The Yonkers City Council convened a special meeting on Tuesday Dec 20th at 4pm to discuss the mandatory redistricting process that is to occur in 2023. The original consultant on this matter, The Benjamin Center, was approved in September, however they accepted another contract and will no longer aid Yonkers. Two new vendor proposals were scheduled for last night’s meeting, but after yet another vendor cancellation, only one remained. The lone proposal was distributed to the council members only an hour before commencement of the meeting itself. With the exception of John Rubbo, the entire council was present.
After the usual formalities, the meeting began with the vendor, Andrew Beveridge, PhD, introducing himself and his work. Beveridge has extensive experience in this field having recently aided in the redistricting of New Rochelle and previous Yonkers redistricting efforts. Dr. Beveridge was sat beside an attorney from the Harris Beach law firm which is acting as special counsel on behalf of the Corporation Counsel for the City of Yonkers.
As questions from the council commenced, Corazon Pineda-Isaac began with likely the most anticipated question — how long would this process take? Considering the variables at play, an exact time frame cannot yet be established. However, speed is of necessity as the council member of the second district reminded Beveridge that signature petitioning for next year’s elections comes in March 2023. That is only a mere three months from now.
Mike Breen later revisited the same issue of signature collection, tipping his hand at running for a fourth term that he himself made possible with the recent vote to amend the City Charter. Breen asked the corporate council for the city, Matt Gallagher, if signatures collected under the existing maps would be valid if the maps were later changed. While not providing a definitive answer, Gallagher submits that any challenged signature must be an eligible voter in the upcoming election.
With this likely top of mind, both Anthony Merante and Breen comment that keeping the maps more similar than different to the current maps should expedite the adoption of any new maps.
Beyond the city council districts alone, council member Shanae Williams raised the concurrent ward redistricting process. Thankfully for the sake of council districts, the wards have an entirely separate committee and process that won’t impact the city council’s work.
On the matter of the districts themselves, and not merely the process by why they are adopted, Majority Leader Tasha Diaz affirms that each district must be comparably sized in regards to population. The expert concedes that this is required by law. But, Diaz also suggests that beyond population alone, each district should have equitable distribution of both single family homes and apartment buildings. Considering the current housing composition of the city, and its blemished history on that subject, achieving Diaz’s goal may be a hill too tall for Yonkers to climb.
Ultimately, the council proposed a resolution to hire Beveridge to replace the original contractor. With John Rubbo’s absence, and Merante voting “no” purely to protest this last-minute and irregular process, the remainder of the council adopted the resolution 5:1 and secured, for the time being at least, a new consultant for the 2023 city council redistricting process.
Watch the full City Council meeting from their Facebook page:
