Ward 6 Redistricting First Progress Report

In accordance with the memorandum entitled ANC Redistricting Procedures, dated June 21, 2011, from the Council of the District of Columbia, Committee of the Whole, Subcommittee on Redistricting, the below is the Ward 6 Redistricting First Progress Report.  Regards, Joe Fengler (I love paperwork!)

Summary:  The Ward 6 Redistricting Task Force is on track to submit an initial proposal to the Office of Planning no later than September 1, 2011.  We anticipate this initial proposal will be modified during the month of September.  The composition of the Ward 6 Redistricting Task Force is as follows: Joseph Fengler (chair), Antonette Russell, Marge Francese, Tyler Merkeley, Cody Rice, Raphael Marshall, Ken Jarboe, Donna Scheeder, Skip Coburn, Gene Fisher (CM Orange’s representative).

What has the task force done in the last 30 days?

1.   Held a public meeting July 11 to receive the technical instructions for Ward Task Forces and Ward 6 maps from the Office of Planning and Office of ANCs.

2.   Held five public listening sessions – one in each of the Ward 6 ANCs.

3.   Established a Ward Six Redistricting Task Force website (http://w6tf.blogspot.com/) that contains a “do-it-yourself” mapping tool that allows task force members and residents to propose redistricting plans that can be posted and discussed.  The website also serves as the electronic repository that includes: meeting schedule, meeting summaries, and correspondence to and from the task force.

4.   Created an electronic distribution list that includes all Ward 6 Commissioners, local press contacts, and neighborhood and community list serves.  The task force has sent out eight updates that have provided the Ward 6 community the agendas of each meeting, meeting summaries and correspondence to and from the task force.

What will the task force do in the next 30 days?

1.   On August 3, the task force will hold a public meeting to discuss and adopt the initial ANC boundaries for Ward 6.

2.   From August 4 to August 7, the task force will break into working groups to create the initial SMD boundary recommendations based on the outcomes of the August 3 meeting.

3.   On August 8, the task force will hold a public meeting to discuss and adopt the initial SMD boundaries for the Ward 6.

4.   On August 18, the task force will post the initial Ward 6 ANC/SMD boundaries on the task force website (http://w6tf.blogspot.com/) as well as send an electronic version to the Office of Planning, current Ward 6 Commissioners and neighborhood and community list serves.

5.   By September 1, the task force will notify the Office of Planning of the census blocks that are being considered for splitting.  The goal of the task force is to avoid splits in census blocks.  In addition, the task force will submit the initial text/language descriptions of the map lines for the redistricting proposal.

What will the task for do in the final 30 days?

1.   The task force members will attend the five September Ward 6 ANC meetings to answer questions about the initial ANC/SMD boundaries.  This will allow each of the ANCs, and their respective communities, to make formal recommendations to the task force.

2.   On September 19, the task force will hold a public meeting to discuss the formal recommendations from the Ward 6 ANCs and potentially adopt changes to the initial proposed boundaries.  The task force will submit to the Office of Planning an updated text/language description that highlights the changes adopted at this meeting.

3.   On September 22, the task force will hold a public meeting to adopt the final redistricting plan. 

4.   On September 26, the task force will submit the final redistricting plan, to include the final text/language descriptions, to Councilmember Tommy Wells and the Office of Planning.