Ward 5 Roundup

There were several common themes throughout the Ward 5 ANC meetings this month. The DC Voice Zoomed and WebEx’d through Ward 5 ANC meetings 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5E over the past 2 weeks. This is a short recap of some of the issues facing our Ward 5 residents.

 Councilman McDuffie

Ward 5 Councilman McDuffie spoke to ANC 5B for about 30 minutes on a range of topics. However, he spent a considerable amount of time on the Council Office of Racial Equity (CORE). McDuffie stressed that racial equity should be at the “forefront of all the work we ought to be doing in the District of Columbia. How we govern, how we legislate, and how we implement the things that we pass into the regulations and so forth.” He went on to explain to the audience what racial equity meant to him.

“My vision in this bill is that we will have achieved racial equity when someone’s race no longer predicts their success in our city,” said the councilman. He went on to say that “… different indicators to success such as income, education, … life expectancy, homeownership, employment, [and] health” are driven by race disparity in our nation’s capital. In fact, the councilman gave several impassioned statements about how public safety, housing affordability, and criminal justice reform are the issues that keep him up at night, trying to figure out how to close the gap for Ward 5 residents.

Covid 19 vaccine

Access to Covid 19 vaccines was one of the top issues. Although Covid disproportionally impacts Ward 5 it’s also disproportionately not gaining access to vaccines. Complaints range from the inability to schedule vaccination to watch residents from more affluent wards having virtual ease in obtaining appointments. Councilman McDuffie has made addressing this disparity one of his top priorities.

DDOT (d.)

DDOT drew a lot of attention in almost every meeting. The issues were twofold; changes in traffic patterns and supposed safety features that impact the flow of traffic and the moveDC project. Kelly Jeong-Olson, Community Engagement Specialist-Ward 5, and Samuel Brooks were on hand at each of these meetings. Olson stood in the breach and fielded all questions with a sense of sincerity and commitment. She also provided a 5-minute presentation on DDOT services. The slides covered a list of DDOT services, Service Level Agreement Timelines for DDOT Services, information on the Traffic Safety Assessment process, and other valuable information that can be found on the DDOT website. However, the moveDC project took a bit of a beating at one of the meetings.

moveDC is a long-range transportation plan for the District. Its stated goal is to “invest in transportation facilities and programs that address the future needs of Washingtonians across all eight wards.” It’s that claim that drew the ire of a Commissioner in one of the meetings. The Commissioner found it hard to accept the “inclusiveness” of the project when she hadn’t heard about it. Brooks admitted that Ward 5 was one of the wards that had “low participation” compared to other wards. Ward 5 residents are encouraged to take the moovDC survey and let their concerns and transportation needs be known.

Conway School of Nursing – The Catholic University of America

ANC meetings are replete with projects and new developments. One of special interest is The Conway School of Nursing & Campus Gateway. Particularly given the scarcity of healthcare service in Ward 5. Several interesting facts include:

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the RN workforce to increase by 7% over the next 10 years
• DC is among the top 5 cities in need of nurses
• Catholic’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program facts include
  • 140 juniors and seniors
  • 91 sophomores
  • 93 freshman
  • 33-on campus graduate students and 98 online (across 35 states)

Architectural drawings for the gateway were displayed to show how the building will blend into the current architecture along the Michigan Avenues facing side of the campus.

Attendance

Attendance across the ANC meetings was moderate to good. It ranged from the mid-’30s to nearly a hundred attendees at one of the meetings. Ward 5 residents should continue to take advantage of these virtual meetings. It would be nice to see them continue in some form or another even after the pandemic. Although they are not a substitute for face-to-face interaction, it removes the weather and transportation obstacles that plague attendance.

Need to know the date and time of the next ANC meeting? Find your ANC or single-member district? Or ask the ANC a question? Go to https://anc.dc.gov/. These meetings are one of the most important avenues to have your voice heard.