Why I Support the Task Force Redistricting Map

At its March 15th meeting, the Ward 3 ANC Redistricting Task Force approved a final map of ANCs and Single Member Districts (SMDs). This was the ninth weekly meeting of the task force which prepared many conceptual maps and listened to considerable feedback from the public. The map was approved by the Task Force by a vote of 9-1.

The final map represented nearly a complete rewrite of the ANC framework approved on March 8th. It responded to many of the concerns the Task Force heard that were proving difficult or impossible to fix under the March 8th map.

I talked about my support for the map at the meeting, excerpted in the video below, and in the text hat follows.

More information can be found on the Task Force’s website: https://chevychasenews.com/redistricting

I encourage you to also watch the statements from Task Force Members Leigh Ann Evanson, Brian Flahaven, Tricia Duncan and Jimmy Dubois, which can be found here.

“I started the redistricting process with two points in mind:

1) allow the people living on Connecticut Ave in Cleveland Park an opportunity to be represented by someone in an ANC that included their main street, right outside their front door.

And 2) try to implement a rational assignment of ANCs that prioritized proximity to centers of population and activity.

I had previously met just 2 of my fellow task force members when we started, but almost immediately we found shared points of view. I’d like to say how impressed I’ve been with the dedication and seriousness the members of the task force have demonstrated during this process.

We’ve been through many maps and heard a great deal of feedback. As a task force we’ve assessed our constraints, and we’ve seen what happens when those constraints are ignored and implemented in non-transparent ways.

Eight weeks into this, I am certain there is no perfect map.

Quick point on AU - AU wants to be in 3E. They’ve made that clear.

On Cleveland Park - Over a week ago I suggested a compromise to extend the western border of the proposed ANC 3C from 34th St to 36th St. I think it garnered a grand total of 3 emails of support. And now we have an entirely different map. I appreciate the work people on the Task Force have done over the past week hitting the reset button responding to feedback. And I find myself back where I started

Cleveland Park has been represented by two ANCs for as long as there have been ANCs. The Cleveland Park Historic District has been represented by two ANCs for as long as there has been a historic district.

The boundaries of ANCs don’t alter the status of a recognized neighborhood area. Much of what ANCs do month in and month out are specific to individual properties and events. Proximity will give the first voice to the ANC where the property is located. But it does not exclude other input. As Phil Mendelson said during the redistricting process ten years ago, quote, “If an ANC is affected, it is entitled to notice and great weight,” unquote. The law doesn’t say that ANCs get notice and great weight if the issue is inside of its boundaries. Mendelson went on to say that many times when he was a commissioner, his ANC would weigh in on issues outside of his ANC because the issue affected the residents of his ANC – which happened to be ANC 3C.

Those instances of cross-ANC concern are not a monthly thing. They are not common. But when they arise, ANCs outside of the location can weigh in. Similarly, ANC’s with overlapping issues can weigh in, collectively or separately. We saw this with the reversible lanes and bike lanes on Connecticut Ave. We saw this with renovations at Hearst. Solutions to Reno Road, in the past and in the future, will require cross-ANC collaboration. When I hear statements that our schools, police, fire and tree canopy will be under threat, I cannot take these protests seriously.

Eight Historic Districts are represented by two or more ANCs. We’ve mentioned Cleveland Park and Capitol Hill, but there are also the historic districts of Meridian Hill, Massachusetts Ave, Greater U Street, Greater 14th Street, the Financial District, and Kingman Park. Some cover as many as four ANCs and some cross Ward boundaries. They survive and thrive because local ANCs review changes to properties within their borders, and because HPO and HPRB ensure compatibility. I also think that this proposed division allows for a developed historic preservation competence within the two ANCs, something which did not exist in the 3C/3F split we’ve lived with for 30+ years. The two ANCs will have 5 commissioners from Cleveland Park, up from three today, each representing a part of the historic district.

Lastly, I’d like to go back to my first presentation made on February 8th where I discussed corridors, and the visual of the Connecticut Wisconsin Ave corridors cutting vertically through our Ward. I’d note that the distance between these corridors is greatest in Cleveland Park. As I look at these corridors I ask, “Would people expect residents on or east of Connecticut Avenue in Chevy Chase to be represented by an ANC that covered the heart of Friendship Heights? How about people living on or west of Wisconsin Ave being represented by an ANC that covered Forest Hills?” I think most people would say no. I think most people would say the residents nearest to Wisconsin and Connecticut Avenues should have first voice over what happens near them.

Yet somehow the expectation is that people living in Ordway Gardens and Quebec House be covered by the same ANC as Wisconsin Ave, and vice versa.

Wisconsin Ave deserves an ANC that is primarily focused on what is happening there, populated by the residents there. The same goes for Connecticut Ave.

Proximity matters. But I have no doubt that there will be both cooperation and unsolicited input across ANCs here and elsewhere. It’s as it should be. I would recommend that the next Ward 3 council member play an active role in more intentional organization and collaboration across the Ward’s ANCs, perhaps meeting regularly with the chairs.

This is a good plan, not perfect, but good, and I will support it.”