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Home My WebLink AboutMN-CC-2012-06-13COMMON COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Regular Meeting 5:30 p.m. June 13, 2012 PRESENT: Mayor Myrick Alderpersons (10) Brock, Dotson, Murtagh, Clairborne, McCollister, Fleming, Rooker, Kerslick, Proulx, Mohlenhoff OTHERS PRESENT: City Clerk – Conley Holcomb City Attorney – Lavine PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: The following people addressed Common Council: Janis Kelly, City of Ithaca, thanked Council for taking the time to consider this issue carefully; however, she identified issues with condensing 5 wards down to 4 wards. She encouraged Council to support the 5 ward scenario. Nikki Sayward, City of Ithaca, voiced her concern about changing to a 4 ward system and urged Council to adopt a 5 ward scenario. Carol Chock, City of Ithaca Representative to the County Legislature, thanked everyone who worked on the redistricting process. She reported on the preferred alternative that the County is interested in pursuing and encouraged Council to weigh in on the County process. Rob Morache, City of Ithaca, submitted a letter read by Tom Hanna, expressing his support for a 12 Ward/1 Representative scenario or a 12 member Council with 3 representatives from each ward. Mark Babbage, City of Ithaca, submitted a letter read by Josh Lower, expressing his support of a 12 Ward/1 Representative scenario. Josh Lower, City of Ithaca, urged Council to re-visit the 12 Ward scenario as he feels it will result in better representation. He also recommended a 4 Ward/3 Representative scenario noting that at the very least, 10 members of Council should be retained. Tom Hanna, City of Ithaca, requested that Council bring back the 12 Ward scenario (based on the 4-6 map) as it would support a neighborhood based Council. John Graves, City of Ithaca, stated that he supports an 8 member Council expressing financial concerns; however, he also voiced his support for a 10 member Council and an examination of a 4 Ward/12 Representative scenario. He further voiced his support for companion legislation that would amend the City Charter to allow for improved neighborhood representation on the issues. Steven Williams, City of Ithaca, advocated for the 8-3 scenario as he believes that it provides neighborhoods the best representation. Steven DeWitt, Tompkins County Board of Elections, distributed information to Council members regarding voter statistics, Board of Election concerns regarding the location and space needs of polling sites, and potential election costs for each scenario. He voiced his support for the 4 Ward scenario. Response from Common Council: Alderperson McCollister stated that she could not support a 12 Ward scenario as one Ward would only consist of the Cornell University North Campus Freshman Dormitories. June 13, 2012 2 Alderperson Murtagh thanked the speakers for sharing their thoughts. He expressed hope that the Tompkins County Legislature would work collaboratively with Common Council on this issue. He addressed comments that have been made regarding Common Council’s disregard for the preferred alternative submitted by the Redistricting Committee. He noted that the Committee reviewed 30 different maps and scenarios and offered several alternative options. Alderperson Kerslick stated that Common Council is considering this issue very carefully and acknowledged that the 4th Ward presents challenges; however, he does not feel that they are not insurmountable. Alderperson Mohlenhoff responded to comments made regarding the number of registered voters in each Ward. She reminded Council that it is the population numbers that are protected by the Equal Protection Law, not the number of registered voters. Alderperson Proulx voiced his belief that the 4th Ward is the focal point of both the 4 and 5 Ward scenarios. He believes that Scenario 4-5a is the best solution to that challenge and that 5-4 is the worst. He further addressed comments made about the 12 Ward scenario. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS: 2.1 Request to Adopt Ward Boundaries for City Redistricting – Resolution By Alderperson Brock: Seconded by Alderperson Clairborne WHEREAS, the Department of Commerce has released data from the year 2010 US Census of population, and WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca created boundaries for five city wards for the purpose of electing two council members from each ward to represent residents of that ward in 2002 and is required to review those boundaries after each decennial Census if there are significant shifts in population, and WHEREAS, the City Redistricting Committee was asked to study the ward boundaries and make recommendations to Council on what the ward boundaries of the City of Ithaca should be in light of the changes in population from 2000 to 2010, and WHEREAS, the Redistricting Committee met in public, solicited public input and deliberated on the merits of various alternatives for ward boundaries, and WHEREAS, the Redistricting Committee has forwarded to the Common Council a Preferred Ward Map and an Alternative Ward Map, and WHEREAS, the Redistricting Committee determined that its Preferred Ward Map, commonly known as Scenario 4-5a, reflects the creation of four wards with two alderpersons per ward, and WHEREAS, the Redistricting Committee determined that its Alternative Ward Map, commonly known as Scenario 8-3a, reflects the creation of eight wards with one alderperson per ward, and WHEREAS, both the Preferred and Alternative Ward Maps put forward by the Redistricting Committee propose a reduction from ten to eight alderpersons on the Common Council, which in turn would trigger a mandatory referendum, and WHEREAS, the Redistricting Committee has submitted to the Mayor and the Common Council via the Government Performance and Accountability Committee its report entitled “CITY REDISTRICTING 2012 – REPORT TO THE ITHACA COMMON COUNCIL from the City of Ithaca Redistricting Committee, May, 2012”, and WHEREAS, the Government Performance and Accountability Committee [adopts OR appreciates but declines to adopt] the recommendation of the Redistricting Committee; now, therefore, be it June 13, 2012 3 RESOLVED, That Common Council of the City of Ithaca hereby endorses in principle the redistricting proposal commonly known as "5-4" and directs the City Attorney, City Clerk, and the Planning Department to prepare an appropriate local law amending the Charter of the City of Ithaca and present this proposed local law for Council review and action. Discussion followed on the floor with Alderpersons Brock and Clairborne voicing their support for a 5 Ward system. They cited the benefits of the 5-4 scenario including equal representation for all neighborhoods, and an equally distributed workload for Common Council members. Alderpersons Murtagh and Rooker also expressed their support for the 5-4 scenario as it reduces the number of “splinter” districts, and there has not been a lot of public support expressed for the proposed 4 Ward system. Alderpersons Mohlenhoff and Kerslick voiced their support for the 4 Ward system citing the benefits of improved governmental efficiency. Alderperson McCollister commented that the 5 Ward system is very close to the 10% population differential between wards while the 4 Ward system is much lower, and closer to the County’s percentage levels. Alderperson Proulx noted that Common Council has never held a conversation about reducing the size of government and questioned whether the City would have proceeded down this path if the County hadn’t done it as well. Alderperson Dotson stated that she would support the 5 Ward system as she believes Common Council needs to ensure that neighborhood representation and communication is improved. A vote on the Resolution resulted as follows: Ayes (6) Dotson, Brock, Clairborne, Murtagh, Rooker, Proulx Nays (4) McCollister, Mohlenhoff, Kerslick, Fleming Carried A Local Law amending the City’s ward boundaries will be drafted for consideration at the July GPA Committee meeting, and the August Common Council meeting. County Legislator Chock reminded Council that the County has not voted on their redistricting plan yet and stated that the Legislature needs to hear from Council in order to avoid a reduction in city representation. ADJOURNMENT: On a motion the meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m. ______________________________ _______________________________ Julie Conley Holcomb, CMC Svante L. Myrick City Clerk Mayor