Guyanese lobbying for representation on N.Y. Council

TIMES INT'L

 

By North American Correspondent 

With the electoral maps (constituency boundaries) for State and Congressional districts already drawn up and the Guyanese political activists failing to get a seat for their community to the U.S. Congress or state legislature of New York, an effort is now underway to get a seat on the City Council.

The Guyanese community leaders say they are doubling up their efforts to get a City Council seat that will be inclusive of all of the greater Richmond Hill areas. Guyanese predominate in the greater Richmond Hill areas which are divided into three State Senate Districts and four Assembly Districts as per new redistricting.

Currently, Richmond Hill is divided into four City Council Districts making it virtually impossible for a Guyanese to win a seat. If the greater Richmond Hill area is included into one electoral district, Guyanese have a good opportunity to win a seat just like other ethnic communities.

New Districts must be drawn by year-end to the City Council and Guyanese are lobbying the legislature to get fair representation instead of being divided into different districts which may disenfranchise them.

The process to draw the new lines for the 51 seats has begun. Unlike for Congress and the State districts, the city districts will not be drawn by a single judge or the council members themselves, but rather by an independent commission.

The commission, mandated by the City Charter, is made up of 15 members, eight appointed by the City Council party leaders and 7 by the mayor. Members must include at least one from each borough and include racial and language minority groups. The first eight members of the 15-member commission were recently appointed; five members were picked from the majority Democrats and three by the minority Republicans.

Mayor Mike Bloomberg will pick the final 7 members.

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