Cape Residents Express Concerns About Congressional Redistricting Proposal

The Governor’s Planning Committee recently that the (CSCIA) believes would harm its small town feel and effectively split a close-knit community in half.

In a letter dated Oct. 7 and addressed to Jeanne Hitchcock, the chairperson of the Governor’s Advisory Committee, the CSCIA outlined concerns about the proposal.

Cape St. Claire is a waterfront community located on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay comprised of more than 2,300 single-family homes and 7,500 residents. The community is bounded on three sides by bodies of water: the Little Magothy River, the Chesapeake Bay, the Magothy River and Deep Creek. Indeed, the Cape’s connection to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries is fundamental to its community identity, and has been since Cape St. Claire was founded in 1949.

For the past 20 years, the Cape has been part of the 1st Congressional District, as were most of the Chesapeake Bay waterfront communities in Maryland. The new proposal arbitrarily divides the Cape into two separate districts—with one precinct in the 3rd District, and the other two precincts in the 4th District.  

Although the Cape votes in three precincts (because of its size), the community participates in elections as a whole. The Cape hosts regular candidate forum nights in which all residents participate and routinely hosts congressional representatives at community meetings. While the Cape has thousands of residents, it feels very much like a small neighborhood.

Splitting the Cape into two congressional districts will confuse and disenfranchise residents. An arbitrary line will have been drawn through the heart of the community, which will create an abomination where one resident can't have a conversation with his or her neighbor about their common representative. That surely cannot be a responsible way to encourage participation in our great democracy. 

Another concern is how things will occur on election days. In the words of one Cape resident who serves as a poll judge, "splitting Cape St. Claire will be logistical hell come polling day."

The CSCIA was astounded to read that some believe that the Cape has more in common with Prince George’s County than with our Chesapeake Bay waterfront neighbors. And since the community is split in half, does this mean one half of the community identifies with Annapolis (3rd District) while the other half has more in common with Landover and Greenbelt in the 4th District? The Cape strongly disagrees. 

It is understood that a line has to be drawn somewhere. But, to split a community in half—one that is only a square mile in size is ridiculous. To add insult to injury, putting one half of that community in a district that runs right up to the District of Columbia line demeans and dismisses the 62-year history of our community's ties to the Annapolis area.

The CSCIA respectfully requested that Cape St. Claire, in its entirety, be placed within the 3rd District with the rest of the Annapolis area and other central Maryland waterfront communities with which it shares so much in common.

The deadline for submitting comments about the proposal is Tuesday, Oct. 11. Comments may be sent by email to redistricting2011@mdp.state.md.us or submitted online. Let your voice be heard!

Editor's note: Patch contributor Kathleen Mooneyhan is vice president of the the Cape St. Claire Improvement Association and helped prepare the letter with Sam Gallagher, CSCIA president.