Shagla 'Lashes Out' At Legislature

Thom Shagla just issued his final thoughts on tomorrow's reapportionment vote.

Shagla's the county Independence Party chairman. Tomorrow's vote is not only to approve new district lines for the County Legislature, but also to downsize the body to 19 members.

What follows is the full text of Shagla's e-mail news release:

BEMUS POINT, N.Y. -- Independence Party Chairman Thom Shagla, of Bemus Point, lashed out at the Chautauqua County Legislature today for not considering the effect of reapportionment on the 25,000 non-Republican and non-Democratic voters in Chautauqua County.

"The legislators sat down and tried to protect their personal 'kingdoms' by making sure that they have a majority of their party's voters in their districts, without giving any consideration to the other voters," Shagla said. "The 'other' parties and non-affiliated voters are being left out of any decisions. The plan being offered now places the County Legislature's only Independence Party member in a district with a popular Democrat that we have always supported. Could it be because he doesn't vote with the Republicans, or is it just coincidence?

"Over a year and a half ago Mr. Croscut stated that he would support a reduction to 19 legislators," Shagla continues. "How did he come up with that number without the census data that they were supposedly waiting for before a decision could be made. They took this down to the wire knowing that only bad decisions could come out of this mess.

"Today Mr. Runkle stated that he was coming up with a contingency plan to place the issue on the ballot this fall if it fails to pass the April 20th vote, I applaud him for that. He said he would put the number 19 up for a vote by the citizens. Why not put up the numbers 17 and 15 and let the county residents decide. Are they afraid of the result? They need to step up to the plate and open this process up and let the all the voters of Chautauqua County decide the size, rather than jam an illegal plan down their throats.

"The Republican county attorney told them that their plan is illegal. So what do they do? They go out and hire another attorney to write up the papers for 'their' plan. Totally amazing that if you can't get the answer you want, look for another person to do their dirty work.

"I urge the Chautauqua County Legislature to totally reject this plan and process and do what you were elected to do, serve the people of Chautauqua County. No one loses representation through a smaller legislature, everyone has one legislator now and they will have one representing them afterward. They would come into the legislature carrying the weight of a larger group of constituents giving them a louder voice in our county."

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