Reapportionment Advisory Committee

CITY OF NORWALK REAPPORTIONMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 5, 2024 ATTENDANCE: Kenneth D’Arinzo, Chair; Diane Cece, Khea Gibbs, Scott Goodwin, Jody Proct OTHERS: Priti Mathur, ARCBridge; Sam Mathur, ARCBridge; Diana Paladino, Stuart Wells, Democratic Registrar of Voters (6:15 p.m.) I. CALL TO ORDER Mr. D’Arinzo called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Mr. D’Arinzo called the roll. A quorum was present. III. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES • Regular Meeting August 29, 2024 ** MS. CECE MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 29, 2024 REGULAR MEETING. ** MS. PROCT SECONDED. ** THE MOTION TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 29, 2024 REGULAR MEETING AS SUBMITTED PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. IV. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Ms. Paladino of Naples Avenue greeted the Committee members. She thanked Esther and Ms. Mathur for getting her the maps and additional information, which she needed. Ms. Paladino said that it would be important to consider the neighborhood dynamics and would like to discuss how this could be accomplished. As the incoming Republican Registrar of Voters, Ms. Paladino felt there was an imbalance in the neighborhoods, particularly the area around Lockwood Lane and Buckingham Lane. She said that they were currently part of District A, but felt that they should be part of District C. She asked how this would be workable from the Taxing District point of view, where the polling location would be and what the slips would look like. Ms. Paladino explained that she had not had an opportunity to discuss this at length with Mr. Wells, the Democratic Registrar of Voters. Ms. Paladino said that she felt the hybrid model would be best and noted that she had lived in both District A and District C, so felt she was familiar with the issues in both Districts. City of Norwalk Reapportionment Advisory Committee Regular Meeting September 5, 2024 Page 1 Mr. D’Arinzo said that this would be the last Committee meeting where Ms. Paladino would not be an official members. He said that he expected Ms. Paladino to be appointed by the Council at their next meeting. Mr. Wells joined the meeting at 6:15 p.m. V. DISCUSSION a. Redistricting Options b. Common Council and Ordinance Committee Meetings c. Public Hearing Discussion d. Final recommendations Mr. Wells said that he agreed with Ms. Paladino about the change and felt that the only change would be when there was a Taxing District vote. Mr. Wells then pointed out that there would be an issue with 90 voters. The voting locations would be probably Nathan Hale, which would create a third polling location. A discussion followed about the details involved with census blocks. Mr. D’Arinzo suggested that Mr. Wells and Ms. Paladino have a separate meeting before the next Reapportionment Committee meeting. Mr. Wells said that he was willing but pointed out that the reason that he was not willing to be on the Committee because it would be a conflict of interest for him to vote on the Registrars of Voters budgets. The discussion then moved to the establishment of separate voting locations for Taxing Districts such as B1-B2; C1-C-2, etc. The proposed change would result in the City having 15 different ballots. Additional polling locations will result in more expense in terms of staffing, ballots and ballot machines. Mr. Wells gave a brief overview of the processes involved in staging an election. The State has announced that the new tabulators should be ready by next fall. The State is the one that purchases these machines. He pointed out that extra polling places for small groups cost. Mr. D’Arinzo then reviewed the timeline dates and reiterated that Ms. Paladino would be official at the next meeting. Originally, the idea was to submit the final report on the 8th, but suggested submitting it on the 10th to the Council and have them review it at their next meeting. Ms. Cece said that when the legal notice for the Public Hearing was published, it would be important to list the streets that would be impacted in that notice. The list would have to be submitted at the next meeting. She suggested holding a Public Forum on this before holding a Public Hearing. Communicating to those residents who would be affected by the proposed changes would be critical. Ms. Mathur said that the information is published on the City website and the residents can review it there. City of Norwalk Reapportionment Advisory Committee Regular Meeting September 5, 2024 Page 2  VI. NEXT STEPS Mr. D’Arinzo said that at the next meeting, he hoped they would hear from Atty. Candela about verifying what the Committee had just discussed and the process to disseminate the information to the public. VII. ADJOURNMENT ** MR. GOODWIN MOVED TO ADJOURN. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m. Respectfully submitted, S. L. Soltes Telesco Secretarial Services City of Norwalk Reapportionment Advisory Committee Regular Meeting September 5, 2024 Page 3