Redistricting would mean changes for Agawam, West SideDate: 10/19/2021 BOSTON – Proposed legislative district maps released last week would result in a new state senator for West Springfield and a split House delegation for Agawam.
After the 2020 federal Census showed Western Massachusetts towns growing or losing population at different rates, the state Legislature hopes to pass a new apportionment map this month to equalize district populations in time for the 2022 state elections.
The eastern part of the state is growing faster than the west, which means a few towns must swap senate districts next year. West Springfield would lose state Sen. Adam Gomez and join the district currently represented by state Sen. John Velis, according to the plan proposed by a joint House and Senate committee on Oct. 12.
“When the Census report came out showing populations trending east, all of us in Western Massachusetts understood that changes to our districts would be necessary,” Velis said last week. “For my district, that means moving east and potentially adding West Springfield, a town that I have great personal connections to. My mom and grandparents lived right on Orchardview Street, and I have spent so much time in that community throughout my life. I even spend my Tuesday and Thursday mornings working out at West Springfield High with Mayor [William] Reichelt and [state] Rep. [Michael] Finn. I have so many strong relationships within the town and would relish the opportunity to represent West Springfield as their senator.”
If the new maps pass a vote by the Legislature and are signed by the governor, West Springfield would join a nine-town region that includes Agawam, Easthampton, Holyoke, Montgomery, Russell, Southampton, Westfield and one precinct of Chicopee. Velis’ current district also includes Granville, Southwick and Tolland, but those towns would move to a different district in the proposed map.
Legislative leaders have also made it a priority to create as many majority-minority districts as possible in urban areas. On the Senate side, five out of the 40 proposed districts are majority-minority, including Gomez’s redrawn district, which would include most of Springfield and part of Chicopee, and is only 31.4 percent non-Hispanic white. The current Senate roster has only two minority members, Gomez and Sonia Chang-Diaz, who is giving up her seat in 2022 to run for governor.
The proposed House map increases from 20 to 33 the number of districts with more residents of color than white non-Hispanic residents. There are currently just 14 members of the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus in the 160-seat House.
Three state representative districts in Springfield will be majority-minority, including two districts that will be majority-Hispanic. To accommodate these districts, mapmakers removed the one Springfield precinct from the 6th Hampden District, currently represented by Finn.
Finn’s district will continue to include all of West Springfield and three precincts in Chicopee, and will add two precincts in neighboring cities: Precinct 1 of Agawam, consisting of North Agawam and neighborhoods along the eastern side of North Street; and Precinct 6B of Westfield. Finn said he’s looking forward to representing Agawam and Westfield.
“I am excited for the opportunity to meet the constituents, elected leaders, and business owners that I will be representing once the new districts are put in place,” said Finn. “In addition to great working relationships with both communities’ elected officials, I also have many family friends in both communities. I really feel these two new precincts are a perfect match for me.”
Even with just seven of its eight precincts in the district, Agawam will continue to be the largest population center in the 3rd Hampden District, currently represented by state Rep. Nicholas Boldyga.
The district, which for the past 10 years has consisted of Agawam, Granville and Southwick, will pick up several small towns in the Berkshire foothills, adding Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Middlefield, Montgomery, Russell and Tolland.
Boldyga did not respond to an email request for comment on Oct. 12, or a telephone call on Oct. 14, in time for The Reminder’s deadline.
Finn and Velis both said they consider the proposed maps to be fair. Velis noted that the Senate map maintains the same number of senators in Western Massachusetts as a whole, which had been one of the delegation’s concerns, given the declining population of the Berkshires.
Both legislators also said they look forward to meeting their new constituents and asking for their votes next year.
“No matter where the district is, I will always meet people where they are at,” said Velis. “Going door-to-door, getting to know people and the issues important to them, that will always be the focus of my campaigns. I look forward to doing just that in whatever communities are in the new district.”
Legislators can suggest amendments to the map, and both houses will vote on it this month. Senate President Pro Tempore Will Brownsberger and state Rep. Michael Moran, the co-chairs of the redistricting effort, have said they want their plan ready for the governor to sign by the start of November, ahead of the Nov. 8 deadline for House members and potential challengers to establish residency in the district where they intend to seek election in November 2022.
The redistricting committee also needs to craft new boundaries for the state’s eight Governor’s Council districts and nine congressional districts, which Brownsberger said would be released “shortly.”
“Exactly what shortly means, whether that’s a couple of days or a couple of weeks, we’re not sure yet,” he said on Oct. 12.
Chris Lisinski and Matt Murphy of the State House News Service contributed to this report.
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