In late 2011 the state General Assembly redrew the district lines for the state House of Representatives and the State Senate to conform to the 2010 Census. Fairfield now needs to change its own district lines to better fit the new state boundaries by June, according to state law.
The six-member bipartisan Redistricting Committee started meeting in March 2012. The three Democrats and three Republicans on the committee split over how many districts the town should have. Democrats favored keeping the current 10 districts, while Republicans wanted to shrink the number to eight.
The new districts would affect where Fairfield’s voters go to vote, and could also affect the candidates in this November’s elections. The Representative Town Meeting, Fairfield’s legislature, is up for reelection in 2013. The new boundaries could move some representatives into new districts, or eliminate their posts entirely if Fairfield chooses eight districts.
The Republicans announced in a press release last week that they want to bring competing plans to the full Representative Town Meeting for a vote. Republicans outnumber Democrats on the RTM 28-22.
“The Redistricting Committee has held 18 distinct meetings over the past year and I am extremely disappointed its members have been unable to advance a proposal out of Committee for debate onto the floor of the RTM,” Republican moderator Jeff Steele said in a press release.
The GOP argues that fewer voting districts would create “more competition” for the remaining seats, and would make leaders more visible and accountable. They also say the move would save the taxpayers some money, as the Registrars of Voters would have to run two fewer polling places each election.
Democratic Minority Leader Hal Schwartz, however, wrote a response that challenged the Republicans’ claims. He said that the town charter specifies that the six-member committee should approve a plan, to ensure “that neither party has an unfair advantage.”
“Our Redistricting Committee has the means to craft a fair plan,” Schwartz wrote. “We applaud their skills, and support their continued effort through legal means to achieve such a plan.”
Schwartz also argued that a smaller RTM would make its members less accountable, as they would have larger districts to manage. The eight-district map released by the GOP had a disproportionate number of Republican-majority districts compared to those drawn up by the Registrars, he said.
The Representative Town Meeting has to decide on new districts by June 1, according to state law. The Redistricting Committee does not currently have a meeting scheduled before then.
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