Free and open to the public. Attendance is limited to the first 500 participants. You can join the forum by computer, smartphone or landline. Please register to receive the information you need to join by any of these methods.
The Ward 5 Council seat is the most hotly contested of the 2022 cycle, as current Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie is not running for re-election. All candidates who have formally filed (Faith Gibson Hubbard, Gordon Fletcher, Zachary Parker and Vincent Orange) are confirmed to attend. Any candidates who file before the forum will also be invited.
The forum will include questions from the audience.
Hellbender Brewery (5788 2nd Street NE) is hosting a record fair on Sunday, November 7 starting at 1pm. A food truck will be onsite. Neighbors and families are especially invited to attend the event.
Neighbors, Councilmember McDuffie will be holding community office hours on Saturday, November 6th. We are welcoming neighbors to join Councilmember McDuffie at the lot next to Annie’s Ace hardware store located at 3405 8th St NE. To schedule your meeting with Councilmember McDuffie follow the link here – https://calendly.com/ward5/fall-office-hours.
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 4B’s Housing Justice Committee will meet on Monday, November 8, 2021, beginning at 5:00 p.m. The Committee will be meeting virtually. Details about participating/watching the meeting are included below:
As noted in this post, the DC Council is undertaking a redistricting process to adjust the ward boundaries. Find information at https://www.elissasilverman.com/redistricting. The Redistricting Subcommittee consists of At-large Councilmembers Elissa Silverman (chair), Anita Bonds, and Christina Henderson. Today, the subcommittee released three “‘discussion maps,’ to foster a productive dialogue on the choices facing the Subcommittee.” You can read about the discussion maps here. Two of the maps make no adjustment to the northern Ward 5 boundary, while one map, Map 3, does. And not in a way that makes sense.
Redistricting Discussion Map 3
Map 3 shifts the Ward 5 boundary east of South Dakota Avenue NE from Kennedy Street NE to Galloway Street NE. The boundary west of South Dakota Avenue would remain at Riggs Road NE. My first concern about tinkering with the northern boundary in this way is that it is clearly being done as an afterthought without intentionality. This is clear from the fact that a description of this change was not even provided in the discussion points for the map until I reached out CM Silverman’s office earlier today. They then updated the discussion points, but the discussion points stated the change would shift residents from Ward 5 to Ward 1, which is obviously not correct. It is also clear that Map 3 is an update from a map presented during the Ward 5 roundtable that shifted the boundary to Hamilton Street NE, discussed in this post. So now it moves the boundary to Galloway Street after the point was made that the census tract boundary is not at Hamilton Street.
Second, this change still leaves the neighborhood split between Wards 4 and 5, except with this proposal, the split would be even more incongruous than it currently is. For reference, below is a map of Lamond-Riggs.
LRCA Boundaries
So for those who think Map 3 somehow unifies Lamond-Riggs, it does not. And this change would split census tract 95.08. If for some reason, the subcommittee really really feels like it has to adjust the northern boundary, to me it makes a lot more sense to use the park as the boundary, both east and west of South Dakota Avenue, as I noted in this post. That way, everyone north of Galloway both east and west of South Dakota Avenue would shift to Ward 4 and Riggs Park would actually be intact. The one thing I did not fully appreciate when first thinking about the neighborhood split is that while students on the Ward 5 side of Riggs Park (both east and west of South Dakota Avenue) are zoned for Ward 4 schools, these families are still voting for the Ward 5 State Board of Education representative, which probably does not make a ton of sense. That would be the one argument to support shifting the boundary so that these families are in Ward 4. But school boundaries are not aligned with ward boundaries because as we see ward boundaries can shift with some regularity especially around the edges of the ward, so this electoral feature is always a possibility (not to mention we barely have a functioning school boundary system as it is).
