At the March 2 meeting of the Ward 8 Redistricting Task ForceWard 8 Councilmember Trayon White, Sr. (D) indicated that he has spoken with Councilmember Charles Allen (D) regarding the ‘notch’ section currently in Ward 6 that may be moved to ward 8.
The Notch
The task force met to discuss updates to map drafts in preparation for a final redistricting map due April 1. The combined ANC is one of the possibilities the task force is considering as they debate recommendations they will make to the DC Council for redistricting of ANCs.
The proposal would combine a ‘notch’ portion of Ward 6 that covers the Navy Yard neighborhood with a newly-added portion of Ward 8 and is home to approximately 7,000 residents. Until now, Ward 8 has been located entirely east of the Anacostia river.
Task Force Chairman Brian Thompson said the further discussion between Wards 6 and 8 have taken place since the last meeting of the task force and that a “gentleman’s agreement” between Councilmembers White and Allen had been reached.
“We’re going to formalize via a memo of some sort that we will have a notch inclusive ward 6, ward 8 Navy Yard ANC,” Thompson said. “The notch is to be included in whatever ward 8 ANC we decide upon.”
Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White, Sr. confirmed that he spoke with ward 6 Councilmember Allen regarding the notch.
“We did have a brief conversation about the expectations of what we wanted to see happen and we both agreed that we would do a joint letter to agree upon sharing the land on the notch between both wards and ANCs,” White said. “He’s been talking to his staff, I’ve been talking to my staff, and so we just had a quick conversation about it.”
How You Can Get Involved
The task force hopes to submit maps for viability to the office of planning by March 9. They are asking that all feedback be submitted by Monday March 7.
“(We ask that) additional feedback from us or from residents who haven’t been able to get with the engagement leads to submit them to the redistricting inbox,” Thompson said. Then we can pass that along to the engagement leads so that they can submit a draft map by the middle of next week.”
The task force will convene again on Wednesday March 16, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. for the map semifinal where three final map drafts will be chosen. You can email comments about the proposed redistricting plan and maps to redistrictward8anc@gmail.com.
Sarah Payne is a general assignment reporter for Capital Community News. She can be reached at sarahp@hillrag.com.
