Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The City of Buffalo's reapportionment plan may be headed to court.
Mayor Byron Brown signed the bill establishing new legislative districts in Buffalo this week. The local law was unanimously passed by the Common Council in July.
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But a grassroots group in the city is fighting it and not backing down.
"We're talking to our legal team, both at the local and national level," said India Walton, a member of Our City Action Buffalo (OCAB), the non-profit group opposed to the law.
"We are determining the best course of action to take. There will be some legal action. We haven't decided yet what that will be but we're not going to just go away."
"We did hold a public hearing," said Mayor Brown on Tuesday, in explaining why he chose to sign the law. "We allowed for more than the required time for people to be notified. Twenty six people provided testimony at the public hearing.
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Brown said the city also created a web site where people could leave comments on line. The site received 200 comments. " Any claim that the Council’s map reduces the likelihood of minority voting power or weakens voting rights is absolutely false," said Brown.
The Mayor said he doesn't see any legal basis for a challenge, saying the plan meets all requirements of the city charter.
Walton maintains that the map proposed by OCAB is more racially equitable than the plan from the reapportionment commission. "The mayor has approved a redistricting process that does not improve the voting age population of majority black districts. We're not seeing representation that is adequate."
OCAB operates through grassroots fundraising and volunteers. Walton added that the group is looking for in-kind, pro-bono legal services to pursue the challenge.