Published: July 18, 2008 04:16 pm            

New Albany Council says no to redistricting plan

City moves toward hiring full-time civil engineer

NEW ALBANY — The New Albany City Council rejected a redistricting proposal by a vote a 5-4 Thursday.

Council President Jeff Gahan said another committee will be formed — likely during a work session scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug. 4 before the regular council meeting — to further research the topic.

The proposal that was rejected was the work of a six-member committee approved by the council that included at-large council members John Gonder, Jack Messer and Kevin Zurschmiede, as well as New Albany residents Roy Hardy, Randy Smith and Mark Cassidy.

If it had been OK’d, the redistricting measure would have placed Gahan in the same district as Councilwoman Diane McCartin-Benedetti. Councilmen Steve Price and Pat McLaughlin also would have shared a district.

All four council members who stood to be shifted into a shared district voted against the proposal. Councilman Dan Coffey also voted against it.

The first reading for the measure, taken earlier this month, led to a tie vote of 4-4.

McLaughlin was on vacation during that meeting, but said he voted against the proposal after hearing complaints from people in his district who he would not be representing if it had passed.

“I’ve worked very hard in this district and I’ve gotten to know a lot of the people,” McLaughlin said.

He added redistricting “definitely needs to be done” and hopes the new committee can work within the system exemplified by its predecessor.

Lloyd Wimp — one of the plaintiffs in the now defunct lawsuit requesting the council to redistrict — said the vote didn’t really surprise him.

“I am still where I was when all this started,” Wimp said after the meeting. “It behooves (the council) to get this done this year.”

Wimp and other former plaintiffs have hinted the lawsuit could be revisited if the council does not redistrict prior to the 2011 city election. Councils are required by law to redistrict after an official census, which was not done before the 2007 and 2003 elections.

Wimp said acting on redistricting before the end of the year could save Floyd County money, by keeping election officials from having to buy new voter equipment.

Gahan hopes the new committee can “make the districts a little closer."

“We’ll make a new committee and continue to try and narrow the gap,” he said.

Before the vote was taken, Coffey raised a concern about Gonder voting on the measure, saying he was part of the original lawsuit against the city.

Council Attorney Jerry Ulrich said “he was hard pressed to see what Mr. Gonder had to gain” by voting for or against the measure, since he had removed himself from the lawsuit before last year’s primary.

Gahan said the possibility of building a car-towing lot along Ind. 111 and housing committees will be issues of discussion during the scheduled work session.

Money approved for engineer position

The council unanimously approved on first reading the creation of a civil engineer position for the city. When hired, the engineer will serve the city full-time and sit on the Plan Commission.

Elizabeth Coyle is currently a part-time engineer for the city, paid on an hourly basis. Deputy Mayor and Director of Development Carl Malysz said her position likely would be phased out in coming months, but added she would remain on the city’s Sewer and Stormwater boards.

The position will pay $55,000 a year.

Price said moving away from paying someone by the job is a good decision.

“We have been ate up over the years with contractual sources,” he said.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.