This whole exercise though leads me to think that the subcommittee should just leave the northern boundary alone. It is not necessary to adjust it. Changing it in the way being contemplated by this discussion map serves no purpose and seems to be a complete afterthought with no regard to either neighborhood boundaries or census tracts. People are already trying to do too much with this redistricting process as it is. This is one change that does not need to be made in my view.
Next Steps
The citywide hearing is on November 5. Sign up to testify at that hearing by 5:00 pm on November 3.
Written testimony can be submitted by Friday, November 12 at 5 p.m. to redistricting@dccouncil.us. Testimony can also be transcribed by calling (202) 350-1521. Map proposals can also be submitted to the subcommittee through dcredistricting.esriemcs.com.
CM Silverman’s office will be present at tonight’s LRCA meeting to discuss the redistricting process.
Hellbender Brewery (5788 2nd Street NE) is hosting a record fair on Sunday, November 7 starting at 1pm. A food truck will be onsite. Neighbors and families are especially invited to attend the event.
Halloween Treat Giveaway: A Fun Evening Of Music, Games, And A Costume Contest October 29, 2021 6:00 pm-8:00 pm Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center 501 Riggs Road NE
Long post warning; updated 10/27/2021 to add information about not diluting minority voting strength
DC is undergoing a redistricting process following the release of the 2020 Census numbers. A subcommittee of the DC Council Committee of the Whole is responsible for making recommendations for redrawing the boundaries. The redistricting subcommittee consists of At-large Councilmembers Elissa Silverman (chair), Anita Bonds, and Christina Henderson. The subcommittee set up a handy website to explain the process and how to participate at https://www.elissasilverman.com/redistricting. One way to participate is to draw your own map boundaries using the DC Office of Planning’s online redistricting tool and submit it to the subcommittee.
The Council will establish the ward boundaries first and deal with the ANC boundaries later. The subcommittee is currently holding ward-focused roundtables to address the ward boundaries. The Ward 5 hearing was on October 20, 2021. You can view the video on CM Silverman’s facebook page at this link. Recordings of other ward redistricting hearings are also available on CM Silverman’s facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CMElissaSilverman.
The Ward 4 hearing will be on October 28, 2021, starting at 10:00 am. The deadline to sign up to testify for the Ward 4 hearing is Tuesday, October 26, 2021. Follow the instructions in the hearing notice to sign up.
Key dates from this point forward:
October 2021: Subcommittee will hold eight hearings on ward redistricting, one specific to each ward November 5, 2021: City-wide hearing. Sign up to testify by November 3. See hearing notice. November 12, 2021: Deadline for submitting written testimony. Submit written testimony to redistricting@dccouncil.us Mid-November 2021: Redistricting Subcommittee markup of ward redistricting bill December 7, 2021: First vote by the full Council on the ward redistricting bill December 21, 2021: Second vote on the ward redistricting bill December 2021: Ward Task Forces (which provide recommendations on ANC redistricting) start meeting February 2022: Ward Task Forces report out recommendations May 2022: Subcommittee mark-up of the ANC redistricting bill June 2022: Full Council votes on the ANC redistricting bill
Principles of Redistricting
The redistricting process happens every 10 years following release of the Census numbers. The subcommittee is guided by a few principles. One is the principle of one person/one vote. That means each ward should have roughly the same number of residents so that no ward is either too big or too small and each resident’s vote has roughly the same amount of power. Following the 2020 Census, the magic number is 86,193 residents. Each ward can be within plus or minus five percent of this number, so each ward can legally have between 81,883 and 90,503 residents. Based on this range, Ward 6 needs to shrink and Wards 7 and 8 need to grow. All of the other wards are within the legal range, but Ward 5 is knocking at the top of the range with 89,425 residents.
Another principle is to not dilute the power of “minority” voters. The DC Council interprets this to mean not diluting the power of Black and Latino residents in DC, according to CM Silverman.
