Redistricting Committee Continues to Press Case

Coming off a State House meeting last Wednesday, two members of Chelmsford’s Legislative Redistricting Committee said based on conversation with state legislators the town may likely go from four state representatives to three, instead of their more preferred option of two. 

Jon Kurland, chairman of the committee, and Paul Rigazio both say however it is too early to tell what will happen when the state legislature redraws the lines of Massachusetts’ 160  districts.

“The whole situation is very fluid. They’re just starting the process,” said Kurland.

The town’s five-member Redistricting Committee, which held its first meeting last November, was created as a response to Chelmsford’s split into four districts in 2000; before then, the town shared one district with Carlisle and had a single State Representative in Republican Carol C. Cleven.

Today, the town is split between the districts of Democrats Tom Golden (Lowell), Dave Nangle (Lowell), Cory Atkins (Concord), and Jim Arciero (Westford). In the 2010 census, Chelmsford experienced a small voter loss but remained consistent with its 2000 population figure of almost 34,000.

Both Rigazio and Kurland listed Chelmsford’s Republican leanings as a reason for the town’s four-way split, with a Democratic legislature choosing to remove a seat held by a representative of the opposing party.

“When we were carved up…I think it was a political expediency. That’s why they did it. That’s basically what happened. They got rid of a Republican seat…although I think it’s a bit more complicated than that to be honest,” said Kurland.

Rigazio said as a result of the split, Chelmsford’s residents are a minority constituency in each of the current districts.

"I’m a numbers guy… (in 2000) they reduced us to 8,000 (people) in each one of (the districts). That’s not exactly true but it averages out to that. We have twenty percent representation in four districts. That’s the issue,” said Rigazio.

Chelmsford’s size as a community is a main argument the town’s Legislative Redistricting Committee has used for a more unified representation, including in its recent State House meeting, held with State Rep. Michael Moran and Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, the co-chairmen of the state’s joint redistricting committee.

“Jon (Kurland) made strong points (there) about why Chelmsford should be kept together. The 2002 split into four was unfair and Chelmsford is a town of 34,000 people, which is eighty-five percent of a full district and it should be kept whole. A full district is a little below 41,000” said Rigazio.

Moving forward, Kurland and Rigazio said that there are many issues that must be sorted out by the state legislature when they complete the redistricting process this year, including how Lowell will be split, sensitivity to not disenfranchising minority populations in Lowell and other areas, the possible retirement of some state representatives. Chelmsford will also reset its nine precincts to account for population shifts.

Rigazio and Kurland said they hope the Legislative Redistricting Committee’s efforts mean better representation for the town, something they believe will benefit Chelmsford residents regardless of their political affiliations.

“This isn’t a partisan issue. It’s a town issue,” said Rigazio.