The Yonkers City Council is moving forward with a required redistricting of the six council districts, including two Town Halls held this week, and a public hearing and vote expected on Jan. 31. Democrats hold a 5-2 majority on the city council, and as Eric Schoen so aptly said it in his column this week, “to the victor go the spoils,” with democrats redrawing the districts with the help of the consultant the city hired for the process-Andrew Beveridge, PhD.
The City Council is required to redraw their council districts every ten years. While we have a photo of the proposed new districts, please view the link provided by the city to view your district at
https://davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap::a7f9c0da-1bf5-485b-9488-223f27a60863.
At the Town Hall held at the Riverfront Library on Jan. 23, 40 people showed up. In a city of 200,000 that is not even one-tenth of one percent of the population, which means in our view that there is no conspiracy with this process, or any serious concern from the public.
Some concerns raised at the Town Hall included the redrawing of Warburton Ave., north by the Hastings Border. Currently, that part of Warburton is in the 3rd district, represented by Majority Leader Tasha Diaz. Diaz correctly wanted to consolidate her district to include the southwest portion of Yonkers. We agree with her request.
The other concern was in the 5th and 6th council districts, represented by the two council republicans, Mike Breen and Anthony Merante. Both districts were redrawn, with Merante and the Yonkers republican party claiming that they were “Gerrymandered.”
“I just learned of these Town Hall meetings on Friday Jan 20th with a notification by email. Sadly, as your councilmember I was totally cut out of the retricting decision-making process. Equally upsetting is that you the people have not been duly informed as to how this would impact you as voters and given virtually no notice and time to absorb these pending changes,” said Merante.
“This is reminiscent of the ram it through process used to get Term Limits extended and it’s a blatant chipping away at our democratic process. From notice received on the 20th to placement on the Council agenda for the 30th – will make it a 10-day process in total! Very sad!”
Yonkers Republican Chair John Larkin called the proposed new council districts, “Gerrymandered.” “If you look up “gerrymander” in the dictionary, you will see the new District 6. Elbridge Gerry would be proud of this district. It would be unfair to allow District 6 as is to pass. It’s a shame that the district I represented for 8 years has been so radically altered!”
Larkin continued, “The way Northwest Yonkers was split up is messy. In particular, the neighborhoods of Monastery Heights and Woodstock Manor have been cut street by street into Districts 1, 3, and 6. To the point that in Woodstock Manor neighboring houses are in three different City Council Districts.”
Larkin continued, “This map moves around over a quarter of the Yonkers population into new districts. With such radical alterations to the City Council map, residents have three days’ notice to let their voices be heard. The Districts will be on the City Council agenda for the 31st giving the Republican Party only a few days to fight this.”
While some republicans will find that they have moved from the 6th to the 5th Council District, others will have moved from the 5th to the 6th. The 5th district is currently represented by Councilman Mike Breen. A piece of the newly drawn districts getting attention is the part of the new 5th district that does not include republican Ron Matten.
Matten, who ran for City Council President in 2021, was considering challenging Breen in a GOP primary in June for the 5th council seat. However, in an email to the Executive Committee of the Yonkers Republican Party dated January 5, 2023, Matten stated that he is withdrawing from consideration and would prefer to contemplate a mayoral campaign in 2027.
Additionally, and in the same email, Matten resigned his position as Second Executive Director of the Yonkers Republican City Committee as he intends to “…spend the next four years working on my brand and building alliances within and across party lines. Therefore, I may be supporting some candidates who are not the party endorsed candidates.”
Matten’s comments have brought pause to some who have worked with him in the past. One Republican District Leader commented that “Espousing Republican ideals appears only to be acceptable when it works to Mr. Matten’s benefit. Now that the Republican Party’s endorsement is no longer in play for him, he is setting himself up to help run primaries against those that the hard-working members of the City Committee select in the same way he was selected just two short years ago.”
Councilman Breen is expected to announce his intention to run for re-election in the coming weeks. Merante is expected to announce for Mayor later this week. Matten declined to comment for this story.
