Section 50.
§ 50. Districting Commission; composition; appointment; terms;
vacancies; compensation. a. There shall be a districting commission
consisting of fifteen members appointed as provided in this section.
1. The council delegation of the political party which has the largest
delegation in the council shall, by majority vote, appoint five members
of the commission, no more than one of whom may be a resident of the
same borough.
2. The council delegation of the political party which has the second
largest delegation in the council, shall, by majority vote, appoint
three members of the commission, no more than one of whom may be a
resident of the same borough.
3. If only one political party has a council delegation, then the
chairpersons of the county committees of the political party with no
council delegation which, at the time of the general election last
preceding the time at which such appointments are required to be made,
had the largest number of enrolled voters in the city, shall each submit
three nominations to the mayor, in order to provide a list of fifteen
nominations from that party. The mayor shall appoint three members from
such list, no more than one of whom may be a resident of the same
borough.
4. The mayor shall appoint seven additional members, but the party
enrollment, if any, of these additional members shall be such that
individuals enrolled in a single political party shall not be a majority
of the total number of members of the commission.
5. Officers and employees of the city or any city agency, lobbyists
required to file a statement of registration under federal, state or
local law, the employees of such lobbyists, federal, state and local
elected officials, and officers of any political party shall not be
eligible to be members of the commission.
6. The members of the commission shall elect one of the fifteen
members to serve as the chair of the commission.
7. For purposes of this section, a member of the council who was
elected to the council upon the nomination of more than one political
party shall be considered to be a member of the council delegation of
the political party on whose ballot line he or she received the largest
number of votes in his or her last election to the council.
b. 1. The commission shall have among its members (a) at least one
resident of each borough, and (b) members of the racial and language
minority groups in New York city which are protected by the United
States voting rights act of nineteen hundred sixty-five, as amended, in
proportion, as close as practicable, to their population in the city.
2. The mayor, no later than twenty-two months before the general
election of the council to be held in the year nineteen hundred and
ninety-three, and every ten years thereafter, shall convene one or more
meetings of all of the appointing and recommending authorities specified
in subdivision a of this section for the purpose of establishing a
screening and selection process for ensuring that the racial and
language minority groups in New York city which are protected by the
United States voting rights act of nineteen hundred sixty-five, as
amended, will be fairly represented on the commission.
c. Each council delegation authorized by subdivision a of this section
to make appointments to the commission shall make such appointments no
earlier than one year and eight months before, and no later than one
year and six months before, the general election of the council to be
held in the year nineteen hundred ninety-three, and every ten years
thereafter. In any case in which the chairpersons of the county
committees of a political party are authorized to submit nominations to
the mayor, such nominations shall be submitted no earlier than one year
and eight months before, and no later than one year and six months
before, the general election of the council to be held in the year
nineteen hundred ninety-three, and every ten years thereafter. The mayor
shall make appointments to the commission after each council delegation
authorized to make appointments has done so but not later than one year
and five months before such a general election of the council. The
commission's term shall end sixty days after the day of the first
general election of the council following the commission's adoption of a
districting plan, as set forth in section fifty-one.
d. In the event of a vacancy by death, resignation or otherwise, a new
member enrolled in the same political party from which his or her
predecessor was selected shall be appointed in the same manner as the
member whose departure from the commission created a vacancy to serve
the balance of the term remaining.
e. No member of the districting commission shall be removed from
office except by the person or persons who appointed such member and
only for cause and upon notice and hearing.
f. The members of the commission shall serve without compensation
except that each member shall be allowed actual and necessary expenses
to be audited in the same manner as other city charges.
g. The commission may hire or contract for necessary staff assistance
and may require agencies of city government to provide technical
assistance. The commission shall have a budget as provided by the mayor.
Section 51.
