Ward One Redistricting Task Force – Community Discussion #2

Redistricting Task Force Meeting 9/27/11

Opening

Chairman Roth reiterated that there does not seem to be a majority in favor of a 5-ANC proposal, but there may be a majority in favor of a 5-ANC alternate plan. There is another 5-ANC map now circulating that was created by Thomas, Gregg and Beverly.

Community Input

The community presentations began with Sylvia Robinson, of the Georgia Avenue Task Force. They have been advocating for development and a common vision around Georgia Avenue. Right now there are 8 major development projects coming up, and a lot of change happening. They as a community are very concerned about how they can shape that development along Georgia Avenue corridor. The current ANC configuration has Georgia Avenue split between 2 ANCs. They’ve been working with that, but since they as a community have been trying to have a common focus, it has been difficult to navigate the different visions of the 2 ANCs and have them understand the vision of the Georgia Avenue Task Force. They believe this is a good time to have a Georgia Ave ANC, with all the decisions coming up. They’re concern is that the current configuration dilutes the focus. Georgia Avenue is a developing area, and really needs the same kind of focus that U Street and 14^th Street got as they were being redeveloped. The Task Force has come up with recommendations that they want for the corridor that will be beneficial to the community. They are looking for a way to get that focus not just from the residents that have been meeting twice a month for the last few years, but filtering that vision up to our ANC commissioners. That is largely what their vision is for having an ANC focused on the Georgia Avenue corridor.

Patrick Nelson has lived in his house for 22 years and has seen a lot happen on 14^th street and U Street and up and down Georgia Avenue. The Task Force has done a tremendous amount of work to get some cohesion on the strip itself. Two projects they worked on that had great bearing on the neighborhood include the park at the Bruce Monroe site (which was a huge fight and took a year to implement) and the streetscape work that has been in the works and proposed for Georgia Avenue for six or seven years. The city was trying to reallocate funds from the Georgia Avenue streetscape project to a program on New York Avenue. If the Task Force hadn’t lobbied to reinstate the funds, the money would be gone.  He believes it is important to have both a 4 and 5 ANC option, and it’s important to him that the Task Force adopt a 5 ANC plan.

Darren Jones noted that there are 8 major proposals for the Georgia Avenue corridor. That will take a lot of work, and having an ANC focused on that work will help get things done. He hopes that the Task Force will consider the new 5 ANC map proposed by the 3 redistricting task force members.

EJ Green-Young is a 10-year resident of the Howard Manor apartments at Georgia and Girard. She spoke on behalf of the 40 residents of her building, asking, should the ANCs remain split with 2 ANCs sharing representation of the Georgia Avenue corridor, who will address the issues facing the growing area?

Elizabeth McIntire, former 1A Commissioner and lives on Park Road, asked that the Task Force not take into consideration preserving SMDs for the benefit of sitting commissioners. The Georgia Avenue focus appeals to her a lot, in that it would give the area that has been marginalized and overlooked more attention and focus.  She believes 16^th Street should remain the boundary between east and west. She’d be interested to hear what Mount Pleasant thinks about becoming a 3-member ANC (as would happen with the new 5 ANC map).

Commissioner Gabriela Mossi, representing ANC1C04 said she doesn’t care if her SMD changes, and if she is drawn out of it, she’ll run in her new district. She believes it’s most important for the residents to speak about how they feel about their neighborhoods. It is important to be mindful of boundaries that create challenges for people to access resources.

Commissioner Myla Moss of 1B01 commended the work of the Georgia Avenue Task Force, but believes just because there are different personalities to work with while Georgia Avenue is split, does not warrant another ANC. In fact, having another ANC may even lead to another layer of bureaucracy. She advocates for keeping the ANCs as they are with a 4 ANC map.

Mack Thompson from Columbia Heights Village Apartments asked if his building would stay in its current SMD. Commissioner Dottie Love Wade indicated that it is unclear because so many versions of the map floating around. She also said that ANC1A voted that its boundaries remain the same. Commissioner Thomas Boisvert also mentioned that in the most recent version of the map it would remain in 1A. All agreed nobody knew yet if it would remain in 1A11. Mack Thompson continued by explaining that the Columbia Heights Village complex, which has 1,000 residents is actually split by 1A and 1B.  Any further division, for example of making 14^th street a boundary, would make this even more confusing. Chairman Roth explained at this point that the latest version of the map moves the boundary between 1A and 1B down to Girard, which would put the whole complex into 1A.

1A08 Commissioner Kent Boese commented that the resolution 1A passed expressed the desire to keep the boundaries as stable as possible, not that no boundaries would shift. Kent is a strong advocate of the 4 ANC configuration, and his constituents most affiliate with Ward 4 and the community to the west. He believes if you have a commissioner who is active and attends all the meetings, you can get some good things done for Georgia Avenue.

Commissioner Jack McKay of the Mount Pleasant ANC believes the iteration of the map where the Mount Pleasant ANC jumps the 16^th Street boundary does not work. He talked a bit about the 2,000 person SMD requirement causing a problem in 1D. He proposes that 1D take on population from Lanier Heights. He is sympathetic to the fact that ANC1C would prefer its boundaries not to change, but something has to give. He hopes the people of Adams Morgan can recognize that.  Then ANC1C would have to make up some population from 1B, but crossing that boundary further south makes more sense than up north. Thomas noted that the maps Jack has sent around has the least amount of change, and is worth acknowledging.

