Neighborhood Notes - Foxhall: 30 May 2001
Many political debates between opposing viewpoints end up with an
uneasy truce over a middle ground, and the fate of Census Tract 8.2 seems
destined to end up with Foxhall Rd being a new dividing line between Ward 2 and
Ward 3. How did we get here?
Well, there are only two proposed
alternative plans that satisfy Census 2000 population balance requirements: an
amended Plan B by the Democratic State Committee that splits Tract 8.2, and Plan
H by D.C. Council Subcommittee that puts all 2, 802 people of Tract 8.2 in Ward
3. Now Plan H overdoes this move, leaving Ward 2 substantially
lesser than Ward
3. By adopting the split, both plans are viable (although there are still
disagreements over e.g. why Ward 5 is seeing very little change).
Secondly, despite vigorous petition
gathering by FCCA President Pete
Ross, almost all of these signed petitions to
stay in Ward 2 are from streets containing those 1100 people who live east of
Foxhall Rd - there are few signatures west of Foxhall Rd, in fact there is testimony
and letters to Council requesting a move back to Ward 3!
If we do end up being split, what safeguards
need to be in place? Fortunately, city service areas are not affected: our
Police Service Area 203 and DPW trash routes
already includes both Ward 2 and
Ward 3 households, having never been changed in last decade's redistricting!
The Foxhall area needs to insist on being named to Ward 2’s Task Force to
re-draw ANC
boundaries, still protecting student rights to democratic
participation, without gerrymandering. In addition, how about giving us dual
Ward 2/Ward 3 residential parking stickers, like those Ward 1/Ward 3 stickers
Cleveland Park received in the last redistricting a decade ago?
© Bob Andrew, Foxhall
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