redistricting

When Clyde Williams left Harlem four years ago for Washington, D.C.­ to work for President Barack Obama, CC '83, he said he knew "from day one" that he would be back.

Williams served as national political director of the Democratic National Committee, while his wife, Mona Sutphen, was deputy chief of staff of the White House. He returned last June with a new goal in mind: running for the U.S. House of Representatives and challenging Charles Rangel, the incumbent of 41 years.

Although Williams has not officially declared himself a candidate in the race, he has formed an exploratory committee, raised $167,000, and conducted preliminary voting polls.

He cited unemployment and long-standing inequities in health care and education as urgent economic issues, but believes that Harlem's political environment has not sufficiently provided new solutions.

"It's interesting, I've had a woman say to me, ‘Why would you run for Charlie's seat?' And I said, ‘It's a public seat and a public process.' People should want to have a debate about issues. That's how you get the best ideas," Williams said.

In 2001, he went to work for the Clinton Global Initiative as a domestic policy adviser at an office based on 125th Street. The experience informed his interest in the area: While there, he led the implementation of programs that provided technical assistance to small businesses in Harlem, brought door-to-door HIV screenings to local housing projects, and offered SAT testing to disadvantaged students.

"I saw there was a need to become more involved in issues that impacted the community," Williams said. "I would do that even if I wasn't running for Congress. I've always had a desire to be involved in public policy in a profound way."

But Williams is still technically not in the race—and what's stopping him is the decennial process of redistricting, in which district borders are redrawn by state legislatures, based on data from the most recent national census.

Redistricting has been a "major hurdle," as Williams said it's impossible to know where the edges of the district lie and, thus, who his constituents would be. And with the primary moved up to June 26 from September, time is money.

"It just makes the entire process very difficult. That's why this process actually helps incumbents ... they know they have the ability to figure out who their voters are while they're drawing up the lines. Everyone else just has to wait."

On Monday, a federal judge recommended that the redistricting process be handed over to a court-appointed "special master," citing the legislature's delay in finalizing borders. Williams said that he was glad, hoping that it would move along a process that he said has "proven to be flawed."

Last month, Assembly member Denny Farrell said that Rangel was initially opposed to plans that would increase the district's African-American population by shifting the northern border as far as Mount Vernon, but that he has recognized the move might be necessary to keep his seat.

Rangel shied away from the issue in an interview last month, saying, "The only thing that I said is I have to accept whatever the mandate is with the exception of the congressman from Harlem having to be stationed in the Bronx, which some people have talked about. I'll be damned if I want the district to go to Mount Vernon."

Williams said that because the northwestern border currently ends in Marble Hill, on the cusp of Manhattan and the Bronx, he is not opposed to moving it further north—as long as the district remains contiguous.

"I think the district should be drawn to be contiguous and not gerrymandering," he said.

Williams said that although the impact of Rangel on the district has been undeniable, "problems still exist."

"I don't believe on any level that he hasn't tried to address problems or that he doesn't care. I truly think he's done what's in the best interest," he said. "But there comes a time when you need new ideas and a new perspective to look at decades-old problems that have gone unresolved."

jillian.kumagai@columbiaspectator.com

The city Districting Commission approved a revised plan for the new City Council map Wednesday night, potentially bringing major changes to Upper Manhattan districts.

Before the plan was approved, City Council member Melissa Mark-Viverito, a vocal critic of the commission throughout the redistricting process, released a statement signaling acceptance of the new lines, which drastically reshape her district. District 8 currently includes East Harlem, Manhattan Valley, and a small portion of the Bronx, and the new plan would almost evenly divide the district between the Bronx and East Harlem.

"While I cannot say that the final draft lines released on Monday have met all of the objectives of my community, a number of changes were made that responded directly to feedback from the public," Mark-Viverito said in a statement. "I stand fully prepared to represent this new district and I look forward to working with all of my Bronx colleagues and community leaders in the months and years to come to advance issues of importance for our communities."

Mark-Viverito also praised the decision to unify Manhattan Valley in one district, District 7, and to incorporate Randall's Island into District 8. She said the new boundaries would not reduce East Harlem's "strength as a historic community of interest."

Including Manhattan Valley in District 7, which is largely minority, would mean an increase in the white population of the district.

