In article “New lines lambasted for state office seats,” in the Feb. 9-15 edition of TimesLedger Newspapers, Elmer Backburne unfortunately chose to view the redistricting commission’s skin color rather than the content of its character as the reason for its brazen gerrymandering of the districts.
I would suggest that the color of their skin has much less to do with the fact that there are no legislative term limits, the districts are safe havens for re-election and re-election is all but assured by an electorate with a short memory.
This toxic combination creates an absolute lack of accountability on the part of legislators, which is why they could so brazenly gerrymander these districts. The state Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment issued a legislative incumbent protection offer to their fellow legislators who publicly denounce the plan but will still line up behind state Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver (D-Manhattan) and state Sen. Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) to sign off on it.
The public will forget, legislators will be re-elected and the wheel of dysfunction will continue to go round and round.
Bob Friedrich
President
Glen Oaks Village Co-op
