its recommendation, the zoning change request would have to be approved by the council, which would switch the status from R4 to R2 or RN1.

Messer said at the last meeting he would not support the zoning change unless he heard from residents of the west end regarding the significance of the move.

Chief Planner Scott Wood had told the council he felt a zone change could decrease property value, since it would decrease the amount of people allowed per square foot in the proposed areas.

West end resident and rental property owner Ted Bailey presented the council with a petition containing 43 signatures of fellow west end residents in favor of the change.

“I don’t think it’s going to make my property worth anymore, but I also don’t think it’s going to make it worth any less,” he told Messer.

Coffey said the purpose of the zone change would be to require potential developers to come before the plan commission and other government bodies when seeking to start projects.

        

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