District lines redrawn for county

Thursday, June 9, 2011 - 00:00

ALBANY COUNTY — County Executive Michael Breslin signed the legislature’s redistricting map, which changes the lines of the county’s 39 voting districts to reflect population changes in the 2010 census.

The town of Guilderland will now have a fifth district.  And the town of New Scotland will have three partial districts, each of which it will share with Bethlehem, rather than the current two — one shared with Westerlo, and one with Bethlehem.

The plan had been criticized by Hilltown residents who didn’t want to be divided and Albany residents who said minorities weren’t adequately represented.  (Go to www.AltamontEnterprise.com and look under “archives” for May 26, 2011 for earlier coverage.)

Michael Mackey, New Scotland’s town attorney and chair of the town’s Democratic Party, said that he will seek election in the 38th District, which has been held by Charles Houghtaling, who is not seeking re-election in November.  The district had covered most of New Scotland and all of Westerlo, but now covers most of New Scotland and some of Bethlehem.

“It was really after the redistricting was completed,” Mackey said of when he made a final decision to run.  If elected, he would remain chairman of the New Scotland Democratic Party but would relinquish the town attorney’s post.

A partner in his law firm, Feeney, Centi, and Mackey, Dennis Feeney, is seeking election in Guilderland’s new district, Mackey said yesterday.

Feeney, a Democrat, had represented Guilderland’s 30th district in the county legislature before moving to the 29th District.  He challenged Republican Lee Carman for that seat in 2007 and lost.

Tags:

More Regional News

  • Entire state is put on ‘drought watch’

    The state is encouraging residents in affected counties, particularly those dependent on private groundwater wells, to conserve water whenever possible during the coming weeks.

  • Agreement allows for formation of county healthcare consortium

    Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy announced on Friday that he and the Albany County Legislature had approved “an intermunicipal agreement to create the Albany County Healthcare Consortium.” But this is just the first step needed for six municipalities and three school districts that are considering being part of the consortium if, indeed, the costs turn out to be lower. McCoy is pictured here at Voorheesville’s Ruck March on Nov. 10.

  • SUNY enrollment increases, diversifies

    The student body at SUNY schools is becoming more diverse. For the first time, enrollment of white students in the SUNY system came in below the 50-percent mark, and is at 49.1 percent this year, down from 59.6 percent a decade ago.

The Altamont Enterprise is focused on hyper-local, high-quality journalism. We produce free election guides, curate readers' opinion pieces, and engage with important local issues. Subscriptions open full access to our work and make it possible.