The Commission on Reapportionment was established by the Ulster County Charter to create 23 single member districts for the Ulster County Legislature using 2010 census data. Below is the section of the Ulster County Charter that discusses the Commission.
Ulster County Charter
Final Report, June 15, 2011
To see the final, approved version of the Commission's Redistricting Plan, Click Here
C-10. Commission on Reapportionment.
| A. | A Commission on Reapportionment shall be established as soon as practicable after the availability of data from the census of 2010 to create 23 single-member districts for the Ulster County Legislature and thereafter to meet and evaluate existing legislative districts no later than 60 days after the necessary census data becomes available from the decennial federal census and reapportion them as necessary to meet established standards in state and federal law for equal and fair representation of all people in Ulster County, keeping districts compact and contiguous while taking also into account existing town, city, village and election district boundaries and defining geographic features but giving no consideration to providing advantage to one or another political party. This Commission shall consist of seven members who are County residents, are eligible to register to vote and are not public officers or employees. |
| B. | To establish a pool from which members will be appointed, no later than three months prior to the anticipated first meeting of the Commission on Reapportionment, the County Executive shall widely solicit interest in serving on the Commission through such means as direct mail and e-mail contact with civic groups, public service announcements on radio and television and in daily and weekly newspapers, paid advertisement and announcement on the County website. |
| C. | Initial appointments to the Commission on Reapportionment from the pool of interested parties gathered in this manner shall represent various geographic areas of the County and shall be made no later than 60 days after the census data becomes available, with two members appointed by the Legislature's majority leader and two members by the Legislature's minority leader. |
| D. | These four appointed Commissioners shall select the additional three Commission members from the pool previously established no later than 70 days after the census data becomes available. In the event that the additional three Commission members are not appointed by the prescribed deadline, the appointment of the initial four members will no longer have force and effect and these members will no longer be eligible to serve on the Commission on Reapportionment. The majority and minority leaders will make alternative appointments in the manner prescribed in this section, and the four newly appointed members will appoint three additional members so as to allow the Commission to convene no later than six months after the census data becomes available. |
| E. | The Commission will reapportion in accordance with a process that allows timely inputfrom the County Legislature and its members and the maximum of public participation and comment, and in accord with a calendar it adopts for itself after consideration of New York State Election Law that assures that elections in newly apportioned districts will be held in the year ending in "1" in every decade. |
The Ulster County Administrative Code states that the Commission is "to meet and evaluate existing legislative districts no later than 60 days after the necessary census data becomes available from the decennial federal census and reapportion (the districts) as necessary to meet established standards in state and federal law for equal and fair representation of all people in Ulster County, keeping districts compact and contiguous while taking also into account existing town, city, village and election district boundaries and defining geographic features but giving no consideration to providing advantage to one or another political party.”
The Ulster County Commission on Reapportionment has adopted these principals to successfully complete their task:
- An accurate and complete count in Census 2010 is an essential building block for all redistricting efforts.
- The process used for redistricting must be transparent to the public.
- The redistricting process, at all levels of government, must provide data, tools and opportunities for the public to have direct input into the specific plans under consideration by the redistricting body.
- In order to achieve representative democracy, redistricting plans must be drawn in a manner that allows elected bodies to reflect the diversity of the populace, with consideration of racial and ethnic diversity.
This website was developed to keep the public apprised of our activities and includes meeting agendas, minutes and video.
Our goal is to work within a transparent process, to provide opportunities for the public to have direct input into the process and to develop districts that reflect the diversity of the population of Ulster County with consideration of race and ethnicity.
