Vitali's Upset With New Haverford Redistricting Plan

In a press release to the media on Thursday afternoon, State Rep. Greg Vitali (D-166) stated that the state’s Legislative Reapportionment Commission has released a new plan that would move some Haverford wards from his district to the 163rd district.

The commission’s plan is very much like the original when it suggested moving Haverford Township’s 1st and 9th wards from the 166th district to the 163rd district, which is Republican State Rep. Nick Micozzie’s district.

, saying the plan was against the state’s constitution, but the court did allowed the commission to draw up a new one. 

The new plan now calls for moving those same wards—and now the 2nd ward’s precinct 4—to Micozzie’s ward, according to the press release, which can be viewed as a PDF.

“I’m not shocked. I think the reality is you have two Delaware County Republicans on that commission,” Vitali said to the Haverford-Havertown Patch about the new proposal. “It was not a change for the better.”

Vitali accused the Republicans of trying to secure Micozzie’s seat by proposing the plan, which would mean that Micozzie would gain more Republican voters if the plan goes through.

However, Majority Leader Sen. Dominic Pileggi's (R-9) Communications and Policy Director Erik Arneson claimed that was not the case.

“The vast majority of Senator Pileggi’s focus has been on the Senate portion of the preliminary plan, so I’m not in a position at the moment to comment on your questions except to say that the preliminary plan approved today contains far fewer split political subdivisions than the plan the Court remanded," Arneson wrote to Patch in an email early Thursday evening.

"That’s true in both the Senate portion of the plan and the House portion of the plan," he continued.

, Pileggi, through Arneson, stated in an email that, “The commission’s (original) plan was approved with a bipartisan vote—both the Democratic House Leader and the Republican House Leader voted yes.”

Vitali stated that he would want to keep Haverford Township intact. He said that on Wednesday, May 2, he would be voicing his opposition at a public hearing—where residents are invited to attend to share their thoughts—in Harrisburg.

But the proposal would only effect the legislative districts; it would not change how the township government is run, Vitali stressed.

Because it was near the end of the day, many politicians and political leaders were not able to quickly respond to Patch’s requests for interviews.

Senior Judge Stephen McEwen, who is the chairman of the Legislative Reapportionment Commission, could not be reached for comment.

Both Pileggi and McEwen are the two Republicans that Vitali was referring to in his quote.

Charles E. O'Connor, Jr., the executive director of the Legislative Reapportionment Commission, has not yet responded to Patch’s request for an interview.

Patch is awaiting a response from Micozzie and his political rival Sheamus Bonner about the proposal.

Haverford Township President and 9th Ward Commission Bill Wechsler explained to Patch that he wanted to review Vitali’s press release before he commented.

Wechsler, along with the rest of the board of commissioners, against the redistricting plan back in November.

Steve D'Emilio, 1st Ward commissioner and vice president, and Mario Oliva, the 2nd ward commissioner, have not yet replied to Patch’s interview requests.