Sag Harbor - Assemblyman Fred Thiele has requested that the NYS Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment revise its proposed redistricting plan to establish a Brookhaven/North Fork District including northeast Brookhaven, Riverhead, and Southold and a South Fork/Shelter Island/Brookhaven District which would include East Hampton, Southampton, Shelter Island and southeast Brookhaven. The Constitution requires that each district be as close to the average as possible.

Under the current Task Force proposal, the Town of Southold would have been added to the South Fork/Brookhaven district. Thiele has requested that Southold be included in the Brookhaven/North Fork District.

Thiele has supported a redistricting process that is independent and non-partisan. He sponsored legislation that would have instituted such a process. He explained, "I am disappointed that this year's process was not independent. We must adopt a constitutional amendment that will insure that all future redistricting plans are prepared by an independent, non-partisan commission."

Thiele stated that while the Task Force proposal for the East End met non-partisan criteria such as equal population, contiguity, and not dividing political subdivisions, it was clear from public hearings and comments that there was strong sentiment in Southold to be part of the Brookhaven/North Fork District.

Thiele explained, "I have enjoyed working with Southold Town government through the years including the Peconic Bay Estuary Program, the Community Preservation Fund, Five Town Rural Transit, Peconic County, the East End Supervisors and Mayors Association, and the repeal of the MTA payroll tax and the saltwater fishing license. I would enthusiastically represent them in Albany. However, the state should not compound its failure to utilize an independent, non-partisan redistricting process by ignoring home rule. The final plan must accurately reflect the will of the public. The most important function of any elected official is to listen. Therefore, I have urged the Task Force to modify the plan."

A final plan is expected to be approved in the next few weeks and will be in effect for the 2012 election.