GOSHEN- Members of the Orange County Legislature met on Wednesday afternoon to review five different redistricting proposals that mark the first public step in creating new districts ahead of the November 2025 elections. The nearly three-hour meeting ended after legislators from both parties left the session, resulting in the legislative body falling short of the number of lawmakers necessary for a quorum.
The law requires that every 10 years in the election cycle following the census, state and local government districts be redrawn. All 21 county legislators are up for re-election next year and must run in new, reapportioned districts.
Jeffrey Wice, legal counsel to Applied Geographic, discussed the laws that impact how legislative districts are crafted. He cited the Federal Voting Rights Act, the New York State Voting Rights Act, and other new rules that he said “may actually impact Orange County.”
Newly enacted state law requires that districts must be substantially equal in population, not drawn with the intent or result of denying equal opportunity to racial or language minority groups to participate in the political process, and must be contiguous in territory. Furthermore, it is illegal for districts to be drawn to favor incumbents or any particular party or candidate.
Wice said that one of the proposed maps was crafted to avoid any potential litigation around the Voting Rights Act and the other maps considered feedback from the counsel of legislators. Chairwoman Katie Bonelli later confirmed that the map referred to as “draft map five” was the one she believed would best withstand a legal challenge.
The special rules committee meeting, led by Legislator Paul Ruszkiewicz, was supposed to result in lawmakers selecting three of the five proposals for review and comment by the public. No such goal was achieved as Ruszkiewicz was forced to end proceedings after key members of the rules committee departed the meeting after voicing concerns about the process and proposed maps.
A select committee of legislators comprised of Republican Majority Leader Tom Faggione, Democratic Minority Leader Michael Paduch, and Legislators James O’Donnell, Michael Amo, and Paul Ruszkiewicz have worked the past several months with representatives from the Applied Geographic, a consulting group hired by the legislature, to assist with the creation of the new maps to craft the five different proposals.
Ruszkiewicz said that throughout the process legislators who are not members of the select committee have had copies of the draft maps provided to them by their caucus leader and have had the opportunity to comment on the drafts. Bonelli said legislators were provided the draft maps on a website portal at the beginning of April and that their feedback was considered in the maps released for public review.
There seemed to be confusion, however, among legislators present at the hearing about the draft maps. Legislator Kathy Stegenga said that she wished the maps had been discussed with all of the legislators ahead of the public meeting and said that a meeting similar to the public hearing, among legislators, should have been held in advance.
Legislator Lee Benton remarked, “It would have been great to do this two months ago,” referring to the process of reviewing and making changes to the proposed districts. Legislator Kevin Hines echoed Benton’s concerns and expressed displeasure with the process, lack of communication, and resulting map proposals.
Jake Gamble, the lead analyst who worked on the maps, noted that significant population changes in places such as Kiryas Joel, Wallkill, and New Windsor created the need for significant changes to the districts rather than minor adjustments.
Legislator Genesis Ramos, who was not able to attend the meeting, supplied written questions that were asked by Minority Leader Paduch. Through Paduch, Ramos questioned why the City of Newburgh had been divided into three districts in the proposals. Legislator Kevindaryán Luján, who also represents portions of the City of Newburgh, believes the city could have been divided in a better way, splitting it in two districts divided by Robinson Avenue.
During the nearly three-hour meeting, several other legislators proposed changes to districts, often to the specific district in which they would run for election next November. While none of the changes were formally adopted in a new map proposal, Bonelli said the same process legislators underwent during the special rules committee would be open to the public and pushed for legislators to approve three maps for public consideration.
Legislator Janet Sutherland said she was expecting more interaction between the legislators and the consultants and was not prepared to approve a set of maps to be sent to the public. Her concerns were supported by Legislator Barry Cheney, a fellow Republican and member of the rules committee.
Bonelli said she has already discussed the redistricting process with her fellow Republicans in the legislature. “Like I told our caucus, not everybody’s going to be completely happy here,” said Bonelli. “This is what happens during redistricting. It is change, and people are resistant to change, and they are fearful of change, but we move on.”
Before a vote could be taken to approve three maps for public comment, Faggione stopped the proceedings noting that several members of the committee, including Republicans Sutherland and Hines and Democrat Paduch, had left the building.
When asked why he left the meeting, Paduch said, “We didn’t think it [the draft maps] was ready for the public, and the legislature didn’t have enough input. Like today, you had plenty of input and they are trying to shut it down and just vote.”
Paduch said he was glad that he partnered with the Republicans to shut down the session. He said he thought some of the proposals were gerrymandered and that more time needs to be set aside for the full legislature to discuss concerns with the consultant.
At the closing of the meeting, Ruszkiewicz said, “It’s unfortunate that some of the committee members chose to leave and leave us in this position, so we will have to possibly reconvene another special meeting.”
