From the Ward 5 ANC Redistricting Task Force

The Ward 5 ANC Redistricting Committee met on Saturday, March 26 to make changes in response to feedback received on the three discussion maps on March 15. Feedback was received through the online comment form and at the public meeting held on March 22.

The result is a “Tentative Final Map” which will be considered by the Redistricting Committee in a public meeting on Tuesday, March 29 at 6pm (via zoom). Links and information on this map are copied below:

• Ward 5 ANC Tentative Final Map
  • Viewable in the online redistricting tool as “Ward 5 Mar 26 Map”. 
  • Link for public feedback on the Tentative Final Map:
    • Public feedback: https://forms.gle/6Z3qxjbnbAa4GJoc6 
  • MAP NOTES: 
    • The specific numbers (ie the last two digits) of the Single Member Districts will be updated so that numbers reflect current designations or follow a single logic. The commissions (A, B, C, D, E, F) reflect how those commissions would be configured.
    • The map includes two census block splits that are not able to be reflected on the map. The splits would balance the number of residents in the two Fort Lincoln SMDs and make a more smooth boundary between 5C07 and 5C02.  

At the meeting on Tuesday, March 29 at 6pm, the committee will consider any amendments to the map from committee members and then vote on the map to send to the Council. The final report is due to the Council on Friday, April 1. (The Council takes up the maps at a hearing on Thur, April 7) 
Meeting agenda

All the Ward 5 Redistricting Committee work and information can be found linked from this google doc.

On March 15, 2022, the Ward 5 ANC redistricting task force released three discussion maps for new ANC/SMD boundaries within the ward. It is worth taking a look at the maps on the task force redistricting site to see the options for how new boundaries may be drawn.

(As a reminder, the Ward 4 redistricting task force released four discussion maps on February 27, 2022. Those maps make a few adjustmets to the boundaries of ANCs 4B07, 4B08, and 4B09 covering Lamond-Riggs. I am not going to discuss those changes in detail on the blog right now. The Ward 4 task force is working on finalizing a map and report for recommendation to the Council. More information is available on the Ward 4 ANC redistricting site at https://janeeseward4.com/redistricting).

Ward 5’s population grew by a little over 15,000 residents from 2010 to 2020. There is no required number of ANCs within a ward, but under DC law, each single member district (SMD) within an ANC must have roughly 2,000 residents and be as equal as possible. According to the task force, each SMD should have approximately 1,900 to 2,100 residents. In addition, SMD boundaries should conform to census blocks as much as possible.

Many of the SMDs within Ward 5 exceed the maximum limit of 2,100 residents, including SMDs within ANC 5A.

(3/17/2022: Corrected the population for 5A01 from 2,349 to 2,389)

Each discussion map proposes a new ANC within the ward to balance the ward’s steep population growth.

Submit Comments to the Task Force by March 21, 2022

Submit public comment/feedback on the discussion maps to the task force at https://forms.gle/2AD824S4RNhLeBCu5 by March 21.

Task Force Public Meeting on March 22, 2022

The task force will hold a public meeting on the three discussion maps on March 22, 2022 at 6:00 pm.

• Link to register for Zoom meetings: https://bit.ly/Ward5Redistricting

ANC Redistricting Process

• Report from redistricting committee is due to the DC Council by April 1, 2022.
• The DC Council will hold a hearing on the ANC maps and will vote to approve the maps in the form of legislation.

Additional Links/Resources from the Redistricting Task Force

• DC Council Redistricting Info: https://www.elissasilverman.com/redistricting
• Ward 5 Redistricting Info: https://kenyanmcduffieward5.com/ward-5/ward5redistricting
• Redistricting mapping tool: https://dcredistricting.esriemcs.com/redistricting

ANC 5A Single Member Districts 5A01 & 5A08 Proposals

The Ward 5 side of Riggs Park sits in ANC 5A. More specifically, the Ward 5 side is currently split between ANC 5A01 (east of South Dakota Avenue NE) and ANC 5A08 (west of South Dakota Avenue NE), both of which exceed the maximum population limit. ANC 5A01 has 2,389 residents and ANC 5A08 has 2,849 residents.

