Council to vote on new ward boundaries in Oneonta
Sep. 23—The Oneonta Common Council's Legislative Committee decided Monday, Sept. 23 to send to a vote of the full council changes to the boundaries of each of Oneonta's eight wards, documented in a redistricted map of the city.
Redistricting happens every 10 years based on U.S. Census data to that each vote counts equally, City Attorney David Merzig said.
Len Carson, R-Fifth Ward, Kaytee Lipari Shue, D-Fourth Ward and Shannon McHugh, D-Third Ward, came to a consensus to recommend that the full council approve the maps at the Common Council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
A public hearing will be scheduled after the meeting. The maps also will be available for public view. The city's ward boundaries won't change before the November election.
Carson said Monday that even with the changes, each ward would be comprised of roughly, 1,600 residents.
At the Legislative Committee meeting Aug. 12, council members suggested that once the new ward maps were determined, term lengths of council members be staggered to offset the years.
The first set of elected officials would serve a two-year term, while the second set of elected officials serve a four-year term, with an alternating system.
"I'm excited about the local law staggering our terms," Lipari Shue said Monday. "It's going to make a good change and provide some continuity to the Common Council."
Committee members suggested that Wards 1, 3, 4 and 7 receive the short term and Wards 2, 4, 6 and 8 receive election for a full term.
Committee members were in favor of a referendum for 2025 and to pass a resolution for implementation in 2027. Even-numbered wards to receive a four-year cycle and odd-numbered wards a two-year cycle for the first election, then four-year terms from then after, according to the Aug. 12 meeting minutes.
"We all approve and will recommend this to the council at the next meeting," Carson said Monday.
According to state law, the difference in population between the most and least populous city wards cannot exceed 5% of the average population of all wards, or 81 people.
The 2020 census count reported a reduction of 822 city residents since the 2010 census — a loss of 6% — according to the commission's presentation.
Under the proposed redistricting plan, each ward would lose residents, with some losing more than others.
The census blocks, however, don't line up with the city's ward boundaries, and the census blocks' boundaries changed from 2010 to 2020.
The city's Redistricting Commission presented an initial redistricted map to the Common Council in August 2023.
