Jared Rice Gets Quick Introduction to City Hall Theatrics as Redistricting Issue Flares Up at First New Rochelle City Council Meeting of 2011

The newest member of the New Rochelle City Council had quite an eventful first day on the job.

Jared Rice, elected in November to serve out the unexpired term of James Stowe for the 3rd Council District, was named Deputy Mayor within moments of the start of his first meeting.

Rice then watched as City Manager Chuck Strome abruptly left the conference table twice without explanation. Soon after the meeting came to an unexpected halt to allow government officials to hurried from the room to check on the condition of the City Manager. Strome was then rushed to Sound Shore Medical Center. When the meeting resumed, Mayor Noam Bramson announced Strome was suffering from a painful kidney stone.

With Assistant to the City Manager Omar Small sitting in for the ailing City Manager, Rice wasted no time in introducing his first proposal to Council, a plan to expedite the redistricting process before the 2011 election.

Rice was then confronted by District 4 City Council Member Richard St. Paul who urged care and deliberation to make sure that any changes to election district was based on input from the community. St. Paul cited examples of redistricting efforts in comparable cities in New York State such as Albany, Troy and Poughkeepsie.

Redistricting Documents circulated by Rice and St. Paul

After the meeting, Talk of the Sound spoke with Rice.

“First and foremost,” Rice told Talk of the Sound; “we need to look at the census numbers and what those census numbers indicate and if in fact they do indicate there is a population shift then I think that it’s incumbent on council to act on that in a timely fashion.”

Rice also commented on the issue of litigation over district lines.

“With regards to the previous tumultuous activity and friction between the African-American community and the City,” Rice said “I would hope that in the year 2011 we could move forward from that and become partners as opposed to continuing to be adversaries.”

St. Paul likewise explained his position.

“Since New Rochelle decided to break into districts, every ten years, something gets lost where redistricting is not settled short of a threat of a lawsuit or lawsuit so and the court determines how we should draw the lines,” said St. Paul.

St. Paul wants the people of New Rochelle to decide where to draw district lines not a judge.

“Understanding that this has been our past, I think it’s best for us to include the community in the redistricting process this time around and we should have a commission of citizens and experts to make recommendations to include and protect our minority population and to equate for population shifts,” he said.

The three Republicans, who owe their seats to the lines drawn after the last census naturally wish to leave them alone before the 2011 election. Just as naturally, the Democrats would like to rearrange districts, especially District 4, with an eye towards defeating St. Paul whose narrow election in 2006 shocked the political establishment in New Rochelle. District 4 was supposed to have been a Latino opportunity district where Democratic incumbent Roberto Lopez was expected to win. Lopez lost to St. Paul by 17 votes.

Democrats waxed eloquent on the need to move quickly once the census data for New Rochelle was published. Richard St. Paul, speaking for the Republicans, made a well-supported case for taking time to get it right. Any changes would have to be made by August 2011, based on the election clock for the November 2011 election to give parties time to field candidates, hold primaries and conventions and select candidates for the ballots.

Rice wanted the process completed by May. St. Paul was in no particular hurry.

Mayor Bramson who knowledgeable observers agreed was the author of the Rice plan entered the fray briefly to contend that an expedited process was the only way to protect the rights of voters. St. Paul quickly shot that argument down by noting that unlike Congressional districts where a state like New York recently lost seats and where Texas recently gained seats due to population shifts, the population of New Rochelle would remain the same regardless of how the district lines were drawn.

“Your knowledge of this issue dwarfs my own”, admitted Bramson, who then withdrew from the discussion.

The threat of litigation is not a potential but actual threat.

Members of the NAACP Political Action Committee arrived in force just as the public hearing portion of the meeting began. NAACP President Ronald H. Williams rose to address the City Council and quickly made it clear that while he would prefer to resolve things amicably, the Council should not doubt his resolve to insure a deliberative process.

Speaking with Talk of the Sound afterwards, Williams said he believes citizens should be involved.

“These lines should not be drawn in somebody’s kitchen,” said Williams. “Everyone must know exactly there their district is so it can be fair to every citizen of New Rochelle.”

And so ends Round One of what is sure to be a 15 Round knock down, drag out fight over the future election districts of New Rochelle.

The clock is ticking on the Democrats. Any changes would realistically have to be made and agreed to by the late Spring. Any lawsuit at that point would drag the process past the start of the 2011 political season all but insuring the current district lines remain in place giving Republicans districts more to their liking.

Of course, the Democrats tried rushing things through last time and ended up losing 2 of their 5 council seats after a court drew the lines, creating the current 3-3 tie with the Mayor serving as the tie-breaker, a matter of “careful what you wish for” if there ever was one.