The village - dna report

Voting Challenge: Local Participation is Key

By Miles E. Groves

November 2008

New Precinct Ready
As part of my agreement with the Board of Elections and Ethics, I served as captain for our new precinct 143. I had a great team of volunteers who contributed part of Monday and a long Tuesday to our community. We had many elderly voters who had never voted, young voters for whom this was the first time, several who were suspicious that their vote would not count, and many unregistered voters seeking to participate in a historic event. Surprisingly, we had many with “home state” registrations who had failed to vote absentee in their home state and assumed that DC would take their out of state registrations.

The volunteers working at precinct 143 were ready to receive the morning throng of voters seeking to throw their support for the national and local elections that this year’s general election was composed of. No doubt, the same was true throughout the District as early morning voters lined up outside their respective precinct polling locations. For Downtown residents, precinct 143 at the Chinatown Community Church and precinct 129 at Martin Luther King library were the locations for 5,889 downtown residents to honor their democratic responsibilities. According to the early counts from the DC Board of Elections and Ethics, 51 percent of downtown registered voters took part with 52 percent of Ward 6 voters and 49 percent of Ward 2 voters casting regular ballots on Tuesday.

Local Races
Many were not interested in the local races, coming only to cast their vote for a presidential candidate. Precinct 143 covered three Single Member Districts and Precinct 129 covered four Single Member Districts. In precinct 143, all those running were incumbents who served their districts and were running unopposed for reelection. In precinct 129, two of the commissioners faced challengers. Commissioner Doris Brooks was elected for another term, though as of today, she won the downtown precinct by three votes. Across the precincts that include Commissioner Brooks single member district she won by 159 votes, representing 58 percent of the votes cast in Ward 2 precinct 129.

There is no question that the national election was a historic one with Barack Obama taking both the popular and electoral votes by a great margin. Still, what happens at the local level impacts the quality of life of our thriving neighborhood. Our Ward 6 commissioners are dedicated to improving the districts they serve.  Hence, no contested races beyond the at-large council candidates. The same is not true for Ward 2, where a commissioner benefitis from a complicated political map that makes it difficult to elect a commissioner who will actually serve the needs of the Ward 2 Downtown neighborhood.

Need Stronger Participation
Part of the challenge to getting fair representation is that many registered voters are registered in another state and have purposefully decided not to register in DC. Another part of the challenge is that many DC registered voters do not understand that their local vote impacts projects, services, staffing, and concerns related to the quality of life in our neighborhoods. The result is that only 68 percent of our downtown voters actually cast a vote for an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner. In Ward 2, this means that we had more than enough residents voting to guarantee the election of a commissioner who lives and understands the issues downtown living provides. Maybe next time we can get enough to the polls who will actually vote local. Until we do, our neighborhood will continue to be poorly served.

2008 Momentum Award: Commissioner Charley Docter
The Downtown Business Improvement District honored Commissioner Charles Docter as the Downtown Citizen of the Year for supporting Downtown’s transformation as an Advisor Neighborhood Commissioner, BID Board Member, Chair and founding board member of Downtown Housing Now, an early resident (moved into Market Square West in 1991), and his efforts as a tireless community advocate, particularly in the area of housing.

It is hard to imagine who would better deserve this honor. Charley serves as a resident advocate throughout our Downtown neighborhood. In the past decade, I have followed his lead on many issues as a board member of DNA’s predecessor organization, Downtown Housing Now which Charley aggressively led as he pursued residential building to “bring new neighbors” to Downtown. Since the inception of DNA, we have worked together on many community issues leveraging the special consideration afforded an ANC commissioner with the strength of our growing membership base. His support has been critical to the success of our own efforts.

New Downtown Marketing Survey
Last year the Downtown Neighborhood Association, in partnership with the Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) and the Downtowner Newspaper launched a neighborhood marketing survey that serves as a component of the BID’s retail package that it sends to potential retailers, developers, and others interested in trends in our neighborhood. A summary copy of what was released on February 15th can be found on our web site www.dcdna.org on the Reports page.

This same survey will be happening again this year, starting Friday, November 14. You can get the survey on the BID website, www.downtowndc.org. Last year several of our neighbors won dinners at local restaurants, a weekend stay at the Hotel Monaco, and a Spa weekend at a resort. Best of all, your support enabled us to present the Catholic Charities Housing Services Division Director with $1,000. Last year we had nearly 1,000 participating; this year we are targeting an increase to 1,500 so help is needed.

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