Another principle is keeping what is called “communities of interest” together. This is a nebulous concept not defined in the DC Code. But the idea is to keep communities that have common legislative concerns together. Historically, this has meant keeping neighborhoods together, but over time we have seen that sometimes it is necessary to split up neighborhoods and to cross natural boundaries. CM Silverman has made it a point to note several times that the subcommittee will be looking at factors such as race and income. This has led to some interesting discussions, with people making diametrically opposed points during the hearings I have listened to so far, but I will save that for another post.
The ward lines must also be contiguous, and CM Silverman stated that the subcommittee cannot split census tracts.
The Council is supposed to abide by all of these principles while somehow minimizing disruption. During a previous subcommittee hearing in September, there was some discussion about whether the subcommittee should try to get all of the wards as close to the average as possible. That could mean moving some residents out of Ward 5, for example. Or the committee could just focus on making sure that the wards are within the legal limits. Theoretically, the subcommittee could redraw the boundaries for Wards 6, 7, and 8 so that each is within the permissible range, and leave the rest of the ward boundaries alone. But the subcommittee has stated that just changing Wards 6, 7, and 8 would lead to some funky maps so they are looking at adjustments to other wards as well.
One factor the subcommittee stated they will not address is parking because there is a good argument for decoupling parking zone boundaries from ward boundaries (and in my mind political boundaries altogether).
All of the members of the subcommitee, along with Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, were present for the Ward 5 hearing on October 20. At the top of her remarks, CM Silverman stated that although Ward 5 is within the legal limit, that does not mean that the subcommittee will leave the Ward 5 boundaries as they are. CM Silverman said the subcommittee is specifically looking at both the southeast area of the ward around Carver-Langston and the northern portion of the ward, which includes the Riggs Park and Fort Totten neighborhoods.
(For clarity, to me the boundaries of the Riggs Park neighborhood are New Hampshire Avenue to the north, the DC/MD line to the east, Galloway Street NE to the south, and the Metro red line tracks to the west. The Fort Totten neighborhood is west of the Metro red line tracks.)
A handful of residents testified during the hearing. ANC Commissioner Gordon Fletcher (5A08), who is also chair of the Ward 5 Democrats, testified in support of keeping Fort Lincoln in Ward 5. He also advocated for having two ANC commissioners for that neighborhood. It was not clear to me in what capacity he was testifying. Commissioner Fletcher represents parts of the Riggs Park and North Michigan Park neighborhoods, but his testimony focused solely on the Fort Lincoln neighborhood. No other ANC 5A commissioners testified. A couple of other commissioners and residents near the Fort Lincoln area also testified in support of keeping Fort Lincoln in Ward 5. All of these witnesses and CM McDuffie recommended leaving the Ward 5 boundaries as they are because Ward 5’s population is within the legal limit.
One Ward 5 resident, Geoffrey Hatchard, who CM Silverman noted is a cartographer and geographer, advocated shifting the Ward 5 boundaries. He submitted a map recommendation that adjusted the southern part of the ward (moving part of Ward 6 to Ward 5). His recommendation also included moving the northern border of Ward 5 east of South Dakota Avenue NE from Kennedy Street NE to Hamilton Street NE (moving part of Ward 5 to Ward 4). This northern boundary recommendation does not make sense to me. It sounded like Mr. Hatchard said the census tract boundary is Hamilton Street NE, but as CM McDuffie noted during the hearing, that is not correct. And according to CM Silverman, census tract boundaries are sacrosanct. There are already census tracts across the city that are split between wards, but the one thing this subcommittee will try really really hard not to do is split census tracts.
