Photo by hmaon on Flickr.

While the Ward 5 Redistricting Task Force executive committee’s plan dilutes the voices of many voters and splits communities, one from Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr.‘s office has major problems of its own.

Thomas’s plan would separate residents near the McMillan Sand Filtration Site from involvement in decisions around development at that site. It would also create single-member districts (SMDs) with population numbers wildly off the 2,000-person target set by the Home Rule Charter.

As Thomas noted in an interview, development of the McMillan site has been in the works for years, and it has generated interest and controversy within surrounding neighborhoods ever since. This plan offers a very clear picture for why redistricting is very important to the average person: ANC boundary choices affect how much residents can participate in the development process.

Thomas’ plan. Click to enlarge.

DC’s Home Rule Charter states that each SMD should contain approximately 2,000 people, recognizing that it’s impossible to reach that number exactly. This plan has so many SMDs that aren’t even close. Thomas’ plan appears to reduce the SMD containing McMillan to about 30% below standard.

It’s impossible to precisely quantify that population would be, because its lines split up a block, and the Census doesn’t report population in more detail than an individual block. Therefore, potentially as few as 1,399 (and as many as over 2,200) live in the critical SMD where this development is proposed.

It also carves McMillan away from the rest of Bloomingdale (its home neighborhood), Eckington, Truxton Circle, and Hanover-Bates. This will dilute the ability of these residents to make their voices heard regarding the largest development project in their immediate area.

Perhaps it is a coincidence, but the clearest and most defined opposition to the proposed McMillan development has coalesced in these neighborhoods, which the latest Thomas plan now puts in a separate ANC.

The latest Thomas plan moves the McMillan Sand Filtration Site into an ANC consisting in large part of the Armed Forces Retirement Home and the Catholic University of America. That is, McMillan will be in an ANC that is less-densely populated, with much of its population in essentially gated, private communities that lie relatively far geographically from the McMillan site and that will likely have less concern for the direct effects of what happens at McMillan.

Single member district size is another critical shortcoming in this plan. There are 38 SMDs in the plan, and more than half of them (20) have populations more than 10% above or below the ideal size of 2,000 people. The largest, in Carver Langston, is nearly 40% larger, with a population of 2,796. Meanwhile, the smallest, containing the Armed Forces Retirement Home, has a population nearly 55% smaller (917 people). These numbers make it impossible for an individual’s vote to carry equal weight in the political process as every other vote in the ward.

Both Thomas’ and the task force’s plans fail to link communities with common goals and interests and distort voter power. Tomorrow, we’ll present a neighborhood-centered alternative.

Meanwhile, if you want to weigh in on redistricting, the Bloomingdale Civic Association is holding a meeting on the issue tonight, November 1, 7:00 pm at St. George’s Episcopal Church, 2nd & U Streets NW.

Charlie Richman of the Office of Planning sent us a clarification:

We think it’s important for your readers to understand that redistricting plans aren’t considered by the DC Office of Planning at all. That is for Council to do. Our role in this is purely technical. We review proposed legislative language provided by the Task Forces (or Council) and verify that the lines on the maps we use reflect that language accurately. Often we discover that this can’t be done because the language isn’t clear or consistent, and we work with the authors of that language to help make it clear and consistent. Once the lines are drawn, we report to Council on how many residents would be included in each proposed SMD and ANC. Ultimately final SMD and ANC boundaries are the Council’s decision. OP’s role is to provide technical support to Council in arriving at whatever decisions they deem best.

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Tagged: anc, bloomingdale, dc, development, government, harry thomas jr, mcmillan site, politics, redistricting, ward 5

Geovani Bonilla is a Regional Director of Hospice for Professional Healthcare Resources. As president of the Bates Area Civic Association, Geovani works with the ANC, Mayor’s Office and MPD to bring positive change to the Truxton Circle neighborhood. Geovani also serves on the Board if Directors for North Capitol Main Street and Perry School Community Center.

Tim Clark is Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for 5C05 and the Second Vice-President of the Edgewood Civic Association. He also served as the Ward 5 redistricting task force social media coordinator. Tim works as an arborist for DC’s Urban Forestry Administration by day and runs a DC-based entertainment and marketing company by night.

James Fournier is a commercial litigator and the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for 5C07.  He currently represents Northern Bloomingdale, Stronghold, Franklin Commons, and a sliver of Park Place.

Geoff Hatchard lives in DC’s Trinidad neighborhood. The opinions and views expressed in Geoff’s writing on this blog are his, and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer.

John Salatti has represented the Bloomingdale community as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner and as an officer of the Bloomingdale Civic Association for the last 5 years. John also runs his own business, LAWriters, that provides writing training services to judges and lawyers across the country and around the world.