For Jack Evans, For Our Changing Ward

Councilmember Jack Evans’ leadership in attracting investment and amenities to the District and to Ward 2 has improved the quality of life for all Ward 2 residents.  In the future, Mr Evans is committed to addressing the needs of young families that are flooding into our ward, largely in response to these amenities. 

If Mr. Evans can pivot to address the needs of his changing constituency, to deliver results in schools and in creating liveable, walkable communities the way he has delivered in attracting retail investment, then we would be foolish to not return him for another term as our Councilmember.  That’s why I will be voting for Jack Evans tomorrow for Ward 2 Councilmember.

I chaired the campaign of Councilmember Evans’ only opponent in his campaign for re-election until her withdrawal from the race.  After our campaign, Councilmember Evans spent 2 hours with me talking through the issues, and we discussed the needs of his evolving ward for better schools, more walkable, bikeable communities and better transit.  He didn’t need to do that, and I appreciated his magnanimity. 

Mr Evans is legendary in his ability to get things done in District government, and I left that meeting hopeful, even excited, to see what he would get done in these areas in the next four years.

Ward 2, which Councilmember Jack Evans has represented for 20 years, is very different now than it was for most of Evans’ tenure.  The historic influx of young families has resulted in a literal redrawing of the Ward 2 constituency.  In the redistricting of wards following the 2010 census, Ward 2 had to significantly shrink in size because of the dramatic growth of in residents.  Mr Evans is largely to thank for that growth.

In education, Mr Evans is committed to engage each school in our ward, or whose feeder schools are in our ward, in detail to ensure parents don’t have to sacrifice their children’s education to live in our ward.  Mr Evans was a leader on the Council in pushing through education reform, and we need his continued leadership to make reform real for many Ward 2 schools.

During our meeting, we discussed the needs of Hardy Middle School, in Ward 2, and Shaw Middle School, which has many Ward 2 feeder schools, extensively.  The issues faced by many of these schools are complex, and Evans is aware of this complexity, both pedagogically and politically.  At the end of the day, Mr Evans would like to see every school earn more in-boundary enrollment from Ward 2 parents, and is committed to seeing that happen.

Mr Evans is also enthusiastic about improving the walkability and bikeability, and access to transit, of Ward 2 over the next 4 years.  He is a big supporter of Circulator, and his support will be critical to expanding Circulator routes for Ward 2 residents.  There are multiple planned route improvements, including an extension of the Rosslyn-Dupont route to U Street and a new Georgetown-North Mall route, that are on the books but need to be budgeted by the Council.  If anyone can make that happen, it’s Councilmember Evans.

Mr Evans also made the decision over some dissenters to support cycle tracks on L & M streets.  Evans will hear the same dissent from the same people over expanding traffic cameras, Streetcar routes and performance parking in Ward 2, and his consistent support and leadership in the face of this dissent is critical.  

Some Ward 2 residents are concerned that continued subsidy opportunities, particularly the project to attract the Redskins back to DC, will distract Evans from the issues of most importance to his constituency.  I would be lying if I said I didn’t share that concern, but I see more reason for hope and excitement than for concern given Mr Evans track record of delivering results for his constituents. 

Evans has earned another term, and we can look forward to our ward’s continuing improvement under his leadership.