Census Violence: Redistricting Ward Boundaries Could Fracture D.C. Council
Census Violence: Redistricting Ward Boundaries Could Fracture D.C. Council
Excerpt
The 2010 Census wasn’t just a convenient source of temporary jobs, or a controversial Super Bowl advertiser. If the last few counts are any guide, it could also be the source of some of the harshest in-fighting the D.C. Council has seen in, well, a decade.
The feds will turn over the results of their count of District residents to city officials this spring. And then, most likely, things all go downhill from there. If the city’s population is evenly distributed among all eight wards as they currently exist: no problem. But that’s not likely. Which means we can expect bloody turf battles between the ward councilmembers as each one tries to come out the winner in a complex, zero-sum game that has many moving parts. If history is any guide, then we’re likely in store for plenty of hard-core politicking, community outrage, charges of racism, hurt feelings, and, eventually, lawsuits.
In other words, lots of fun!
“Changing ward boundaries …causes a lot of angst,” says Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, who has been on the council during the last two redistrictings. “People get very angry.”
The main event in this year’s battle royale could very well be between Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells and Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry.
Barry frequently decries the income gap between white households and black households in the city, and he says he plans to mount a campaign to draw new lines that make wards more economically diverse. He says the wards, including his own, need to get more racially diverse, too. Redistricting, Barry says, is a good way to do both.
To submit an article or to inquire about advertising options send an email to Advoc8te@congressheightsontherise.com
Excerpt
The 2010 Census wasn’t just a convenient source of temporary jobs, or a controversial Super Bowl advertiser. If the last few counts are any guide, it could also be the source of some of the harshest in-fighting the D.C. Council has seen in, well, a decade.
The feds will turn over the results of their count of District residents to city officials this spring. And then, most likely, things all go downhill from there. If the city’s population is evenly distributed among all eight wards as they currently exist: no problem. But that’s not likely. Which means we can expect bloody turf battles between the ward councilmembers as each one tries to come out the winner in a complex, zero-sum game that has many moving parts. If history is any guide, then we’re likely in store for plenty of hard-core politicking, community outrage, charges of racism, hurt feelings, and, eventually, lawsuits.
In other words, lots of fun!
“Changing ward boundaries …causes a lot of angst,” says Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, who has been on the council during the last two redistrictings. “People get very angry.”
The main event in this year’s battle royale could very well be between Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells and Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry.
Barry frequently decries the income gap between white households and black households in the city, and he says he plans to mount a campaign to draw new lines that make wards more economically diverse. He says the wards, including his own, need to get more racially diverse, too. Redistricting, Barry says, is a good way to do both.
To submit an article or to inquire about advertising options send an email to Advoc8te@congressheightsontherise.com