In a 4-2 vote, the Onondaga County reapportionment commission opted to send the Republican-drawn map of new county districts to the legislature on Wednesday. The decision was split by party lines with the four Republican commissioners voting in favor of the map and the two Democratic commissioners voting against it.
Dustin Czarny, one of the two Democrats on the commission, said he knew they never stood a chance.
“We can feel proud that we tried to get some bipartisan consensus, but it's pretty clear from the moment that we started these meetings on October 8, that this was the eventual outcome,” said Czarny.
Throughout the three-week redistricting process, Czarny, along with county democrats and numerous residents, criticized the entire process as rushed. However, despite reading the minutes from the five public hearings–of which four he did not attend–Chairman Kevin Hulslander stood by his decision to uphold the three-week timeframe.
“As I said, over and over again, three weeks is a long time to evaluate where these lines should be drawn,” said Hulslander.
He claimed every resident that spoke at the hearings was a democrat looking to support Czarny in politicizing the process.
“So at the end of the day, you know, there's a democratic narrative that Dustin has perpetuated and the media has perpetuated, that we've rushed this process,” he said.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Democrat Sharon Moran motioned for the commission to send a report with all three proposed maps to the legislature to let them be voted on there. The motion was seconded by Czarny, and Hulslander refused to allow a vote on it.
The approved map will now go to the county legislature for a vote. If it’s rejected, it will go back to the commission. If passed, Czarny said there are a few options to fight it.
“If they accept it, the other two avenues for people who want to fight the maps are to do a permissive referendum or to put the maps on the ballot for the next general election,” he said.
There are also legal avenues that can be pursued regarding the redistricting process.
