Proposed County redistricting likely to impact on Babylon-Islip lawmakers by Leonard Greco

Suffolk lawmakers, David Bishop, left and Maxine Postal, right will likely see changes in their district lines as the County mulls various proposals.

The Suffolk County Legislature is expected to vote shortly on a new legislative district plan that was hailed by Republicans and Democrats as a bipartisan effort. The new plan, if adopted, includes some major changes for the Town of Babylon.

At a meeting in July, the eight-member panel discussed a proposal (plan A) that would shift parts of North Lindenhurst and West Babylon into David Bishop’s 14th Legislative district and transfer the balance of Amityville Village and Copiague into Maxine Postal’s 15th Legislative District.

The panel had earlier this year reviewed another proposal, (Plan B) that would have kept the status quo in the 14th and 15th legislative districts and created a minority district in Brentwood. In addition, a third, (Plan C) would remove Allan Binder (R-Huntington) from the small part of North Babylon he now represents.

The panel anticipates finalizing one of the three plans and making its recommendations to the legislature this September. However, legislative liaison Linda Burkhardt said splitting Bishop and Postal’s district did not have a great deal of support, whereas Plan B, which tends to equalize populations and keep certain communities in one district or another, seems to have much more support.

"What they are trying to do is get each of the different communities into one district," Burkhardt explained. "And they are trying to balance the

population in each district. Right now, Plan B offers the best compromises."

Binder said that whatever occurs should be based on the one man, one vote principal, meaning populations should be as close to equal as possible.

However, he said he believes plans offered by the Democrats on the eight member panel are taking politics into consideration more than the one man,

one vote concept. The panel is made up of four Republicans and four Democrats.

"The Republican map (plan) leaves me alone," Binder noted. "Under that plan, my district is basically not effected. The panel should be making sure the rights of the people come first; one man, one vote. It shouldn’t be a time of politics. But the Democratic plan in my view is pure politics. They seem to be making changes without major shifts in population. Why? When the census shows there are small or no population changes, we should be leaving things alone."

But Bishop countered that ten years ago the decisions regarding redistricting were purely political and were orchestrated by a Republican dominated committee. He said that effort created "an ugly map."

"What we’re trying to do with this plan is keep communities together," Bishop said. "We want to use recognizable boundaries such as major streets. Ten years ago redistricting was a one party deal that resulted in an ugly map. True, in the process Republicans and Democrats try to gain an advantage. But in the end, it’ll be negotiated into something good."

Regarding changes to his and Postal’s districts, Bishop added, "I don’t know (for certain) that my district will change. But it encourages every legislator to serve his or her constituents as best they can, at least until changes occur."

Postal, meanwhile, said she doesn’t consider changes to her or Bishop’s district problematic. "The panel is simply trying to equalize the size of the

districts and also trying to keep communities together," she explained.

"David would get all of West Babylon and North Lindenhurst, whereas I would get more of Amityville Village and Copiague where we are now split. They are trying to unify districts."

She added that losing a portion of a district could be bothersome in that legislators have served certain communities for so long. "You tend to look at it as a parent looks at children," she said. "You hate to give up what you’ve had, people you’ve represented and known for such a long time. But the current plan would help unify communities and that’s a good thing."

The panel is expected to to make its final recommendations to the legislature this September.