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Mayor Eric Adams is eyeing the appointment of former city Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott to help oversee the key sensitive task of redrawing the Big Apple’s 51 council districts, The Post has learned.
Walcott, 71, who currently heads the Queens Public Library, is an experienced hand who served in the administrations of both former Mayors Mike Bloomberg and David Dinkins.
He is widely respected across the political spectrum and known for working to get things done in a low-key, no drama manner — crucial attributes given the messy partisanship that can accompany redistricting, sources note.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democratic lawmakers in Albany are already being sued over newly redrawn congressional lines that they approved earlier this month.
The City Council’s legislative lines are required to be redrawn every 10 years to account for population changes based on the decennial US Census.
Adams is expected to soon announce his seven appointments to the 15-member redistricting panel. The City Council has already announced its eight appointees — five by the Democrats and three by the Republicans.
A well-placed source at City Hall said Walcott, a Queens native, is a shoo-in for an appointment by the mayor to the panel — and that Adams may push for him to chair the group. The appointees will select the chairman.
Walcott, asked by The Post about his possible appointment, replied, “I have not heard anything officially yet.”
A City Hall spokesman would only say, “We do not comment on pending appointments, and no appointment is confirmed until it is formally announced.”
The redistricting panel is required to hold a series of public hearings before creating a proposed map of districts.
The map will then be submitted to the council after a month of public review.
The council can propose amendments before the commission adopts the final map and formally submits it to the city clerk.
The work will be concluded by the end of 2022 in preparation of the June 2023 primaries.
Because of population changes, some council districts may have to undergo significant alterations — a prospect that worries incumbents who would have to acquaint themselves with voters from new neighborhoods as they seek re-election.
New York City has added 629,000 residents — a nearly 8 percent increase in its population, which is now 8.8 million — since the last census count a decade ago.
Brooklyn’s population grew the most — 9.2 percent from 2010 to more than 2.7 million residents in 2020.
Queens’ population jumped 7.8 percent to 2.4 million, followed by Manhattan, with a 6.8 percent increase, to 1.7 million residents. The Bronx’s population swelled by 6.3 percent, to 1.4 million, and Staten Island surged 5.8 percent, to nearly 500,000 residents.
Sources said Adams believes Walcott would be an invaluable addition to the city’s redistricting process, given his background in and knowledge of local government.
Walcott served as deputy mayor of education and community development for much of Bloomberg’s 12-year tenure. In the final three years of the Bloomberg administration, Walcott was the schools chancellor.
He also served as an appointee to the city Board of Education and chairman of the voter assistance commission under Dinkins.
The ex-City Hall veteran was CEO for the New York Urban League, too.
A redistricting expert said the planned city panel is structured in a way to prevent partisan gerrymandering — unlike what happened in Albany.
“The state redistricting panel was only independent on paper,” said New York Law School Professor Jeffrey Wice, who served as counsel to the past two City Council redistricting commissions.
Wice said there is strict criteria in the city law that limits crossing of county or borough lines or other geographic maneuvers to prevent partisan gerrymandering of council districts.
“There has to be a fair representation that protects the rights of both racial and political minorities,” he said.
In other words, Democrats can’t steamroll Republicans to limit the clout of more conservative-minded voters, as was allegedly done by the state legislature.
“The city process is more open and transparent. It is a more rational and structured process,” Wice said.
He also noted that the commission — not the politicians — have final say on the council district maps, the opposite of Albany.
Wice noted that the past two City Council redistricting plans passed muster without facing a lawsuit, while the Albany process has faced court challenges.
The Democrats who control the state legislature redrew the congressional and state Assembly and Senate districts after an “independent” Albany bipartisan panel was deadlocked and failed to do so.
Republicans have since sued to block the gerrymandered districts, claiming they are illegal. Even independent experts said Democrats drew the maps in an effort to win more seats while reducing the voice of Republican and conservative constituents.
For example, the 11th congressional district now stretches from more conservative Staten Island all the way to the left-leaning precincts of Park Slope in Brooklyn, in what critics say is a maneuver to better the chances for a Democrat to topple Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis.
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