New Nassau district map drawn at top speed

Using new software and a consultant, Nassau County Attorney John Ciampoli was able to draw a new map for the county legislature in less than 25 days -- a process that took nearly a year when the county last reapportioned its 19 legislative districts a decade ago.

Ciampoli, a former elections attorney for the Republican State Senate, said last week that he had been studying the results of the new census, released April 1, when Presiding Officer Peter J. Schmitt (R-Massapequa) asked him on April 19 to draw a new map that would address population shifts and improve minority representation. Ciampoli submitted the new lines Monday; they will be considered by the legislature's Rules Committee Monday. Approval by the Republican-controlled legislature is expected May 16.

The county purchased the redistricting software Maptitude for less than $20,000, Ciampoli said. He also paid Debra A. Levine, the Republican co-executive director of the state's Reapportionment Task force, $20,000 as a consultant, he said. Contracts for less than $25,000 do not require legislative review.

Although Levine is a state employee, Ciampoli said he cleared her work for Nassau through the state legislative Ethics Commission. Levine did not return a call for comment and the ethics commission said its opinions are confidential.

Democrats, who are expected to launch a court challenge, contend that the new map, which puts four Democratic legislators into two districts, is a Republican power grab. They also say the new lines illegally dilute the minority vote by grouping some minority communities that are now in the 3rd District, represented by Republican John Ciotti of North Valley Stream, into a new district with a lower percentage of minority voters.

Ciampoli says the new minority district, with no incumbent, empowers minority voters. He said the new lines eliminate improper population deviations between districts and respect town boundaries.

But Legis. Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury), presiding officer during the last reapportionment in 2002-03, called Ciampoli's map "fast food" compared to the "sit-down dinner" that redistricting should be. Before lines were drawn the last time, the legislature appointed a bipartisan redistricting commission, sent out more than 4,250 public notices and held six public hearings and a public work session between May and December 2002, she said. A new map was adopted by the then-Democratic controlled legislature on Feb. 24, 2003.

County Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs said Ciampoli's lines move 570,000 people from one district to another. Notifying them by mail would cost $1 million, he predicted.

"What I hear from Jay Jacobs is a partisan response," Ciampoli said. "What he can't seem to accept is that we have a Republican majority in the legislature that has created a historic opportunity for the minority community in western Nassau. What does Jay Jacobs have against these people?"

Jacobs said, "The fact that he refers to them as 'these people' is a solid indication of his thinking. . . . He needs to understand how democracy works and the concept of free and fair elections that he is trying to subvert by single-handedly producing this most partisan map at the wrong time."