Dr. Lisa Handley, a redistricting expert who presented a racial voting bloc analysis to the panel of commissioners, said despite the adjustments, District 8 would remain one of the city's 19 "ability to elect" districts. "Ability to elect" districts are those in which there is a particularly high percentage of racial minorities, meaning a single minority population may have the influence to determine the district's representative. In order to pass federal review, the city must work to maintain these types of districts.

Although the final vote on the map was nearly unanimous, commissioner Jamila Ponton Bragg expressed concern that the addition of Manhattan Valley would threaten District 7's status as an "ability to elect" district. However, Handley said her analysis did not find the white population growth in the district to be that significant.

The new plan now goes to the City Council, which has three weeks to reject it or send it to the Department of Justice for final review.

chris.meyer@columbiaspectator.com | @CMeyer201

"Don't play politics with our community" was the clear message that locals sent to representatives of New York's Districting Commission. From politicians to elementary school students, a boisterous and fed-up crowd testified at a hearing Thursday that the proposed new City Council districts would tear apart the fabric of their neighborhoods.

The commission held the second of five public hearings at the Schomburg Center on 135th Street and Lenox Avenue on Thursday, allowing New Yorkers to provide input on redistricting, a once-every-10-years process intended to reflect the new demographic makeup of the city. But the proposed map has deeply angered residents of Upper Manhattan, who say that drawing lines through their community would dilute their voices.

Inez Dickens, who represents Morningside Heights and Central Harlem in the Council's 9th District, drew loud reactions from the crowd as she spoke for well over her allotted two minutes, ignoring the signaling bell and the commission's attempts to stop her short.

"The critical nature of the districting process is not lost on anyone in this room," Dickens said. "We know that districting will affect the future of our communities for the next decade."

Chants of "Let her speak!" echoed as the committee's chair, Benito Romano, asked Dickens to wrap up.

"I know this dynamic and robust part of this city, and maybe better than you do," Dickens said. She added that the proposed layout of Upper Manhattan districts ignores the area's natural boundaries and "cracks the Dominican community in half."

"That's not the best lines that you can do," said Robert Jackson, who represents parts of Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and Upper Manhattan, in the Council's 7th District. "So I ask that you take a look at that again."

Dickens proposed an alternative redistricting plan, the Upper Manhattan Empowerment District plan, which she called "simple, balanced, and fair" and one that "recognizes the demographic realities."

"I support the Upper Manhattan Empowerment District map," State Assembly member Keith Wright said. "It uses community districts as its base."

Six out of 10 Council members who represent Manhattan are racial minorities. Given that the proposed lines would change the demographics of Upper Manhattan districts, politicians said they feared that number could go down. "That should not be diminished," Jackson said.

After Dickens' charged speech, the commission called a five-minute recess, causing an uproar.

Laura Friedman, president of the Morningside Heights Historic District Committee, asked the commission to "recognize that the current redistricting is an opportunity" for the city to unite Morningside Heights in one district. "Please don't chop us into political pieces," Friedman said.

Council member of the 8th District Melissa Mark-Viverito, who represents East Harlem, received strong support for asking the commission to hold more public hearings and allow more community members the opportunity to testify.

"Clearly, we are not to be divided," Mark-Viverito said. "We need transparency, we need accountability, we need another set of hearings."

Fifth-grade students from P.S. 163 testified in favor of keeping their district together—and under the representation of Mark-Viverito, who would lose significant chunks of her current district under the commission's plan.

"We will fight as a community," said fifth-grader Rebecca Mayfield, one of six of her classmates to testify, "because we want to stay as a community."

gina.lee@columbiaspectator.com

City Council member Robert Jackson told Washington Heights residents to get involved in the city redistricting process Wednesday night, at a community forum attended by several politicians who might replace him on the council.

Jackson, who has criticized the city redistricting commission's first draft of new council district lines, told a room of about 30 community members and local politicos that it's important to make sure that "the minority population is not negatively impacted" by the redistricting. He and his staff also emphasized the importance of his partnership with fellow northern Manhattan City Council member Ydanis Rodriguez, saying that the neighborhood benefits from being split into two council districts. Jackson represents Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and parts of Upper Manhattan.

"The more voices you have at City Hall to say, ‘This is not acceptable,' the better off you are," said Johanna Garcia, Jackson's director of budget and legislative affairs.

