Silence on Redistricting in New York

The gist of this viral video, "S*!# New Yorkers Say," is true: We're hardly for want of opinions.

So when a New York State committee comes out with horribly gerrymandered districts that are being voted on in the next few months, you’d think there would be some public hearings to get feedback.

Well, if you thought that you don’t know Albany all that well.

Just today, the head of the committee overseeing these politically motivated bizarrely drawn maps, Assemblyman Jack McEneny, was asked if it’s true that there won’t be any public hearings on the issue. He responded, “that’s correct.”

“That’s correct,” he says? How about that’s an affront to the democratic process, that’s another reason for New Yorkers and Americans to distrust the “politicians behind the curtains?”

I understand from first-hand experience that hearings slow down processes, I know full well that they often bring out citizens with little grasp on the issues, but this should not be a decision left to a secretive legislative task force on redistricting. Having public hearing on the issue is a bare minimum step towards informing the public and getting their feedback on something that will impact the political landscape, and their lives, for years.

But, sadly, like the redistricting proposal itself, the chances that the democractic arguments will win out on this issue look grim.