Some Broome Residents Want County Exec to Veto Legislative Map

A public hearing will be held on a revised redistricting map for the Broome County legislature.

County Executive Jason Garnar is scheduled to hear comment from residents on the proposed legislative districts on Thursday afternoon.

Some Broome County residents aren't happy with the new map approved by the legislature on December 27.

A group known as Fair Maps for Broome has called on Garnar to veto the revised redistricting plan.

The organization waged a successful legal battle to have the map first approved by the legislature thrown out. The original plan would have split the town of Maine into three legislative districts.

In a letter to the county executive, the group said the revised plan represented a "substantial improvement" over the original map. But the organization said there still appeared to be problems with the revisions made by the Republican-controlled legislature.

Fair Maps for Broome contends there is now a "transparent effort" to protect a Republican incumbent by redrawing the 12th District to exclude any part of the city of Binghamton. In its message to Garnar, the group noted parts of the city had been included in the district with parts of the town of Dickinson and the village of Port Dickinson for several decades.

The letter also maintains the redistricting process was not open and transparent.

Republicans have a super-majority on the legislature, so they could override a veto of the plan by the county executive.

The public hearing on the new redistricting map is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday in the Broome County Office Building in downtown Binghamton.

Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.