Dear Neighbors,

Happy African-American History Month! For far too long, African-American communities have endured the burden of health disparities, as evidenced by the current pandemic. This year during African-American History Month, let’s remember the importance of access to affordable healthcare coverage and wellness. We can only become a more resilient city when all communities are healthy, well, and strong. 
 

Last year, as the Chair of the Committee on Health, I discussed with my team ways to leverage virtual technology to improve the transparency of the Council Committee’s legislative process. We wanted to create a monthly webinar for residents who are interested in health policy issues and/or health legislation.

Each monthly webinar delves into the Council’s legislative process. We will include updates on bills introduced, health legislation being considered by the Council, budget issues, and performance oversight priorities. We held our first webinar on Friday, January 28th.

Future webinars will occur monthly on the third Thursday of each month at 10:00a.m., except for the February webinar, which will be Friday the 18th. Here’s a recap of our first Committee on Health webinar: A Deep Dive into Health Policy at the Council.

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Continuing to Redraw the Lines: Ward 7ANC Redistricting Task Force
 

We recently finalized our19-member Ward 7 Advisory Neighborhood Commission Redistricting Task Force to lead the redrawing of Ward 7 Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) and Single Member District (SMD) boundaries in the final part of the District’s redistricting process. Listed below are the task force members (and the ANC in which they live) and general information about the redistricting process.

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Ward 7 ANC Redistricting Task Force Members:

Brian Alcorn - ANC 6A
Tamara Blair - ANC 7D
Tomeika Bowden - ANC 7F
Francis M. Campbell - ANC 6B
Caprice Casson - ANC 7E
Joel Castón - ANC 7F
Dr. Marla Dean - ANC 7B
Mandla Deskins - ANC 7C
Wendell Felder - ANC 7D
Malissa Freese - ANC 7D
Keith Hasan-Towery - ANC 7E
Justin Lini - ANC 7D
Nisha Patruni -ANC 7D
Max Richman - ANC 7C

Eric Rogers - ANC 7B
Ashley Ruff - ANC 7F
Travis R. Swanson - ANC 7B
Patricia Stamper - ANC 7C
Lee Wilson - ANC 7E

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On January 20th, the task force held its first meeting, which was open to the public. In case you missed it, click here to watch the recording. During that meeting, the members established guidelines and time-frames for making recommendations on redrawing ANC and SMD boundaries. The task force will host several public listening sessions to assist them in getting additional feedback from residents in making its recommendations to the Council. The task force held its first Public Listening Session on February 1stvia Zoom, which focused on boundaries for ANC 7C and ANC 7E. Here is a recap of the first public listening session: Ward 7 ANC Redistricting Public Listening Session. We will keep you updated on the next public listening session.