Editorial: Long Islanders have their say

When electoral boundaries are drawn, one of the bedrock rules is to bind together "communities of interest." Yet it's inevitable that these groups will conflict, and impassioned pleas over which ones to keep intact will follow. Such was the case yesterday at Long Island's hearing on the proposed State Senate and Assembly maps.

But looking at the maps released by a legislative committee and listening to the legislators who drew them behind closed doors in Albany, it's obvious only one community of interest really matters: the tight circle of those who hold power and work tirelessly to keep it.

The Suffolk County Legislature's auditorium was full and bustling, with about 150 attendees representing the Island's growing diversity. Mothers with strollers jostled senior citizens as speakers of every description pleaded their cases. In setting the political boundaries that will go into place for November's elections, school districts can be considered communities of interest, as can villages, towns and counties. Racial, ethnic and religious minorities have claims, as well. Income levels, too, can bind people's interests and are considered.

So speakers fought for the solidarity of the Brentwood School District, the unified village of Lynbrook, and the indivisibility of the Massapequas and the North Fork. Some of the strongest arguments supported combining heavily black and Hispanic communities in both Nassau and Suffolk counties into their own districts. Many who loved their new, Republican-drawn Senate lines hated their new Democrat-drawn Assembly ones, and vice versa, to no one's surprise.

Several rightfully pointed to the maps drawn by Common Cause New York and other good government groups as proof there is a better way.

But the exchange that made matters clear was between Common Cause's Brian Paul and the committee co-chair, Assemb. John McEneny (D-Albany). McEneny asked Paul how many incumbents his group's plan would pull out of their current districts. Paul replied that his maps were created to be blind to that, but the answer is 10 senators and 26 Assembly members, far more than the committee plan. McEneny went on to defend the importance of seniority and incumbency, apparently unaware that most voters don't consider sitting legislators a minority worth protecting.

Before the 2010 election, most state legislators promised to fight the corrupt process that lets the leaders in the Assembly and the Senate draw their own lines. Now they're hoping voters won't remember, or care enough, to punish them for it. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo says he's still dedicated to "a better process and a better product," but it's unclear how hard he will push the issue.

At every level, from the Nassau County Legislature redistricting debacle last year to the gerrymandered Senate and Assembly maps under fire now, it has been clear that the only goal is the preservation and accumulation of power. Even the as-yet-unreleased congressional lines are rumored to eliminate the district of Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola), dividing Nassau County between four representatives in the hope that the Democrats can pick up a seat in Queens.

Until voters demand the fair system politicians have promised, the only people whose needs matter will be the ones who draw the lines.