Lawmaker: East End redistrict plan flawed

A proposal to join the South Fork and part of the North Fork into a single Assembly district would reduce their voice in state government, a Republican assemblyman says.

"That would effectively cut the East End's representation in half," Daniel Losquadro of Shoreham said Wednesday. "Having the North Fork a contiguous district would be better for those residents."

Under new district lines proposed last week by a legislative task force, Southold and Shelter Island would be joined with the South Fork district currently represented by Assemb. Fred Thiele, Jr. (I-Sag Harbor). Losquadro's district -- now contiguously in the North Fork -- would move west and only contain a sliver of the North Fork.

Redistricting is a contentious process that states undergo every 10 years to account for population changes recorded in the Census. Government watchdogs have long complained that the parties in power -- Republicans in New York's Senate, Democrats in the Assembly -- gerrymander districts to protect their majorities.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has said he would veto the current proposed lines and a lawsuit was filed this week by Senate Democrats contesting the creation of a new Senate district.

Losquadro said that his constituents on the North Fork have agricultural issues that have little in common with those of the South Fork, where many houses are second homes. There is also the problem of transportation between the two forks.

"To have [constituents] . . . in Southold town have to take two ferries or drive more than an hour around the fork to go meet with their representative -- I just think it's logistically difficult for them," he said.

Southold Supervisor Scott Russell, a Republican, also is not happy with the redistricting plan. He said that sharing an assemblyman with the South Fork would not benefit the North Fork.

"Fred Thiele is a very good assemblyman," Russell said. "But he built his reputation on the South Fork. That's where his base is."Russell worries, he said, that North Fork needs would be overpowered by the money and influence of the South Fork.

Thiele said he was happy with the proposed lines and pointed out that the forks share a Senate district and congressional district. "The line has to be drawn somewhere," Thiele said. "Riverhead and Southold may have a lot in common but so do Southold and Shelter Island and East Hampton."With Stacey Altherr