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NORWALK, Conn. It's going to be a while before Norwalk's legislative districts are redrawn in the once-every-decade redistricting.
The eight-member bipartisan committee in charge of redistricting won't make its Sept. 15 goal of coming up with a plan to redraw districts across Connecticut, said state Rep. Larry Cafero, R-142nd District. As a result, by law, a nine-member commission will be formed with a new deadline of Nov. 30.
The problem is that it's complicated, said Cafero, co-chairman of the committee. And deciding what happens in Fairfield County won't happen for a while. Census figures show the population has grown in the Northeast corner of Connecticut, which means that redistricting must start there, with each decision made affecting the next decision.
Last week, Democratic Norwalk Registrar Stuart Wells expected the committee to miss its Sept. 15 deadline, which will make city redistricting more difficult. "We're supposed to do this with that panel next week," he said amid papers and maps with lines drawn on them. "But sometimes these things become political footballs."
Cafero said it hasn't reached the point of being political. "The inability to have a plan, at least at this stage, has nothing to do with partisan rancor or gridlock," he said. "It's just a very tedious, long process."
The Sept. 15 deadline was missed in 2001 and 1991, too, he said. The current members of the committee will likely become the members of the commission. The eight will select the ninth member, likely an elder statesmen who is no longer in politics.
In 1991 and 2001, it was former speaker of the House, Nelson Brown. Cafero said that is "ironic," because Brown just died at age 89 and he will be lying in state in the Capitol on Wednesday.
Cafero has no idea who will be selected this time.
If the Nov. 30 deadline isn't met, the matter would go to the courts. Wells said that would likely push the process into spring, when registrars will be getting ready for presidential primaries, in addition to redefining the city's districts.
What's complicated about redistricting? "One of your goals always is to come as close to one person, one vote as possible," Cafero said. "What does that mean? If you took the total population based on the latest census of the state of Connecticut and you divided it by 151 reps, the current amount of reps that we have, each representative should represent 23,670 people. The current districts, many of them are under-populated from that number and many are over-populated from that number. Most of the population shift we experienced in the last 10 years is centered in the Northeast corner of the state.
"Picture a piece of wallpaper. You have too much glue up in the upper right hand corner, you're trying to smooth that glue down west and south. The districting decision you make starting in the Northeast corner eventually work their way across the state. They may or may not affect other districts."
In Norwalk, Cafero's district gained population. So did the districts served by Rep. Terrie Wood and Rep. Gail Lavielle. Districts represented by Chris Perrone and Bruce Morris "pretty much stayed the same."
Norwalk is fairly far down the list. "It's tough to say until we get down to that corner of the state, which frankly will probably be last based on where we started," Cafero said.
Wells said the problem is compounded because this part of Fairfield County is in the "panhandle," and there isn't much wiggle room. He expects it to be political, but said, "I don't know that a citizen panel would do it any better."
Cafero said only one member of the committee, Arthur O'Neill, has previously done redistricting. "This is new to me, and it's fascinating," he said. "Take the politics out of it, just the mapping and the technology you use, the census blocks, etc., it's just fascinating. It's like being a puzzle maker or something. It's really been quite an education for me."
Contact reporter Nancy Chapman at nchapman@thedailynorwalk.com.
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