New York State Senator Redistricting

We are writing to oppose the proposed new zoning, which moves the Town/Village of Ossining into the 38th senatorial district. The 38th district is comprised of Ramapo, Clarkstown, and Orange in Rockland County, which are all on the west side of the Hudson River. The Town of Ossining is on the east side of the Hudson River.

The Town of Ossining includes the Village of Ossining, 85% of the Village of Briarcliff, and an unincorporated part of the town commonly referred to as the Town Outside. These communities have been working together on different projects, as well as shared services, for many years. We are a river community that requires representation that understands our need to preserve one of our most valuable resources, the Hudson River. We also require our representation in Albany to understand our need to improve our community and to provide assistance in improving our quality of life by helping us secure funds for housing, infrastructure, and our goal of creating a community destination to bring much-needed tax dollars into the community.

We need a senator that understands the workings of our local community and our goals to reduce redundant government with the participation of residents and municipal employees, as well as elected officials. There is much history in this community that needs to be considered, and our residents have been very vocal on how they want their government to be run.

Additionally, we believe that we need representation that fully understands the complicated situation we are dealing with at the county level in Westchester, including the federally mandated affordable housing settlement which has held up our CDBG funding. All counties are different, and asking a state senator to understand and react to different agendas, goals, and practices at all levels of government is not fair to the Senator, nor to the communities they are going to represent.

Please rethink this proposed re-districting, and leave Ossining in a Westchester district. At the very least, we urge you to hold a public hearing in our area, where residents can publicly discuss the potential adverse effects of these decisions.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.