Subcommittee on Labor, VotingRights, and RedistrictingSubcommittee Report on Bill 14-137, the “Ward RedistrictingAmendment Act of 2001”April 30, 2001

Council
of the District of Columbia

Subcommittee on Labor, Voting Rights and Redistricting

SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT

441 4th Street, N.W.
20001

TO: All
Councilmember

FROM: Councilmember Phil Mendel son, Chairman, Subcommittee on Labor, Voting Rights, and
Redistricting

DATE: April 30, 2001

SUBJECT: Subcommittee Report
on Bill 14-137, the "Ward Redistricting Amendment Act of 2001

I.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The "Ward Redistricting
Amendment Act of 2001" redefines ward boundaries within the District
of Columbia as required by District of Columbia law. D.C. Code §1-1308(b)
requires that the Council make any necessary adjustments to election ward
boundaries within 90 days after receipt of the official report of the
decennial census from the Mayor, or by July 14, whichever is later.

The number of wards,
guidelines for deciding relative populations, and considerations for
adjustment of ward boundaries are set out in D.C. Code § 1-1308. This law
requires several principles guide any redistricting plan. The first
requirement is that wards must be approximately equal in population.
Adjustment of ward boundaries is necessary when the Census indicates
changes in population remove the eight election wards, as currently
defined, from the permitted range of deviation from the average. D.C. Code
§1-1308(f) requires that the wards fall within a range of plus or minus
five percent of the average ward population size. The 2000 Census set the
District’s overall population at 572,059. When divided equally among the
eight wards this results in an average population of 71,507 persons per
ward. The allowed deviation is between 67,932 and 75,083 persons. In
developing its recommendations the Subcommittee has attempted to avoid
these maximum and minimum deviations, and has tried to distribute
population among the wards as evenly as possible.

The law also requires the
Council to consider whether particular ward boundaries should conform with
census tracts, the extent to which natural geography, and neighborhood
cohesiveness are respected, and whether the wards are geographically
compact.

The District of Columbia’s population declined by
34,841 persons, or 5.7 percent between 1990
and 2000. However, wards one, two and three gained population during that
ten year period, while other wards lost population. The populations of
each ward as defined in 1992, the populations according to the 2000
Census, and the populations under the Subcommittee’s proposed
redistricting plan are listed on the following table:

The Council received census data for the District on March 30, 2001. This
set the Council’s deadline for completion of ward redistricting at July
14, 2001.

II. CHRONOLOGY OF ACTIONS

III. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 States the Bill’s short title.

Section 2 Amends the Redistricting Procedure Act of 1981 (D.C. Law 4-87;
D.C. Code §1-1333) to reflect new ward boundaries, as drawn by the
Subcommittee. The changes to the ward boundaries will take effect on
January 1, 2002, and will be used in all elections held after February 1,
2002.

Section 3 States the fiscal impact of the Bill.

Section 4 States the effective date of the act.

IV. REDISTRICTING SUMMARY TABLES AND CHARTS

Redistricting Summary Table

Target Average Population Per
Ward: 71,507

* Subcommittee staff identified a census error: 1,086 population at the
U.S. Soldiers’ and Airman’s’ Home was mistakenly placed in census tract
14.02 (Ward 3) rather than in census tract 23.02 (Ward 4, to be moved to
Ward 5). This error can be adjusted officially only by the Census Bureau
after June 30th. However, the Subcommittee recommends that the adjustment
be included in the calculations for purposes of the allowable deviation
from the mean.

Note: The deviation between Wards
2 & 3 is due to census tract 8.02 (Palisades) being moved to Ward 3.
If this tract were instead split along Fox hall Road, both Wards would be
substantially closer to the mean (by 1100).

Redistricting Proposal Summary

April 30, 2001

572,059 Total District population

71,507 Target average (mean) per ward

74,882 Maximum allowable population (+5% above mean)

67,932 Minimum allowable population (-5% below mean)

V. HEARINGS REPORT

On April 5, 2001 the Subcommittee held a public hearing on Bill 14-137.
The following persons testified at that hearing during the afternoon
session:

Herbert Bixhorn,
Office of Planning

Wanda Alston,
Office of the Mayor, Liaison to the U.S. Census Bureau

Roderick Harrison,
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

The following witnesses testified during the April 5, 2001, evening
session:

