LITTLE VALLEY — In two weeks, the Cattaraugus County Legislature will hold a public hearing on a Republican-backed redistricting plan that cuts two lawmakers and reduces the number of districts from eight to five.
If approved by county legislators as expected, the redistricting plan would go before voters in November. If voters approve, the new districts would go into effect for the November 2023 legislative elections.
Republicans control 16 of the 17 current legislature seats. Four legislatures including the lone Democrat, David Koch of Salamanca, are term-limited and not seeking re-election.
Koch said Wednesday that the lines are drawn in such a way that “no Republican incumbents will be running against each other in a primary.”
In addition, Koch said his analysis of the plan submitted June 21 by Legislature Vice Chairman Andrew Burr showed that it diluted the Democratic vote in the two cities with an overwhelming Republican registration in most towns.
“It makes it easier for a Republican to get elected in these areas than a Democrat,” Koch said.
Koch said he voted with Republicans to set the public hearing from July 27 at 5 p.m. “They were going to have a public hearing on it then whether I voted yes or no. I will vote no on the plan.”
Koch said he’s hoping for a big turnout of residents opposed to the changes at the public hearing. “I saw this plan when I was in the leadership meeting 1 ½ hours before it was voted on.
“In my humble opinion, this is probably gerrymandering at its finest,” Koch told the Times Herald. “They brought it out at the very last moment so there was not much time given to look at the maps and see what they’ve changed.”
Koch said changes Republicans made after the 2010 census “made it easier for Republicans to get elected than Democrats.” He said that is a big part of the reason he’s the only Democrat currently serving on the legislature.
Koch also expressed concerns that some of the new districts are very large — particularly the one with 11 towns and the Oil Springs Reservation.
County Legislature Howard VanRensselaer, R-Randolph, who, like Koch is term-limited and cannot seek re-election next year, said he hasn’t heard any complaints about the redistricting plan.
“We went down to 15 legislators,” VanRensselaer said. “It was quite a job. We didn’t want to split up any municipalities. Getting the correct population within the district lines is very difficult.”
VanRensselaer said, “Everything is legal. It could be argued in court, but we are definitely on the safe side.”
He said, “Each party had an opportunity to put in a design of districts. The Democrats never put one forward. It was his (Koch’s) responsibility to get it done. The ball was in his court.”
As far as Koch’s charges of diluting the Democrats’ vote in the cities and the redistricting being a case of gerrymandering, VanRensselaer said the Democrats “should put good candidates forward. I don’t think people vote so much for party anymore.”
He said, “The population in the cities has fallen off substantially. It’s more difficult for them to stand alone as a district. You have to have the same number of residents for each legislator.”
County Democratic Chairman Frank Puglisi said the Republican redistricting produced “a drastic change from the current districts and the set-up of the legislature. It changes the landscape of the districts and the voice of the population centers.”
Puglisi urged people to look at the map.
“I hope that not only political people see this, but the average resident of population centers,” he said. “Their voice is going to be less significant.”
The Democratic chairman said there was no public input into drawing up the new districts. “It’s not an open process. There was zero public input.” He doesn’t expect there to be any changes when legislators vote right after the public hearing because there wouldn’t be enough time to still get it on the November ballot.
Towns that have not been part of the same legislative district may find they are part of a district that does not share their same concerns about an issue, Puglisi said. “There are big changes in the cities of Olean and Salamanca.”
Puglisi said he has not evaluated taking the county to court over the redistricting plan, but has not ruled it out.
Robert C. Keis Sr., the county Republican chairman, said he had no problem with reducing the size of the county legislature to 15 from the current 17. Before the redistricting after the 2010 census, there were 21 legislators.
The districts are designed to represent an appropriate number of people, he said. “Overall, it looks pretty good.”
The City of Olean would be included in the four-legislator District 5 with the towns of Olean, Portville and Hinsdale. It would have 21,435 residents, or 5,385 people for each legislator.
Other proposed districts are:
District 1 — Towns of Dayton, Leon, New Albion, Otto, Perrysburg and Persia and the Seneca Nation’s Cattaraugus Territory with a total of 9,915 residents and two legislators each representing 4,957 people.
District 2 — Towns of Ellicottville, Franklinville, Ashford, East Otto, Farmersville, Freedom, Great Valley, Ischua, Lyndon, Machias and Yorkshire and the Oil Springs Reservation with 20,192 residents, each of four legislators representing 5,048 residents
District 3 — City of Salamanca and towns of Little Valley, Salamanca, Conewango, Mansfield, Napoli, Randolph and South Valley with 14,986 residents and three legislators, each representing 4,995 people.
District 4 — Towns of Allegany Carrollton, Coldspring, Humphrey and Red House with 10,514 residents and two legislators, each representing 5,257 residents.