So to me, that means if the subcommittee really wants to adjust the northern boundary, they could move everyone in census tract 95.08 (shown in the image above) into Ward 4. That would keep Riggs Park intact, but split the Fort Totten neighborhood. Or if they are fine with breaking their census tract rule, they could split the census tract along the Fort Totten Park boudary to the west and south and move residents east and north of that natural boundary into Ward 4. Doing this would keep both the Riggs Park and Ft. Totten neighborhoods intact. Looking at previous redistricting committee reports, it looks like part or all of census tract 95.08 was part of Ward 4 at one point and was moved to Ward 5 following the 2000 Census. Currently this census tract consists of the entirety of ANC single member district (SMD) 5A01 and parts of SMDs 5A07 and 5A08. Also Fort Circle Park east of South Dakota Avenue NE is technically part of SMD 5A02, even though it is partly in census tract 95.08. While the subcommittee specifically said they want to only focus on the ward boundaries right now and get those solidified before discussing the ANC boundaries, looking at the current ANC boundaries also shows how difficult this task is.
CM Henderson also stated she was looking at the Ward 5 boundary near Fort Totten Metro station. Unfortunately she ran out of time before the witnesses could answer her question about adjusting the northern boundary. CM Silverman asked the panel what part of Ward 5 should shift if the subcommittee decided the boundary had to change if for example, the subcommittee wanted to move part of Ward 6 or Ward 7 to Ward 5. Some suggestions from the panel included the Benning Road area, Bloomingdale area, Bates area, or the McMillan Park area. But most of the witnesses and CM McDuffie reiterated that Ward 5 does not need to change.
My thoughts
I live on the Ward 5 side of Riggs Park, and I really do not have strong feelings about the possibility of being part of Ward 4. Hard to believe I know, because I have lots of opinions about lots of things. But this is just one of those topics that I feel like I have already spent too much time thinking about for something I am not too concerned about. Simply because random suggestions are being made to move the northern boundary of Ward 5 to accommodate random suggestions about moving part of Ward 6 into Ward 5, when Ward 5 can only add another 1,000 residents before exceeding the legal limit.
Moving the Ward 5 side of Riggs Park, which sits at the tip of the ward, to Ward 4 would reunite the neighborhood in one ward. Right now the neighborhood is split between Wards 4 and 5 in kind of a ridiculous way because of the way the census tracts are drawn. The northern boundary of Ward 5 is Kennedy Street NE east of South Dakota Avenue NE and Riggs Road NE west of South Dakota Avenue. Having the neighborhood split between two wards can be a bit of an annoyance when advocating for neighborhood interests because we have to deal with two Council offices, two ANCs, and two sets of mayor’s office/DC agency ward liaisons. But it’s just that, a bit of an annoyance, not the end of the world. School boundaries and police district boundaries are not ward-based. Children in Ward 5 in Riggs Park attend Ward 4 schools. It makes advocating for schools interesting if you live in Ward 5, but again I do not think that it is a super big deal to have to talk to the Ward 4 councilmember when discussing schools (I also do not have children though so maybe parents feel differently).
That said, inertia is real. I really do not mind remaining part of Ward 5, and I cannot say I am yearning to be in ANC 4B (no shade, seriously). I have heard an argument about public safety in certain parts of Ward 4 that currently requires a lot of attention from the Ward 4 councilmember. The idea is that this need leaves less time for addressing issues in other parts of Ward 4, so moving part of Ward 5 into Ward 4 would leave the new Ward 4 areas feeling overshadowed. That may have some merit, but I am not sure. I realize I can afford to be sort of unbothered about being in either Ward 4 or Ward 5 because I do not think the councilmember for either ward is terrible. I do realize the Ward 5 councilmember will change with the November 2022 election so maybe I will end up eating my words. As of right now though, my reaction is a bit of a shrug. I would probably feel differently if there were a possibility of moving to a ward with a terrible councilmember who is not up for election until 2024. I just personally care more about the ANC boundaries (I realize the ANC boundaries go hand in hand with the ward boundaries).