Arnoldo Ramos,
Council of Latino Agencies

Arthur H. Jackson,
State Committee, Ward 8 Democrats

Yvonne Moore,
Citizen

On April 7, 2001 the Subcommittee held a public hearing on Bill 14-137.
The following persons testified at that hearing:

Lars Hydle,
ANC3C

Nancy J. MacWood,
ANC 3C

Dino Drudi,
Citizen

Peter Schott,
Citizen

On April 23, 2001 the Subcommittee held a public hearing on Bill 14-137.
The following persons testified at that hearing:

Veronica Raglin, Kingman Park Civic Association

Dee Hunter, Citizens Advocacy Project

Keenan Keller, Chair, D.C. Democratic State
Committee
Redistricting Task Force

Shelore Williams, Chair, Ward 1 Democrats

Jerry Cooper, Ward 1 resident

Terry Lynch, Co-Chair, Ward 1 Redistricting Task Force

Harriet Hubbard, Ward 1 resident

Tony Norman, Ward 1 Redistricting Task Force

Stanley Mayes, Ward 1 Redistricting Task Force

Mahdi Leroy J. Thorpe Jr., Commissioner, ANC 2C

Scott Polk, Commissioner, ANC 2E

Darlow Botha, President, Market Square West Condominium


Patricia Scolaro, Burleith Citizens Association

Tom Smith, Ward 3 resident

Jackie Randolph,
Ward 3 Democrats

Rosalyn Doggett,
Ward 3 Democrats

Penny Pagano,
President, Palisades Citizens Association

Robert Martin,
Ward 3 resident

Ann Heuer,
Commissioner, ANC 3D

Norm Neverson,
Ward 4 Democrats

James D. Berry Jr., Chairman, ANC 5C

Frazier Walton,
Kingman Park Civic Association

Yavocka Young,
Commissioner – ANC 6C

Keith Perry,
Ward 6 resident

Daniel M. Pernell III,
Commissioner, ANC 6A

Gregory Ferrell, Commissioner, ANC 6A

Jenefer Ellingston,
D.C. Statehood/Green Party

Mathew Shannon,
Chairman, Ward 7 Redistricting Task Force

Jerri Washington,
Member, Ward 7 Redistricting Task Force

Roscoe Grant,
Member, Ward 7 Redistricting Task Force

Absalom Jordan,
Ward 8 resident

O.V. Johnson,
Ward 8 resident

Percy Battle,
Ward 8 resident

Addie Cooke,
Ft. Stanton Civic Association

Josephine Wharton,
Ward 8 resident

Mary Cuthbert,
Ward 8 resident

Arthur H. Jackson,
Ward 8 Democrats

Earl Simpson, Deanwood Citizens Association

Lynn French,
Ward 1 resident

Lawrence Guyot,
Ward 1 resident

Eric C. Olson,
Center for Voting and Democracy

Phillip Pannell,
Ward 8 resident

Pete Ross, Fox hall Community Civic Association

Copies of witnesses written testimony, if received, is attached.

VI. FISCAL IMPACT

This Bill will have an unbudgeted FY 2002 fiscal impact of $100,000. This
cost will cover the creation and printing of new maps by the Board of
Elections and Ethics.

VII. IMPACT ON EXISTING LAW

Bill 14-137 will redefine ward boundaries in the District of Columbia in
accordance with §11308 of the D.C. Code. The Bill will amend the
Redistricting procedure Act of 1981 (D.C. Code §1-1333) to reflect these changes. The
amendments consist of a description of all ward boundaries which reflect
the boundaries described in this report. The new boundaries will become
effective January 1, 2002, and shall be used in all elections held after
February 1, 2002.

* Subcommittee staff identified a census error: 1,086 population at the
U.S. Soldiers’ and Airman’s’ Home was mistakenly placed in census tract
14.02 (Ward 3) rather than in census tract 23.02 (Ward 4, to be moved to
Ward 5). This error can be adjusted officially only by the Census Bureau
after June 30th. However, the Subcommittee recommends that the adjustment
be included in the calculations for purposes of the allowable deviation
from the mean.

Note: In an attempt to accommodate several Ward Councilmember amendments
were made at mark-up which gave Ward 3 too high a population. Ward 3’s
population will be adjusted to fall within the proper range at or before
consideration by the Committee of the Whole.

PLAN "H"

as amended (May 2, 2001)

572,059 Total District
Population

71,507 Mean

75,082 5% Maximum

67,932 5% Minimum