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OSSINING, N.Y. Village of Ossining Mayor William Hanauer hopes his words on the new redistricting plan arent falling on deaf ears.
Hanauer and other village and town officials held a press conference Monday to publicly speak against the state legislative task forces plan to place the village and town of Ossining into the 38th Senate District along with Ramapo, Clarkstown and Orangetown in Rockland County. Ossining Town Supervisor Susanne Donnelly and Briarcliff Manor Village Manager Philip Zegarelli were among the officials who joined Hanauer Monday in the press conference.
We the people of the town and village of Ossining vehemently opposed this proposed plan, Hanauer said Monday during his speech. It is difficult to imagine that a senator, whose primary constituency is in Rockland County, would even be fully cognizant of the needs of our residents and prioritize them.
Hanauer noted later that he had yet to hear from any representatives in the state on whether the plan has been modified.
I guess until they pass it, we wont even know what it is theyre passing, he said. I doubt they would change it at the last minute, but they could.
Currently, Ossining falls within the 37th Senate District, represented by State Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer (D-Mamaroneck). Both the Village and Town of Ossinings respective boards recently announced opposition to the plan.
While Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he would veto the current plan if it came across his desk, Hanauer said hes unsure of what would happen if the proposal made it that far.
I certainly do hope the governor is as good as his word and vetoes it, Hanauer said. I think the only thing residents can do at this point is continue to write against it and go to Albany and lobby against it on days when theyre there.
Assembly member Sandy Galef (D-Ossining) recently spoke out against the redistricting plan.
I havent heard of any changes to the Ossining part of the plan, Galef said last week. I think some changes have been made to the original plan but Im not sure if its going to have any change to Ossining.
Galef said she recently sent letters to the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment opposing the plan.
I had thought that there would be a vote on it by now, Galef said last week. But I have seen nothing of it yet.
Residents looking to read the entire speech or find information on sending letters to state representatives are asked to visit the village of Ossinings website.
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