Bates Area Civic Association

Dear Neighbors,

Please see my response to a recent report released by Commissioner John Salatti

Ward 5 Redistricting Alternative Proposal

From: Geovani A Bonilla [mailto:gbonilla@hospicemanagement.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 10:41 PM
To: ‘John T. Salatti’; ‘Commissioner Youngblood’; ‘Geovani A Bonilla’
Cc: ‘Ted Kill’; ‘Thomas, Harry (COUNCIL)’; ‘Johnson, Nicole (Council)’; ‘WANDA FOSTER’; ‘Webster, Ayawna (COUNCIL)’; scott@scott-roberts.net; Ward5taskforce2011@gmail.com; ‘Tim Clark’; ‘Geoffrey Hatchard’; ‘James Fournier’; ‘Abigail Padou’; ‘J. Jioni Palmer’; ‘Elizabeth Brooks Lyttleton’; ‘Lydia DePillis’; ‘Amanda Abrams’; ‘Donna Batcho‘; aaron@dcist.com; ‘Kris Hammond’; ‘jr. Philip & Rowan Mary-Pat Blair’; ‘Daniel Wolkoff’; ‘Janae Grant’; ‘Gwen Southerland’; ‘Kathy Henderson’; ‘Kathleen Rand Reed’; ‘Bradley A. Thomas’; ‘John Feeley’; ‘Delano Hunter’; ‘Bill Rice’; ‘John Capozzi’; ‘Greg Bloom’; ‘Robert Spelke’; ‘Malcolm M. Kenton’; ‘Kenyan McDuffie’; 5b10@anc.dc.gov; ‘Regina James’; ‘Doris Newton’; ‘Belinda Bell’; ‘McGinn III Theodore (Ted) L.’; ‘Michael Clark’; ‘Michael J. Henderson‘; district.curmudgeon@gmail.com; ‘Elle Cayabyab Gitlin’; ‘Emily H’; ‘Regina Anderson’; ‘Angela Jones’; ‘Suzanne DesMarais’; ‘Betsy McDaniel’; ‘Sullivan, Frederick J.’; ‘Diton Pashaj’; ‘Michael L. Fine CSA’; ‘Colin McDonough’; ‘Jaime Fearer’; ‘Nolan Treadway’; ‘Tom Bridge’; ‘Tiffany Bridge’; ‘Jonathan Gitlin’; ‘Joan Shipps’; ‘Matthew Rumsey’; ‘Tina Laskaris’; ‘Danielle Jo Bays’; ‘Brody Dittemore’; ‘Hilary Dittemore’; ‘Sara Kaufman’; ‘Eleanor Gourley’; ‘Michele Molotsky’; ‘Howard, Sherry L (US SSA)’; rayseen@anc5b04.org; ‘Tony Norman’; ‘Melissa Ortiz’
Subject: RE: ANC Redistricting in Ward 5

 Sorry that I am a bit late in catching up with emails today folks. Commissioner Salatti, you have put a lot of effort and thought along with other folks regarding the redistricting process. As my name is attached to this document and as I also served as a member of the Redistricting Task Force, I just with to make a clarification and comments:

 I share with Commissioner Salatti concerns that Truxton Circle, Bloomingdale and Eckington will not be in the same ANC Commission under the proposed plan. During the October 6 meeting, I and two 5C ANCs voted against this plan. The majority of the committee members present obviously voted for this plan. This is a concern I raised to CM Thomas and at the Bloomingdale Civic Association. This has been my only opposition to the final plan submitted to the Office of Planning.

1. I do not have an issue with how the Single Member Districts were divided. I did have an issue with the way my neighborhood had been divided into two different ANCs. As a member of the task force, I brought my concerns back to the community, updated my community on the situation of the redistricting and brought those concerns back to the Council Member. The modifications required to keep our neighborhood united were made. Because of the increase in population, we did have to give up a portion of the northern boundary to be placed into an Bloomingdale Single Member District. This was a compromise to keep 90% of the our neighborhood intact and unify the southern portion which had been divided from our neighborhood during the last redistricting.
2. I will not speak for the other neighborhood regarding how their SMDs were divided nor on their SMD populations. Yes, there is a wide discrepancy in some areas. Those areas with the discrepancies and a variance of greater than or less than 5% were represented on the Task Force, I would expect those members to raise concerns about their area as I raised about mine (which were addressed through the process).