Zead Ramadan, a former chair of Community Board 12, said that the lines proposed by the City Council would take political influence away from northern Manhattan by putting most of it into one district.

"We lose so much power uptown," Ramadan said. "The center of gravity is going to shift down to western Harlem. And that's not a bad thing—they're great neighbors and all that, but we lose a lot of voice."

"Because right now, we have two council members who also share the land area pretty equally, so when they advocate for millions of dollars of resources, they're bringing it to our community," he added. "And I think that's the tragedy. We lose a tremendous funding source."

In the audience Wednesday night was community leader Cheryl Pahaham, one of two candidates for the City Council seat currently held by Jackson, who is term-limited and running for Manhattan borough president. Other attendees included northern Manhattan Democratic District Leader Mark Levine, who has formed an exploratory committee to consider a possible bid, and legendary Washington Heights politician Maria Luna, who has indicated that she might run too.

"What it is that we need is to make sure that those that get elected deliver to our community," Luna said to the crowd. "It's really the quality of the elected officials that we should be concerned about."

Jackson said that most local residents don't know how much they can do to influence the redistricting, making it important "to hold forums to give them the opportunity." He encouraged the forum's attendees to submit their own redistricting proposals and to testify at the city's public hearings.

"They can email, they can write, they can give testimony, they can go online and manipulate the lines themselves," Jackson said after the event. "At least then people can't say, ‘I don't know.' They know that I informed them."

Frank Hess, a special assistant to State Assembly member Herman Farrell, said that he thinks some locals will get involved in the redistricting process as a result of the forum.

"It allows them to see what the process is, but then the question becomes, ‘How can they affect it?'" Hess said. "And that I can't answer."

Luna, though, said that the new district lines are not the most important issue at hand.

"Truth is that this is one city, one people," Luna said. "Whoever wins has to be able to do the best for all of us. The lines are invisible."

news@columbiaspectator.com

It was a typical week for Columbia and the neighborhood, with controversies, confusion, and committees dominating the headlines. Here's the News Desk's quick recap of all the stories you might have missed: There were a lot of students and staffers unhappy with the University this week—students because they've been waiting in hour-plus lines at the Package Center, and staffers because Barnard is asking about 175 employees to accept a three-year wage freeze. And in a story that's made national headlines, a former Columbia Ph.D. student is suing the University, saying that he was fired after rejecting his lab supervisor's sexual advances. Who gets to come to Columbia? That's the question being asked this week by Columbia's Greek women, who must choose between four sororities competing for two spots on campus, and by Barnard Public Safety, which is now requires you to present a Columbia ID if you want to enter campus between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. It's also a question that will be taken up by a new faculty committee, whose members will advise Provost John Coatsworth on undergraduate admissions and financial aid policies.more If you're interested in city politics, read about the crowded race to replace City Council member Robert Jackson, and then check out our profile of the newest candidate, the largely unknown Cheryl Pahaham. The outcome of the race could hinge on the ongoing city redistricting process, which no one seems to be happy about right now. What is the future of education? It's a big question, and Columbia took a first stab at answering it this week, announcing it will offer two massive open online courses in the spring. Some experts at Teachers College, meanwhile, looked at the question from a different angle, debating the best way to fix the country's ailing school system. In other education-related news, the Teachers College Community School finally opened its permanent location this week, in an event marked by first-graders singing "What a Wonderful World" for an audience that included University President Lee Bollinger. And speaking of rare PrezBo appearances, Bollinger also showed up at the second day of this week's global center directors' summit to give his usual spiel on the importance of global education. Fun fact: If you search "Bollinger" and "global" on the Spectator website, you get 17 pages of results. That's all for today. Tweet @ColumbiaSpec with the hashtag #icymi to let us know what stories caught your attention this week.

