Sag Harbor - Assemblyman Fred Thiele has learned that under the proposed redistricting plan released by the NYS Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment, his Assembly District would become the new 1st Assembly District. Thiele's current district is the 2nd District and has 142,833 residents.

Pursuant to the 2010 U.S. Census, each Assembly District should have 129,089. Thiele's district was 13,744 residents over the average. The new district will have 128,929, 160 less than the average or within the median by 0.12 percent.

Under the proposal, the Towns of Southold and Shelter Island would be added to Thiele's district, while the hamlets of Mastic, Mastic Beach, and Shirley would be transferred to another district. The district would be 75.8 percent White, 4 percent Black, 17.1 percent Hispanic, 1.1 percent Asian, and 0.6 percent American Indian.

Thiele stated, "I have supported a redistricting process that is independent and non-partisan and have sponsored legislation that would have instituted such a process. It is disappointing that this year's process was not the product of such an independent process. I will not vote for any re-districting plan this year that does not also include a constitutional amendment that will insure that all future redistricting plans are prepared by an independent, non-partisan commission. As for the proposed plan, I will analyze it carefully to insure that it meets such objective non-partisan criteria including the following:

 • Districts that are of nearly equal population as practicable

 • Districts that are contiguous

 • Districts that respect minority voting rights

 • Districts that do not favor or oppose any political party, any incumbent, or any previous or presumed candidate for office

 • The most and least populous assembly districts shall not exceed the mean population of districts for the house by more than one percent

 • Districts that unite communities of interest

 • Villages shall not be divided in the formation of districts

Thiele explained, "In the case of the creation of the new 1st Assembly District, these criteria have been met. Given the geography of eastern Long Island, the district is within 0.1 percent of the median population and is contiguous. Based upon enrollment numbers, the district is politically competitive and does not discriminate against any minority group. It unites communities of interest and does not divide villages.

Thiele added, "This district includes as much of the East End in the same district as was constitutionally possible. Further, it avoids dividing the Tri-Hamlet Area (Mastic, Mastic Beach, and Shirley), which is currently the existing situation where I share the peninsula with two other Assemblymembers. My Assembly District had to be reduced in population under the State and U.S. Constitution. This district plan does that without dividing communities in my district to serve the political needs of those to the west."

Thiele stated, "The proposed plan will now be subject to public hearings before any further action. When a final plan is adopted, it will be in effect for the 2012 election."