MONTICELLO — What had been a quiet, long-in-coming plan to redraw the nine legislators' districts throughout Sullivan County became a hot potato on Thursday.

That's when the public had a chance to weigh in on the changes - made necessary because the county's population has shifted since the last redistricting effort a decade ago, and each of the nine districts must represent an equal amount of the county's population.

Since the biggest change will be in the Town of Highland, people from that area of the county had something to say.

Highland Supervisor Andy Boyar, viewing the proposed split of his town between Districts 1 (represented by Scott Samuelson) and 2 (represented by Kathy LaBuda), believed a “third-grade art class” could have done a better job.

(See the map with this story at www.scdemocratonline.com.)

“District 2 ... looks more like roadkill than a legislative district,” he remarked to legislators. “The district is so misshapen on its face that it begs the question of who played with this map. The Town of Highland is outraged it's been cut in half.”

“I cannot believe the process ... or the map itself were your best work,” Barryville resident John Conway added. “I know you're better than that.”

He felt this appeared to be “a clumsy attempt to gerrymander” and asked legislators to reconsider.

So did Lumberland Supervisor Nadia Rajsz, who felt a district encompassing towns along the Delaware River valley would be far superior to the existing plan.“We are unique in our issues and concerns,” she explained.

LaBuda denied rumors that she and Samuelson had conspired to make the District 2 changes in order to lock out potential challengers in future elections, and she expressed shock that Boyar - who she said had previously seemed fine with the switch - had suddenly reversed himself.

Samuelson explained that the group and consultant that worked on the plan aimed for as little change as possible and felt that handing over a part of District 2 to District 1 made sense, considering the geography.

“It needed to be split, no matter what we did,” he added.

Legislator Gene Benson said his district - 7, which currently includes most of Fallsburg and a portion of Neversink - “got ripped apart,” but he acknowledged that Fallsburg has long been split between various districts.

Indeed, Highland is one of five towns that will be served by more than one legislator when these changes take effect in 2016 (after the next round of legislators are elected).

Delaware and Neversink, on the other hand, are currently split between two legislators but are slated to be fully back within Districts 5 and 3, respectively.

Much was made of the fact that the redistricting task force met in private and released its plans less than a month before Thursday's hearing.

But Republican Elections Commissioner Rodney Gaebel, who participated in that task force, pointed out that taxpayers can force a public vote on the matter (so long as a valid petition is submitted by September 2 containing the signatures of at least 10 percent of the county's voters - between 2,200 and 2,500 signatures, he estimated).

Some legislators wanted to hold back on their vote, if only to give the public more time to participate.

“My constituents don't feel they've had adequate time [to review the plan],” said Legislator Cindy Gieger.

But Gaebel explained that if legislators postponed ratification of the redistricting for more than a week, any successful petition drive for a public referendum on the matter would necessitate an expensive special countywide vote.

“And if you change the plan, you have to go back to the drawing board,” he added, reminding legislators this process took more than half a year to complete (and must be ready for 2016).

The legislative majority, however, spared the Board of Elections that worry, as on Thursday they agreed to adopt the redistricting plan as presented - meaning that if the public does successfully petition for a countywide vote, it can be held in conjunction with November's general elections.

Voting for the plan were Samuelson, LaBuda, Kitty Vetter, Jonathan Rouis, Ira Steingart and Alan Sorensen. Voting against were Gieger, Benson and Cora Edwards.

Public vs. private

The redistricting process was one of several issues to be criticized Thursday for not being open and public enough.

Narrowsburg resident Star Hesse thought the jail task force has been similarly hidden from view, damaging trust in county government.

“It seems to be a county mindset that even meetings that aren't supposed to be closed are closed,” she lamented.

“Closed meetings bar input of ideas that could make projects better and avoid costly mistakes,” added Hesse.

Grahamsville resident Ken Walter put it more kindly to legislators, saying increased public involvement means “we become the staff that can help you.”

Monticello resident Tom Manza, who shared concerns about the closed-door jail meetings, was blunt:

“We pay taxes. We have that right [to participate],” he told legislators. “If you think differently, then maybe you're in the wrong job.”

Storm trash? No charge

Legislators agreed unanimously on Thursday to waive any tipping fees on garbage resulting from storm damage in the Village of Jeffersonville and the towns of Callicoon and Delaware.

The county will instead swallow the $78 per ton it pays to have that garbage trucked away, similar to what was done in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

There is the possibility that - should emergency aid be granted - federal funds could cover the county's expense.

A new formulary

Minus a dissenting Ira Steingart (who felt medical personnel should not be told what to do), legislators agreed on Thursday to institute two formularies - one for the county jail and one for the Adult Care Center.

County personnel dispense pharmaceuticals at those locations, and Legislator Cindy Gieger said a formulary - which would recommend generic drugs over brand-name ones - could result in “a tremendous cost savings.”

The resolution was amended to explicitly allow doctors and facility directors to overrule the formularies, but that wasn't enough to change Steingart's mind.