There are not really any good options for balancing ANC 5A01, which is my SMD. This SMD currently consists solely of Riggs Park residents. It is currently bounded by the Ward 4/Ward 5 boundary line at Kennedy Street NE to the north, the DC/Maryland border to the east, Fort Circle Park at Galloway Street NE to the south, and South Dakota Avenue NE to the west. The SMD currently includes the Bertie Backus campus of UDC as well as the DOES Backus American Job Center. That entire campus (bounded by South Dakota Avenue NE, Hamilton Street NE, 7th Street NE, and Galloway Street NE) shares an alley with residents on 7th Street. There are also a couple of apartment buildings along Sargent Road NE and Eastern Avenue NE within the SMD. This is a nice compact, cohesive manageable area, and it would make the most sense to me to keep it all together as a single SMD. I would like to think that this is one case where there should be an exception to the 2,100 max resident limit given the natural park boundary as well as the hard ward and state line boundaries.

Currently, ANC 5A08 is roughly bounded by Riggs Road NE to the north, South Dakota Avenue/8th Street NE to the east, Buchanan Street NE to the south, and the Metrorail tracks to the west.

Below I have placed images of the three discussion maps for the entire ward as well as maps of the ANC 5A boundaries in each discussion map. Because I am not looking at the maps in the ESRI mapping tool, I am guesstimating at where I think some of the lines are.

Someone should go into ESRI, see what makes the most sense, draw a map, and report back to all of us!

Ed. Note 3/18/2022: I looked at a better map where I could see the census blocks to look a little more closely at what is happening on Hamilton Street NE in ANC 5A01. For purposes of the discussion maps below, what I am calling the ANC 5A01 carveout has different impacts to residents on the south side of Hamilton and residents on the north side of Hamilton, I think (if we are not splitting census blocks). It is a task to nail down exactly which Hamilton Street residents would shift in each map. I have tried to clarify a bit more, but I am not sure if I got it entirely correct.

Discussion Map 1

ANC 5A Boundaries in Discussion Map 1

For Map 1, it looks like the task force is proposing to carve out a small number of residents (including myself on the south side of Hamilton Street, but not residents on the north side of Hamilton from what I can tell) from the rest of what is currently ANC 5A01. So that SMD would essentially stay the same, except the area bounded by what looks to be 7th Street NE, Hamilton Street NE, 12th Street NE, and Galloway Street NE would be shifted to what is basically currently ANC 5A 5A02, which encompasses North Michigan Park. This new area I am describing is labeled 5A03 in Map 1.

ANC 5A02 currently sits south of Galloway, east of South Dakota Avenue NE and goes all the way south to Webster Street NE. It includes North Michigan Park Recreation Center and St. Anselm’s Abbey School. It includes Fort Circle Park between South Dakota Avenue and the DC/Maryland line.

It looks like the one additional change Map 1 makes to the current ANC 5A02 boundaries is that it shifts the area where the gas station/minimart are on the east side of South Dakota Avenue and a few of the surrounding blocks east from 5A02 to the same SMD as the McDonald’s on the west side of South Dakota Avenue.

I suppose simply shifting a couple hundred residents on Hamilton and on Galloway from current ANC 5A01, which exceeds the max limit, to current ANC 5A02, which has a little bit of room to grow, to form a new SMD is not a terrible idea. But the thought of attending an SMD meeting with people talking about things happening all the way on Webster Street or even at North Michigan Park Rec is not fun to think about. And then having to follow a different ANC commissioner just to hear about things related to the Backus campus just down the street along Galloway/Hamilton is kind of a lot. It does not make a lot of sense to me to put people in the 500 block and the 1200 block of Hamilton together in one SMD and put the people in the middle of Hamilton in the 700 to 1100 blocks in a different SMD.

Map 1 would keep all of the area under development near the Fort Totten Metro station and the area north to Riggs Road NE together in one SMD with a western boundary at North Capitol Street NE and a southern boundary mostly along what looks like Emerson Street NE/8th Street NE (labeled 5A02 on the map). It would include a bit of the area along 6th Street NE south of Emerson that includes the Capital Area Food Bank and I think the Emerson Park townhome community, but not the Totten Mews townhome community. Don’t quote me on that though; I am not entirely sure how this map treats those townhome communities.

Map 1 would shift Catholic University from ANC 5A to a different ANC.

I have not looked closely at the other ANC 5A changes further south or further west in this map.

The one nice thing about Map 1 is that the ANCs are roughly equal in size. ANC 5A would still have 8 SMDs, which is a nice manageable number.

Discussion Map 2

ANC 5A Boundaries in Discussion Map 2

Looks like for Map 2, the task force is proposing to carve out a tiny part of existing 5A01 along Ingraham Street NE east of South Dakota Avenue to 7th Street NE to Hamilton Street NE to 11th Street to Galloway Street NE to Sargent Road NE.

