1. County government was a Board of Supervisors until 1971

• One supervisor from each town and city ward
• Each supervisor had one vote

2. Oswego County Legislature created in 1971 as a result of a lawsuit

• One legislator from each town and city ward, for a total of 36 members.
• Each legislator had a "weighted vote" according to the population of each town or ward.

3. In 1993 the Oswego County Legislature reduced its size and redistricted as a result of a lawsuit challenging the weighted voting system. Local Law No. 1 of 1993 entitled "A Local Law to Provide for the Apportionment of the Legislative Body of the County of Oswego.

• One legislator for each of 25 districts with a mean population of 4872 per district.
• New district lines drawn to reflect the change.
• Each legislator had one equal vote.
• Became effective with the election of 1995.

4. Oswego County redistricted in 2001 as a result of population changes identified by the 2000 federal census. "A Local Law Amending Local Law No. 1 of 1993 Providing for the Redistricting of the Legislative Body of the County of Oswego.

• One legislator for each of 25 districts with a mean population of 4896 per district.
• New district lines drawn to reflect the change.
• Each legislator has one equal vote.
• Will become effective with the elections of 2003

5. In 2003, the General Government Committee began considering another reduction in the legislature. Below are several options and the resulting district population sizes (Table 1.).

TABLE 1: Oswego County Population 122,377 Based on US Federal Census 2000

Table 2 shows the municipalities within the 25 Legislative Districts as they exist today. Decreasing the number of districts and legislators will increase the geographic size of each district a legislator must cover and, in most cases, increase the number of municipalities and local governments each legislator must represent and work with on a regular basis. Today, the districts range in size from 1 square mile in the cities to 172 square-miles in rural areas.

TABLE 2: 25 Legislative Districts & Municipalities

1  Towns of Redfield, Boylston, and Sandy Creek, including the Villages of Sandy Creek and Lacona.
2  Towns of Orwell and Albion, portions of the towns of Williamstown and Richland, and the Village of Altmar.
3  Village of Pulaski and most of the Town of Richland.
4  Towns of Parish and Amboy, portions of the Towns of Williamstown and Hastings, and the Village of Parish.
5  Town of Constantia and the Village of Cleveland.
6  Town of West Monroe and a portion of the Town of Hastings.
7  Town of Mexico and the Village of Mexico.
8  Town of Palermo and portions of the Towns of Hastings and Schroeppel.
9  Village of Central Square and portions of the Town of Hastings.
10  Village of Phoenix and portions of the Towns of Volney, Granby, and Schroeppel.
11  Most of the Town of Volney.
12  Portions of the Towns of Schroeppel and Hastings.
13  Town of New Haven and portions of the Town of Scriba.
14  Portion of the Town of Scriba.
15  Portion of the City of Oswego.
16  Portion of the City of Oswego.
17  Portion of the City of Oswego and portion of the Town of Scriba.
18  Portion of the City of Oswego.
19  Town of Minetto and portions of the Towns of Oswego, Hannibal and Granby.
20  Portion of the Town of Oswego.
21  Village of Hannibal and most of the Town of Hannibal.
22  Portions of the City of Fulton and of the Town of Granby.
23  Portion of the Town of Granby.
24  Portion of the City of Fulton and portion of the Town of Granby.
25  Portion of the City of Fulton.

* If rejected, the plan would be abandoned or revised to be presented again. If revised and presented again, a new public hearing must be held, followed by another vote by the legislature, followed at least 60 days later by another vote by the electorate during a general or special election.

The Oswego County Legislature has scheduled four public meetings to get feedback from county residents on changing the size of the Legislature. The Legislature's General Government Committee is gathering information to see if residents want to change the structure of the Legislature from 25 districts.

The meetings will be held at 7 p.m. on:

• Thursday, Feb. 12, in the Legislative Chambers of the County Office Building, 46 E. Bridge St., Oswego;
• Thursday, Feb. 19, in the courtroom of the Fulton Municipal Building, 141 S. First St., Fulton;
• Thursday, March 11, in the Hastings Municipal Building, U.S. Route 11, Hastings; and
• Thursday, March 18, at the H. Douglas Barclay Courthouse, 1 Broad St., Pulaski.