Council Districts in Flux Upcounty

Village leaders want to keep one political voice as the once-in-a-decade decision nears on remapping Montgomery’s County Council districts.

The Montgomery County Redistricting Commission's effort to redraw the county’s five council districts looks largely to adjust for population growth in Germantown and Clarksburg between the 2000 and 2010 Census. With District 2—of which Montgomery Village is a part—likely to see significant change, the Montgomery Village Foundation has been wrestling with whether there might be advantage to changing the Village’s lines.

The redistricting commission is expected to propose one map to the County Council by Oct. 3. The council, in turn, must hold its own public hearing within 30 days. If the council doesn’t make a decision within another 90 days, the pending proposal automatically takes effect.

Redrawn district lines would go into effect for the 2014 election.

The commission has so far produced two new maps, which will be the focus of a public hearing tonight at 7 p.m.:

• A proposal from Commission vice-chairman Henry Kahwaty (a Republican) moves most of the Village into a redrawn District 3 but splits off a portion of North Village into District 2.

• Commission member Don Spence (a Democratic) has proposed a map that puts all of Montgomery Village’s eight voting precincts into a redrawn District 2.

The foundation's board of directors debated the issue last week, pointing to frequent frustration with the Village being split at the state and Congressional level.

While much of the Village is in the 8th District along with most of Montgomery County, portions are broken off into the Prince George's-heavy 4th District, including: East Village, Eastgate, North Village, Whetstone and most of Stedwick.

Similarly, state legislative lines put North Village in District 14, while the rest of the Village is in District 39.

"I get very concerned whenever the county tries to split the Village," said board vice president John Driscoll. "It’s hard enough as a group to stay together on any one issue. But politically, we’ve got to have one representative, beholden to us and doesn’t get elected unless he has our support."

The board did mull whether there might be an upside to a split at the county level—even if Montgomery Village doesn’t end up having a say in the decision.

"Given the history with our relations with the county, I’m not entirely certain that we wouldn’t be split into two just on the grounds of spite," said board member Mark Firley. "If the division were to be roughly equal in size, I could see some advantages; basically, more people have to court our opinion."

In the end, the board chose to send the commission a letter asking to remain in one district—but without specifying which one.

"It makes more sense as a community to have a single voice," said Peter Young. "… While we may or may not be pleased at any point over the years with our district representative, being a single bloc as opposed to be split in some form probably seems much more advantageous."