Loose Lips (“What Gaull,” 6/21) wrongly trashes Chevy Chase residents who fought to keep their community together during last year’s ward council redistricting.

Redistricting happens every 10 years; it’s about the boundaries of the ward, not the current ward councilmembers. Last year, pursuant to a 1994 initiative, these councilmembers were limited to two consecutive four-year terms, although Ward 3’s Kathy Patterson joined a council majority to repeal that limit.

D.C. law establishes redistricting principles such as neighborhood cohesion, respect for natural boundaries, and avoiding splitting census tracts, all of which argued for keeping Chevy Chase together. Does Patterson agree with LL that her present and former Chevy Chase constituents’ invocation of these principles had “racial undertones”?

Cathedral Heights