The Chairman jumped back in and corrected Jack’s point that ANCs have to be a multiple of 2,000 people  an integral multiple of 2,000 residents. What the law actually says is that SMDs should be approximately 2,000 +/- 5% with a deviation that means they must be between 1900-2100 people, that they be as equal as possible, and there are exceptions allowed for public policy justifications. After this there was an outburst from Jack a request from Jack that he be permitted to clarify his statement, which was denied through some loud gaveling from the Chairman. As well as a threat from the Chairman that he would call the police if Jack didn’t sit down. That moment was kind of like attending an ANC1B meeting during the Hunter regime.

Denis James of Kalorama responded to Jack’s description of his proposal, and said that he would like to see the least amount of change possible. The places to look for changes should be the places with the most population change.

Commissioner Vickey Wright-Smith from 1A02 said she feels it makes no sense to move the boundary of Mount Pleasant across 16^th Street, when nobody in that area identifies with Mount Pleasant.

William Jordan introduced himself as former commissioner for 1A05 and “community pest.” He is concerned that once we get to the SMD level there will be some problems for the residents of 1A04 and 1A05. What the Task Force should do is draw things so that if you look at the core areas, various districts touch so everyone has an interest, and people are forced to work together. He also believes that boundaries should be drawn in a way that assures checks and balances. He has an issue that 1A, which is the area with the least area necessary, is being chopped up.

I stood up and spoke then, but I said the same thing I always say, which is a Georgia Avenue corridor is the way to go. Oh, and keep the park in the same SMD as 15^th Street residents. You can see my arguments in more detail about halfway through this prior post.

Commissioner Adian Miller of 1C05 said that her community in Lanier Heights identifies with Adams Morgan because of the natural physical boundary there.

Task Force Response

Beverly Wheeler said she has worked on a 5 ANC map, but asks The Georgia Avenue Task Force, what can we say to Kent and residents that don’t want to be in the Georgia Avenue ANC to make this happen?

Darren Jones indicated that they’ve been reaching out to help people identify with the corridor, and they can continue doing that to broaden their reach. Sylvia added that part of the problem is people don’t have a reason to identify with Georgia Avenue, but if they start the visioning process it will help.

Gregg  Edwards said ten years ago he pushed hard for the Georgia Avenue ANC and it lost by one vote. He is concerned that if ten more years go by, the opportunity will pass. He believes there are some transportation solutions and other amenities that would unify the corridor.  The reasons discussed ten years ago are even more important now, and he believes the Georgia Avenue piece is the most important thing to be looked at because it is the most important thing for the future of the Ward.

Dottie Love Wade took issue with people claiming that 1A and 1B are not working hard on behalf of Georgia Ave. She went on to outline developments the ANCs have worked to bring to Georgia Avenue as well as ones they had worked to prevent. Georgia Avenue has been on the back burner, but it hasn’t been because of 1A or 1B, it has been because of developers not wanting to come into the area. She mentioned 14^th Street as an example of a corridor that hadn’t come along until the metro development happened. She also outlined concerns about the city needing to provide additional funding and resources, should a 5^th ANC be created. The easiest thing to do, she said, was to change the boundaries as little as possible. Change for the sake of Change, to change 3 commissions to create a new one, does not make sense. It is making this process a lot more complicated than it needs to be.

Tony Norman pointed out that nobody is going to die if you group the north and south of Georgia Avenue. Most of them don’t even know what ANC they live in. He also called for a working meeting where the task force sits down and works out the maps over some beer. They cannot be limited by the time they have the space in the community center reserved.

The Chairman talked a bit about procedure and the opens meeting act. He expressed concern that having 6 of the task force members in the same place meeting would require public notice. He asked that the task force do what they need to do so that they have proposals to vote on by Monday night.

Ms. Janie Boyd objected to anyone dealing with this city’s future over a glass of wine or anything else. They need to be real serious about everything they’ve been assigned to do.

Thomas Boisvert referred to the maps he had worked on. He explained that he does not think Georgia Avenue is neglected by 1A or 1B. He looks at it more as an opportunity to spotlight Georgia Avenue. In his map, the only thing that changes from last week’s discussion is the boundary between 1A and 1B.  He said he thinks of this version of the map as creating a Columbia Heights ANC that puts the commercial strip as the hub. Part of the idea was to unite some communities.  This version of the map puts the commercial corridor in 1A, but all the establishments in proximity to Mount Pleasant within the 500 feet needed to give their concerns great weight with the agency of jurisdiction. He indicated his wish that the task force present two options to the council, and that one should be a 5 ANC map and one should be a 4 ANC map.  He also noted that no matter what the task force recommends, the Council will make the final decision.

Shelore Wiliams took a moment to talk about Georgia Avenue. She noted Georgia Avenue is not neglected because of any ANC. Forty years ago DC had a riot. 14^th Street looked like a war zone. The reason 14^th Street got developed is because the lot sizes were easier to develop. Georgia Avenue has small, narrow lots that are less desirable for development. She added, Howard University is the biggest landlord—slumlord—that has held up development.  If people buy the argument that it’s alright for 1C not to change based on lack of meaningful population growth then, don’t change 1A either. Everyone needs to change here. She wants to work on a 4 ANC map, but also present a 5 ANC map to the Council. Nobody will be happy with 5 ANCs and she wants to make sure that plan is enacted for the sake of Georgia Avenue at great cost to the other ANCs.

The Task Force will continue working in small groups on using the following two maps as the blueprints:

4 ANCs – Draft 1 from 9/22

5 ANCs – the new map proposed by Beverly, Gregg and Thomas