Democrats in the Onondaga County Legislature are continuing to claim the county’s Republicans are attempting to “rush” the redistricting process.
Among them is Legislator Chris Ryan, who came out Tuesday to talk about how changes to district maps can impact the balance of power on both the state and national level.
He said the Democratic Caucus’ goal is to fairly draw districts that are compact and don’t break up communities.
Ryan said the current maps don’t achieve that, and said elected officials shouldn’t be involved in the process.
“We felt then, as we feel now, is that politicians should not draw the districts that they live in,” he said.
Ryan said Democrats in the legislature proposed an independent redistricting commission 16 months ago, which would have given the power to draw legislative districts to a non-partisan panel of citizens.
The legislature is holding a redistricting hearing Wednesday at 6 p.m.