§ 51. Powers and duties of the commission; hearings; submissions and
approval of plan. a. Following each decennial census, the commission
shall prepare a plan for dividing the city into districts for the
election of council members. In preparing the plan, the commission shall
be guided by the criteria set forth in section fifty-two.
b. The commission shall hold one or more public hearings not less than
one month before it submits its plan to the city council, in accordance
with subdivision c of this section. The commission shall make its plan
available to the public for inspection and comment not less than one
month before the first such public hearing.
c. The commission shall submit its plan to the city council not less
than one year before the general election of the city council to be held
in the year nineteen hundred ninety-three and every ten years
thereafter.
d. The plan submitted in accordance with subdivision c of this section
shall be deemed adopted unless, within three weeks, the council by the
vote of a majority of all of its members adopts a resolution objecting
to such plan and returns the plan to the commission with such
resolutions and a statement of its objections, and with copies of the
written objections of any individual members of the council who have
submitted objections to the speaker prior to such date. Any objections
from individual members submitted to the speaker by such date shall be
transmitted to the districting commission whether or not the council
objects to such districting plan.
e. Upon the receipt of any such resolution and objections, the
commission shall prepare a revised plan and shall, no later than ten
months before such general election of the city council, make such plan
available to the council and the public for inspection and comment. The
commission shall hold public hearings and seek public comment on such
revised plan.
f. Following its consideration of the comments received pursuant to
subdivision e of this section, the commission shall, no later than eight
months before such general election of the council, prepare and submit a
final plan for the redistricting of the council.
g. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision d or subdivision f
of this section, no plan shall be deemed adopted in accordance with
either of such subdivisions until the commission files, with the city
clerk, a copy of such plan and a statement signed by at least nine
members of the commission certifying that, within the constraint of
paragraph a of subdivision one of section fifty-two, the criteria set
forth in the other paragraphs of such subdivision have been applied in
the order in which they are listed and that such criteria have been
implemented, in such order, to the maximum extent practicable. Such
certification shall also set forth the manner in which the commission
implemented the requirements of paragraph b of subdivision one of
section fifty-two. Such plan shall be deemed adopted upon the
commission's filing with the city clerk of such plan and such
certification.
h. After the commission files its final plan with the city clerk
pursuant to subdivision g of this section, the commission shall take all
steps necessary to ensure that such plan is effectuated, including but
not limited to submitting such plan for preclearance by the United
States department of justice pursuant to the United States voting rights
act of nineteen hundred sixty-five, as amended, and making such
adjustments in its plan as may be necessary and appropriate to respond
to a determination of a court or the United States department of
justice.
Section 52.
§ 52. District plan; criteria. 1. In the preparation of its plan for
dividing the city into districts for the election of council members,
the commission shall apply the criteria set forth in the following
paragraphs to the maximum extent practicable. The following paragraphs
shall be applied and given priority in the order in which they are
listed.
a. The difference in population between the least populous and the
most populous districts shall not exceed ten percentum (10%) of the
average population for all districts, according to figures available
from the most recent decennial census. Any such differences in
population must be justified by the other criteria set forth in this
section.
b. Such districting plan shall be established in a manner that ensures
the fair and effective representation of the racial and language
minority groups in New York city which are protected by the United
States voting rights act of nineteen hundred sixty-five, as amended.
c. District lines shall keep intact neighborhoods and communities with
established ties of common interest and association, whether historical,
racial, economic, ethnic, religious or other.
d. Each district shall be compact and shall be no more than twice as
long as it is wide.
e. A district shall not cross borough or county boundaries.
f. Districts shall not be drawn for the purpose of separating
geographic concentrations of voters enrolled in the same political party
into two or more districts in order to diminish the effective
representation of such voters.
g. The districting plan shall be established in a manner that
minimizes the sum of the length of the boundaries of all of the
districts included in the plan.
2. Each district shall be contiguous, and whenever a part of a
district is separated from the rest of the district by a body of water,
there shall be a connection by a bridge, a tunnel, a tramway or by
regular ferry service.
3. If any district includes territory in two boroughs, then no other
district may also include territory from the same two boroughs.
To the extent possible under law, Friends of Devin Balkind for Public Advocate has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to New York City Administrative Code. This work is published from: United States.
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