In today's paper, Jillian Kumagai reports that New York's redistricting plan has resulted in new congressional district boundaries---meaning that Rep. Charles Rangel will no longer be our representative:

As we settle into October, this semester's storylines are starting to become familiar. Barnard cuts its budget. Columbia looks for ways to make life easier for its students. Upper Manhattan residents have problems with redistricting. Local hawks die from rat poison. Wait, what was that last one? In case you missed it, here's the News Desk's breakdown of this week's top stories: Barnard administrators went on something of a PR blitz this week, in the wake of a series of budget cuts that has riled students. Barnard President Debora Spar told Spectator that the college is working to cut up to $8 million from its annual operating budget, before telling the Student Government Association that students need to do a better job of communicating their concerns to administrators. Barnard Dean Avis Hinkson addressed lingering concerns over this year's housing crunch at an SGA town hall Tuesday night, just before more than 80 students attended a teach-in to support Barnard union workers, who say that administrators are trying to freeze their salaries and cut benefits.more On the other side of Broadway, the big question this week was how to improve the student experience at Columbia, a question that even PrezBo was asking. For some initiatives, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive; students say that the new peer advising system helps first-years cut through bureaucracy, that the open housing program has made life more comfortable for the 60 students taking advantage of it, and that two new student council funds could be a boon to cash-strapped clubs.more Columbia's arts initiatives, though, seem to be less than popular at the moment; CUArts' discount ticket prices have been on the rise, and the Columbia Ballet Collaborative is being asked to pay a hefty price tag to keep performing in Miller Theater. And in another story that has already raised some concerns, Dean of Student Affairs Kevin Shollenberger confirmed that he won't release a breakdown of how student life fees are spent. You know how Columbia has space issues? Well, the city does too. Local residents and politicians continued to lash out against proposed redistricting lines this week, while bike activists criticized Community Board 7 for not pushing hard enough for bike lines. Meanwhile, the city is starting to crack down on landlords who operate illegal hotels, although some locals say the crackdown will lead to landlords starting homeless shelters instead. And in Columbia/city space news, the Friends of Morningside Park have continued to struggle following the Columbia-backed Morningside Area Alliance's decision to kick the organization out of its Columbia-owned office space. Oh, and the hawk deaths? Yeah, that's a real thing. Tweet @ColumbiaSpec with the hashtag #icymi to let us know what stories caught your attention this week.

Let's be honest: You probably weren't focused on the news around or near campus this week. Between settling back into college life and going to your first classes, you've been busy. At Spectator's News Desk, though, we're all about news, all the time, and this week was no exception. So, in case you missed it, here's a quick breakdown of this week's top stories. Financially, it was a good week for Columbia---administrators announced a $25 million donation to the Business School, most of which will help pay for its new buildings in Manhattanville. (Those buildings, by the way, probably won't be finished until 2020.) The University is still getting sued over the direction of its Italian Academy, although the plaintiffs aren't actually asking for any money. more Barnard made some headlines this week as well. While the Barnard housing shortage saga seemed to move toward a close--only three students remained on a housing waitlist at the beginning of the week---the college was back in the spotlight with President Debora Spar's announcement that 16 administrators and professors had applied for early retirement, which Spar said was a "considerably larger" number than expected. Among the retirees is Karen Blank, who has been Barnard's dean of studies for 19 years. The University also has a few new administrators as the semester gets started. Brandeis professor Joan Kaufman was named director of the Beijing global center, more than two years after the previous director resigned, and Spec talked to Tom Harford, the School of General Studies' new dean of students. There was also a lot happening in the neighborhoods surrounding Columbia this week, particularly the Upper West Side. Last Friday, the city health department sprayed parts of the neighborhood with a pesticide for West Nile virus, and on Thursday, the MTA announced that we'd soon be getting mobile Internet access at 96th Street and other Upper West Side subway stations. There was also a lot of controversy at a community board meeting over two nearby homeless shelters that opened over the summer. Meanwhile, the crowded race for an Upper West Side seat on the City Council got more crowded with the addition of Democratic State Committeewoman Debra Cooper, who gave Spectator her first interview since entering the race. The other four candidates have all raised more than $100,000, even though the primary is a year away. In related news, the city redistricting commission proposed new district lines on Wednesday that could shake up that council race and several others surrounding Columbia. In a strange quirk, the proposal divides Columbia's Morningside Heights campus into two separate districts. (East Campus, you're on your own.) And last but not least, Floridita---a popular Cuban restaurant in Manhattanville that has been sparring with Columbia over real estate issues the last few years--is set to reopen by the beginning of next month. That's all there is for this week! We'll be running these recaps all semester, so be sure to check back every Friday---or, better yet, read our stories throughout the week.