 I do hope that Bloomingdale, Truxton and Eckington remain in the same ANC Commission, as these neighborhoods and ANCs work well together and our neighborhoods are truly one contiguous community. In regards to the Single Member District (SMD), my concerns and the concerns of my community were addressed through this process. I will defer members of other SMDs to express their views, as I can only speak for myself.

 Thank you.

 Geovani A. Bonilla, President

Bates Area Civic Association

 From: John T. Salatti [mailto:john.salatti@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 2:30 AM
To: Commissioner Youngblood
Cc: Ted Kill; Thomas, Harry (COUNCIL); Johnson, Nicole (Council); WANDA FOSTER; Webster, Ayawna (COUNCIL); scott@scott-roberts.net; Ward5taskforce2011@gmail.com; Tim Clark; Geovani Bonilla; Geoffrey Hatchard; James Fournier; Abigail Padou; J. Jioni Palmer; Elizabeth Brooks Lyttleton; Lydia DePillis; Amanda Abrams; Donna Batcho; aaron@dcist.com; Kris Hammond; jr. Philip & Rowan Mary-Pat Blair; Daniel Wolkoff; Janae Grant; Gwen Southerland; Kathy Henderson; Kathleen Rand Reed; Bradley A. Thomas; John Feeley; Delano Hunter; Bill Rice; John Capozzi; Greg Bloom; Robert Spelke; Malcolm M. Kenton; Kenyan McDuffie; 5b10@anc.dc.gov; Regina James; Doris Newton; Belinda Bell; McGinn III Theodore (Ted) L.; Michael Clark; Michael J. Henderson; district.curmudgeon@gmail.com; Elle Cayabyab Gitlin; Emily H; Regina Anderson; Angela Jones; Suzanne DesMarais; Betsy McDaniel; Sullivan, Frederick J.; Diton Pashaj; Michael L. Fine CSA; Colin McDonough; Jaime Fearer; Nolan Treadway; Tom Bridge; Tiffany Bridge; Jonathan Gitlin; Joan Shipps; Matthew Rumsey; Tina Laskaris; Danielle Jo Bays; Brody Dittemore; Hilary Dittemore; Sara Kaufman; Eleanor Gourley; Michele Molotsky; Howard, Sherry L (US SSA); rayseen@anc5b04.org; Tony Norman; Melissa Ortiz
Subject: Re: ANC Redistricting in Ward 5

 Dear Ted,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and concerns. Quite a few people who have been members of the Redistricting Task Force share your concerns (less than a quorum of Task Force members voted on the October 6th proposal you’ve seen (16 members out of about 40)).

In the hopes of improving on the October 6th proposal, I attach for your consideration a plan for rational, neighborhood-centered redistricting of Ward 5. After reviewing the sparse information provided to Task Force members on October 6th, four Task Force members, one of whom works for the U.S. Census, carefully calculated the official census numbers and mapped this alternative plan. This plan actually accounts for all the variables that the Task Force, the Executive Committee of the Task Force, and the Office of Planning were charged with upholding.

As for the points you have raised, we share your objections. Our effort in this alternative is to thoughtfully and clearly explain the weaknesses of the October 6th proposal and the virtues of this alternative. An executive summary will soon follow for wider dissemination and discussion.

We would be happy to receive your comments and those of any neighbor you wish to share this with. Thank you for your persistent and passionate efforts to serve the best interests of our community.

John T. Salatti
Commissioner, ANC 5C04
Vice President, Bloomingdale Civic Association
(202) 986-2592

“Together, Building a Better Bloomingdale”

2011/10/20 Commissioner Youngblood <anc5c03@gmail.com>

Ted,

Thank you for all the information.

Hugh
On Oct 19, 2011, at 11:17, Ted Kill <tedkill@gmail.com> wrote:

Councilmember Thomas,

Could you please tell me where I can find the “corrected version” of the task force recommendations that you said would be posted last week?

I noticed that the Task Force now has a website, however, when I tried to provide comments I was told that I did not have access to do so.

I question the utility of a website whose purpose is to “allow ward 5 residents a place to review, discuss and give input on the ANC and single member district redistricting process” but which does not allow residents to comment. The website should be a forum for residents’ views on the proposals, but this is impossible if residents cannot comment.

Best regards,
Ted