Redistricting plan passes in Nassau
In Mineola, Nassau County Legislature's Presiding Officer Peter J. Schmitt compares the new map on left to the old one on right as he talks about the new 2011 Legislative District Map for Nassau County. (April 26, 2011) Credit: Newsday / Karen Wiles Stabile
The GOP-controlled Nassau Legislature voted 10-8 on Tuesday for a legislative redistricting plan that Republicans say is required by the county charter but that Democrats decry as a "power grab."
The vote split generally along party lines. Denise Ford, a registered Democrat from Long Beach who runs on the GOP ticket, voted "no" while Robert Troiano, (D-Westbury), arrived after the vote.
"Right from the beginning I did not support this redistricting plan," Ford said later. "I believed that we should have had more hearings and more input from residents."
The vote followed nearly three hours of comment from Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt of Massapequa, Joseph Nocella, a witness replacing County Attorney John Ciampoli who is hospitalized, seven Democratic legislators and half-a-dozen members of the public.
Schmitt has cited a legal opinion by Ciampoli, a former Republican elections lawyer, saying the charter requires the legislature to approve a new reapportionment plan within eight months of the release of the new U.S. Census. Those numbers were made public April 1.
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