Residents of a neighborhood east of Capitol Hill are in an uproar because it’s almost certain they’ll soon be separated from their Ward 6 neighbors and slipped into Ward 7, most of which sits on the east side of the Anacostia River. On Thursday a D.C. Council committee will release its plans for redrawing ward boundaries to meet the city’s shifting population. The full council will vote on those plans June 7 after the public has had a chance to weigh in. When the proposal appears, it’s widely expected the three council members redrawing the lines will slice the Hill East neighborhood out of Ward 6 and connect it to Ward 7.
That would be “disastrous,” Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells said. Chief among Wells’ concerns, and those of his constituents, is disrupting the near decade-long planning that’s gone into the schools in that section of the ward. The now-renovated Eastern High School is the crown jewel of a the plan that started with bringing elementary schools up to snuff and then the middle schools that feed into the high school, Wells said.
“Keeping young families in the neighborhood, and attracting new ones, has been key to the resurgence of the customer base for restaurants and retail,” Wells said. “It’s creating the economic engine not just for the ward, but the city.”
Putting Hill East in Ward 7 would separate the neighborhood from the Ward 6 parent-teacher association that has worked with Wells and the schools chancellor to develop the plans that have improved the area’s schools.
“Traditionally, a council member doesn’t work with schools that’s in someone else’s ward,” Wells said. Ward 7 Councilwoman Yvette Alexander said “as long as Eastern High School remains a D.C. public school, I don’t see a problem.” Alexander said she recognized residents have built a relationship with Wells.
“Change is a little challenging,” she said. “But I will be especially sensitive to those areas and make an extra effort.”
There are other issues other than the schools.
Congressional Cemetery is a popular spot for dog walkers. In a recent email to a Listserv for the dog walkers who bring their pups there, organizers raised alarm bells that moving the cemetery to Ward 7 could disrupt their lifestyle.
“Our collective voice and representation would be weakened,” the email says. “Most of the constituents in Ward 7 are on the other side of the river and geographically separated from the Hill.”
