This is Ilan Schoenberger. Mr. Schoenberger is a Rockland County Legislator. Mr. Schoenberger lives in a very strangely shaped Legislative District—District 4.

How did Mr. Schoenberger’s district get that way?

"First printed in March 1812, this political cartoon was drawn in reaction to the state senate electoral districts drawn by the Massachusetts legislature to favour the Democratic-Republican Party candidates of Governor Elbridge Gerry over the Federalists. The caricature satirizes the bizarre shape of a district in Essex County, Massachusetts as a dragon. Federalist newspapers editors and others at the time likened the district shape to a salamander, and the word gerrymander was a blend of that word and Governor Gerry's last name."

Mr. Schoenberger lives in the back of District 4 in Wesley Hills. Instead of a gerrymander, this district he created for himself is really more of an Ilander.  So why does it stretch and reach around like Governor Gerry’s gerrymander?

Well, the Ilander’s nose is in New Square. The Ilander’s toes are deeply dug in, way down next to Kaser in Monsey. Without the contortions, the Ilander would surely lose its bloc-vote nose and toes warmer.

Kind of begs the question would Mr. Schoenberger be electable without the Ilander’s nose and toes? Maybe we should ask those in the Ilander’s chest, tail, neck, head and belly who live in Pomona, Montebello, and Wesley Hills. With Mr. Schoenberger's unwavering allegiance to Ramapo special interests, it's unlikely he could be elected dog-catcher among his real neighbors. That's why the Ilander has to contort and reach to include those faraway bloc voters in Ramapo who are as loyal to Ilan as he is loyal to them.