Politics & Government
Redistricting Commission Needs More Community Input
The Town of Brookhaven is required by law to examine council district lines this year, and the redistricting commission needs input from residents.
The Town of Brookhaven has formed a bipartisan committee that will help the town complete an important task: municipalities are required by law every ten years to re-examine council district boundaries.
Since 2012 marks ten years since the town adopted a system of council districts, that has to happen this year, by Dec. 15. To help in the process, the committee has scheduled a series of six public hearings. The second council district hearing was held Tuesday in Shoreham but was attended by just a handful of community members, and none from the Miller Place-Rocky Point area (though it did conflict with a Town Board meeting).
Committee Counsel Jeffrey Wice said that they will be making some improvements to the information on the website, including adding some population data, school district lines and more.
Find out what's happening in Miller Place-Rocky Pointwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"We're looking at this process with an open eye that there are no preconceived notions as to where lines ought to be," Wice said. "If you live in an area near a border or you feel that an entire district or an entire town ought to be drawn a different way, we're here to hear from you."
The committee will meet each of the next two Mondays and Tuesdays. Any resident can go to any meeting, regardless of council district.
Find out what's happening in Miller Place-Rocky Pointwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"We're not from each particular area, we need to know that from the folks that live there," said committee member Jeffrey Saunders. "If you have concerns those are the things we need to know in helping us determine our decisions."
What, if any, are the pressing concerns in the Miller Place-Rocky Point area? Should the council districts be re-organized by school district boundaries, hamlet, or by a different method? Log in to Patch and share your ideas as a comment below.
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