My Unlike Humpty Dumpty, Kingston could be put together again. And it was. A state court late last Friday night amended a proposal by special master Jonathan Cervas that would have split Kingston into two congressional districts. Instead the entire city will be in the district which county executive Pat Ryan announced he will be contesting this fall, the 18th Congressional District.
Assemblymember Kevin Cahill, a Kingston resident, argued for the change. Cahill said he supported the creation of compact districts with a commonality of interests. Dividing Kingston between two districts was irrational, he felt, particularly because it disenfranchised minorities, a violation of federal civil-rights legislation.
In order to accommodate the change in Kingston congressional boundaries, the equivalent number of Kingston people added to the 18th CD had to be taken from elsewhere in the district to be added to the neighboring 19th CD. That adjustment was accomplished by a boundary change in Wawarsing and Ellenville, ironically splitting that community instead of Kingston. Cahill lamented that change.
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