That tiny carveout of residents (myself included) would be part of an SMD with the residents west of South Dakota Avenue, south of Galloway down to Buchanan. This new SMD I am describing is labeled 5A08 in Map 2. It includes a couple of the HOA communities in North Michigan Park. It would include Fort Circle Park between the Metro tracks and Sargent Road. It looks like it would not include the area around the McDonald’s or the minimart. As I write this, I am thinking this map is a little better in terms of not having an SMD with as much of a geographic spread as Map 1. It would keep residents surrounding the Backus campus together in one SMD – residents in the 500 block of Hamilton Street, residents on 7th Street and 8th Street, residents on the south side of the 900 & 1000 blocks of Hamilton, residents in the 900-1200 blocks of Galloway Street.

Map 2 would keep all of the area under development near Fort Totten Metro station west of South Dakota Avenue together with the area north to Riggs Road in one SMD (labeled 5A09 on Map 2). It would create a western boundary at North Capitol Street NE instead of the Metro tracks. It would have a southern boundary of Farrugut Street NE west of the tracks and Galloway Street NE east of the tracks. So this map groups together more of the area west of the Metro tracks with the apartment buildings east of the Metro tracks.

Catholic University would remain in ANC 5A as a single SMD with the addition of one census block (looks like the area of homes bounded by Varnum Street NE, Webster Street NE, First Street NE, and Hawaii Avenue NE, across from the field but I am not entirely sure). Edited to add: Adding this census block might help increase the chances of regularly having a commissioner for this SMD. With Catholic as a standalone SMD, university officials sometimes finds a motivated student to serve as an ANC commissioner, but that is not always the case and the seat sometimes remains vacant.

I have not looked closely at the other ANC 5A changes further south or further west in this map.

This map proposes 9 SMDs for ANC 5A.

Discussion Map 3

ANC 5A Boundaries in Discussion Map 3

In Map 3, the task force proposes to carve out an area from the current ANC 5A01 along Hamilton Street to what looks like 11th Street to Galloway Street to Sargent Road. That tiny group of residents (myself included) would be part of an SMD that crosses Fort Circle Park south to about Crittenden Street NE as well as Decatur Street NE. This new SMD I am describing is labeled 5A08 on Map 3. This map would keep some of the residents around the Backus campus in one SMD, but not the residents in the 500 block or the rest of the north side of Hamilton. It would include the part of Fort Circle Park between South Dakota Avenue and Sargent Road. There is some interesting line drawing around Emerson Street NE. It looks like the area around McDonald’s and the gas station/minimart would be included in this SMD. It would have an eastern border south of Fort Circle Park at what looks like 12th Street NE in North Michigan Park.

Map 3 would keep all of the area under development around Fort Totten Metro station west of South Dakota Avenue together with the area north to Riggs Road in one SMD (labeled 5A09 in Map 3). It would have a western boundary at the Metro tracks plus a tiny area just west of the Metro tracks along 1st Place NE where the Metro Transit Police building, Metro long-term parking lot, a union building, and DMV Impact Church are located.

Catholic would remain in ANC 5A as essentially a standalone SMD. I have not looked closely at other ANC 5A changes further south or further west in this map.

This map also proposes 9 SMDs for ANC 5A.

Help Needed

Balancing the ANCs and SMDs is a difficult task because no one ANC or SMD can be viewed in isolation of the rest. Kudos and many thanks to the task force members who contributed their time to this undertaking.

I think some of the choices around ANC 5A01 in the discussion maps might have something to do with the way the census blocks are drawn in this area and trying to keep whole census blocks together. I am just guessing here; I have not reached out to the task force to ask. The task force ANC 5A subgroup did not have any draft maps prepared for the task force meeting on March 8, so there was not any real discussion during that meeting about decision points or what they might have been thinking about as they started drawing lines (save for a statement that they had received comments from ANC 5A Commissioner Emily Lucio (5A03) about the SMD covering Catholic University (5A04)).

I am not really sure where it makes the most sense to shift roughly 200 to 300 residents from ANC 5A01. I wonder if there is a way to have an SMD bounded by Galloway to the south, the Metro tracks to the west, either Hamilton or Ingraham to the north, and either 7th, 8th, or 11th to the east. Then another SMD with what remains of the area north of Galloway. Or keep the existing 5A01 boundaries, but shift the apartment buildings and the few houses off Sargent to a different SMD. Again, someone should go into the ESRI mapping tool and decide what makes sense for ANC 5A, especially ANC 5A01, and report back! I say this only a little jokingly because I really do want to offer useful comments to the task force, but I do not know if I am going to figure it out by March 21.

If you care about any of this, take a look at the maps, submit comments by March 21, and register for the public meeting on March 22.