The one thing I would strongly advocate for is not splitting up the neighborhood in a way that is more ridiculous than it is now, so to me that would mean not following that Hamilton Street NE boundary recommendation. I watched a recording of the Ward 3 hearing. During that hearing, CM Silverman stated she thought there was one good map that was presented during the Ward 5 hearing that generally abided by the redistricting principles. I do not know which map she was referring to, but I hope the subcommittee is not seriously considering shifting part of the northern boundary to Hamilton Street NE east of South Dakota Avenue. I happen to live on the south side of Hamilton Street, so I would still remain in Ward 5, but it still does not make sense to me. Also, during the Ward 3 hearing, there was some discussion about moving a few of the split neighborhoods in the northwest part of Ward 4 (Chevy Chase, Barnaby Woods, Hawthorne) back into Ward 3. Doing so could free up some space to move all of of Riggs Park into Ward 4, but then Ward 3 would be over the legal limit and adjustments would have to be made elsewhere to make Ward 3’s population size legal.
I do not know how serious the discussion about adjusting the northern Ward 5 boundary is. Neither CM McDuffie nor any of the ANC 5A commissioners have discussed the issue with residents or the leadership of the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association (LRCA). Compare that silence to plenty of discussion taking place with residents of and near the Ft. Lincoln and Carver-Langston neighborhoods. CM McDuffie dropped in on the Ward 7 hearing that took place on October 23 to recommend not extending Ward 7 into the Ft. Lincoln neighborhood (apparently more than one person in Ward 7 thinks making Ft. Lincoln part of Ward 7 is a good idea and makes sense).
If you care about this issue, consider signing up to testify at the upcoming Ward 4 hearing or submitting written testimony. Be sure to send a copy of your testimony to your councilmember.
A representative of CM Silverman’s office is on the agenda to discuss redistricting at ANC 4B’s meeting tonight.
The topic is not on ANC 5A’s agenda for the meeting on October 27, but the ANC tends to add items to the agenda during the meeting, so it very well could end up being discussed at the meeting.
A representative from CM Silverman’s office is scheduled to appear at the LRCA meeting on November 1, 2021.
If you are interested in serving on the ANC redistricting taskforce, contact your councilmember.
On October 14, 2021, the DC Zoning Commission (ZC) held a meeting on the Modification of Consequence application submitted for the second phase of Art Place at Fort Totten (Block B) (Zoning case number 06-10F). The proposed changes were discussed in theseposts. The upshot is that the Zoning Commission determined that there were too many changes being made and that the proposed modifications should be addressed through the Modification of Significance process rather than the more minor Modification of Consequence process.
The Commission also requested that the developer address points raised by the DC Office of Planning (OP) and the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association (LRCA). Neither OP nor LRCA objected to the proposed modifications in the Modification of Consequence application, but both OP and LRCA requested additional information. (ANC 5A supported the modifications with the condition that protected bike lanes be installed on 3rd Street NE between Ingraham and Kennedy).
As approved, 30 of the 271 residential units in Block B will be below market rate units reserved for artists. The developer is proposing to add 23 more residential units to Block B for a total of 294 units. In its report, OP strongly encouraged the developer to make some of the additional 23 units below market rate units as well, though it appears the developer is within their legal right not to do so. OP also requested additional renderings to show the color palette change proposed for Block B in relationship to Building A. In written comments, the LRCA largely raised issues around pedestrian safety and mobility, particularly regarding the developer’s planned extension of 3rd Street NE between Ingraham and Kennedy.
On October 19, 2021, the developer submitted the application for a Modification of Significance. It largely mirrors their previous Modification of Consequence application, and notes that the developer will address OP’s and LRCA’s comments in advance of a hearing.
A hearing date has not been set for this case yet. The case number is 06-10G
Consigli, the construction team building the Lamond-Riggs Library, will be holding a career fair on October 27, 2021. To sign up, contact Michelle Evans at mevans@consigli.com.
DCPL Lamond-Riggs Library Career Fair hosted by Consigli UDC Backus campus 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE (fair will be in parking lot off Galloway Street NE) October 27, 2021 9:00 am-11:30 am
To sign up, contact Michelle Evans at mevans@consigli.com.
