As per Brookhaven Town code, town lines must be redistricted every 10 years, after council districts were formed in 2000. The requirement, according to town officials, ensures equal representation as a reflection of the most current population data.

In May, the Town of Brookhaven appointed a redistricting committee comprising three Democratic representatives, three Republican representatives, and two other party representatives. The redistricting committee, pursuant to Chapter 27-7C (1), consists of eight voting members who will review and/or analyze and provide a proposal to the town board, using the federal census information and election districts determined by the Board of Elections.

Members include: Rabia Aziz of Coram, George Hoffman of Setauket, Gail Lynch-Bailey of Middle Island, Delilah Bustamante of Manorville, Ali Nazir of Lake Grove, Edward McCarthy of Blue Point, Chad Lennon of Rocky Point, and Krystina Sconzo of Mastic Beach.

Since then, several public meetings have been held throughout the town. After all comments are heard, the committee will consider all concerns and recommendations and decide on the best-possible new lines in each council district, of which there are six.  Once a decision is made, new maps will be presented to the town board of trustees as a resolution, which then can be voted on for adoption. The process is expected to conclude before the end of the year.

The Town of Brookhaven recently released two proposed maps prepared by the hired mapmaker, Dan Schaefer, from Skyline Consulting, in Schenectady. The baseline maps were provided to the redistricting committee for discussion during the last six public meetings.

East Patchogue resident Lisa Sevimli questioned the integrity of the mapmaker and whoever instructed him to create the maps. She also claimed the mapmaker was instructed to make maps with advantages to one particular party.

“The mapmaker is hiding from the committee by the attorney,” she said of the committee’s appointed attorney, Vincent Messina.

Messina declined to comment as counsel. Messina’s law firm is located in Sayville. Schaefer and his office were not able to be reached as of press time.

“The marginalized will no longer stand silent for another gerrymandering scheme devised to shut out one-fifth of the population,” Sevimli said. “Suffolk County’s largest growing Hispanic population, along with its growing Asian population, will stand up next to our African American sisters and brothers to demand equality and representation!”

In response to Sevimli's concerns, she and nearly 30 residents attended and spoke during the recent Aug. 11 Town of Brookhaven trustee’s meeting. Specifically, she and a few others were there to demand the proposed maps be removed from the website.

Another resident, Clifford Hymowitz, claimed the process wasn’t clear to all residents and simply posting the drawn maps was misleading. He requested more transparency and education about the process.

Another resident, Carol Russell, accused the process as gerrymandering, noting that it dilutes the minority vote. She was particularly concerned with Ridge being split fairly between the overpopulated and underpopulated areas in the current districts.

Joan Nickeson, of the League of Women Voters, also spoke, stating that she was “disturbed” by the unbalanced commission and the conduct of the members.
“They did not even speak to the mapmaker,” she said.
Lisa DiSanto, also an East Patchogue resident, addressed the board, questioning the hiring of the attorney, who she claimed was a “Republican Party hatchet man for election law.”

The majority of the speakers discussed issues with the division of Port Jefferson and Ridge. After the public comment portion, Brookhaven Town supervisor Ed Romaine addressed the crowd.

“The town board, as you know, is not involved in the redistricting process at this point,” he said, noting that they will most likely be presented the maps in September. “There are 45 communities in this map; as a board, we are looking at the best intentions of the [entire] town.”

Specifically, he was looking for the map with the least “splits.”

“We welcome all your comments and will take them to heart,” he added.

According to Democratic committee member Rabia Aziz, of Coram, the committee did indeed receive the said proposed maps, but with no discussion. She said she wants to find the maps with the least changes.

“Districts should not be divided; it should be about families and community interests,” she added.
Another one of the democratic commissioners, George Hoffman, of Setauket, explained a bit of the process, noting a stenographer was at all six of the initial public meetings. Then, at the end of that process, two maps were created by the mapmaker based off the public comment. However, he said, the committee never met with the mapmaker or gave any input.

“We are still trying to meet with the mapmaker,” he said, after repeatedly requesting a meeting. He said because they never accepted those maps, he felt they shouldn’t have been posted to the town’s website.

Co-chair and Republican committee member, Ali Nazir, also explained the process. He said when the process began, all residents were notified, the redistricting committee was formed, and an attorney was assigned as counsel. At that time, the group met face-to-face to begin the process. A schedule was set up, and a total of 12 public hearings were conducted.

During the first six meetings, the majority of the speakers present spoke about the commissioners and the process, not the district lines. As per the process, he noted, a mapmaker was hired by the counsel to propose baseline maps based off the new census data, as well as any input during the meeting minutes.

He confirmed the committee did not meet with the mapmaker at that time, nor did they have any input. However, he said that a meeting has been scheduled to meet with the mapmaker to discuss the information based off the last six meetings and to tweak the proposed baseline maps.

“There are specific rules he has to follow, even to begin with,” Nasser explained. “This is just part of the process. The maps were done by a professional mapmaker as a starting point.”

Once the new maps are reworked, the committee can vote on one map or several to be presented to the town board for consideration. Once the board has the maps, another public hearing will be held based off the accepted maps, and at that time, the board can either vote to accept one of the committee’s maps or a different map entirely.

“I am very surprised by my democratic counterparts, who have tried to cast doubt on the process,” he continued, explaining that they were present during the entire process, including the hiring of the attorney and mapmaker.

For more information on the Town of Brookhaven redistricting committee, visit the town website or contact redistricting@brookhavenny.gov.