For voice-only participation on a telephone, dial (301) 715-8592. Meeting ID: 842 1424 9196. Password: 964318. To watch (but not participate) via YouTube: https://youtu.be/Y5Ihh9wavAE
Agenda
1. Call to Order & Roll Call
2. Administrative Items:
A. Instructions re Participation in Virtual Meeting B. Consideration and Approval of October Agenda C. Approval of September Regular Public Meeting Minutes D. Treasurer’s Report & Quarterly Financial Report for Fourth Quarter 2021 E. Vote on Expanding Maximum Grant Amount
3. Commissioner Updates (if applicable)
4. Community Concerns: *Please use the “Raise Hand” button via Zoom or *9 via telephone to speak during community concerns. The Commission will provide additional details regarding how to present community concerns via the virtual meeting at the start of the meeting.* This is the time for questions or statements from members of the public about issues on the agenda or other areas of concern. Please limit your statement or question to one minute. You may also contact members of the Commission before and after Commission meetings.
5. Reports:
A. Anthony Mitchell, Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services (3 minutes) B. Tamira Benitez, Office of Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (3 minutes) C. Metropolitan Police Department, 4th District (3 minutes) D. Housing Justice Committee (2 minutes)E. Vision Zero Committee (2 minutes)
6. Presentation: William Henderson, Executive Director of Operations & Dr. Tracy Wright, CEO, Paul Public Charter School, Community Engagement (5 minute presentation; 5 minute discussion)
7. Presentation: At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman (or representative), Chair of the Subcommittee on Redistricting, Redistricting in Washington, DC (10 minute presentation; 5 minute discussion)
This month, ANC 4B will be submitting resolutions to request that DDOT update faded roadway signage and stripe crosswalks within 4B. ANC 4B needs your help. If you are aware of either circumstance on your block or a block that you frequent, would you please share that location to ensure the resolution is comprehensive. If you can take a picture as well, you will receive a bonus point. It is helpful if you have a 311 service request number for the request, but it is not necessary for these resolutions.
Send location and pictures to Commissioner Brooks at 4b08@anc.dc.gov
The Washington, DC Economic Partnership (WDCEP) recently released its 2021 Neighborhood Profiles. Find the profile sheet for Riggs Park here. Forthcoming projects Riggs Park Place and Art Place at Fort Totten Phase II are once again highlighted in the profile.
I always like to see if there is anything different from year to year. You can see the 2020 profile sheet here. I can’t say there’s much change in demographic data (expected). The neighborhood Main Street for Riggs Park (The Parks Main Street) gets prominent placement, having expanded in the last year or so to include the businesses on 2nd and 3rd streets NE. WDCEP also added Manor Park to the profile sheet this year because The Parks Main Street also covers one commercial block in the Manor Park neighborhood.
A couple of items included in the 2020 profile that did not make it into this year’s profile are the extension of the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) from Brookland to Fort Totten and the full rebuild of the neighborhood library, the Lamond-Riggs Library. Both of those are big exciting projects, and both are on track to be completed in the next several months (the MBT extension in December 2021 and the library in spring 2022).
It’s a tall order to capture a neighborhood in one small snapshot, so I always appreciate WDCEP’s efforts to highlight DC’s many diverse commercial corridors in a simple, elegant manner. Shoutout to head of WDCEP Keith Sellars who is a fellow Riggs Park neighbor.
1. Call to Order & Roll Call 2. Approval of October Meeting Agenda 3. Presentation: Will Perkins, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Councilmember Janeese Lewis-George, Vision Zero in Ward 4 4. Discussion: a. Crosswalk Improvements within Advisory Neighborhood Commission 4B b. Street Sign Replacement within Advisory Neighborhood Commission 4B c. Safe Passage to School Expansion Act of 2021 d. DDOT Fast-Tracking Vision Zero Projects 5. Questions/Comments 6. Adjournment
Next Stop...Riggs Park 