A Proposal: Georgetown Should Secede From DC

• March 10, 2010
• 10 Comments

by Mark Wellborn

Wisconsin Avenue by Jim Malone

In a post that is sure to incite the ire of DC residents, Carol Joynt, a DC columnist for New York Social Diary, discusses the benefits for Georgetown if it seceded from the rest of the city. (Hat tip to We Love DC for pointing out this post.)

To her credit, Joynt recognizes that this is completely unlikely to happen, but she puts forward her reasons anyway.

She notes that since DC is not going to get home rule, Georgetown should become the City of Georgetown with its own mayor, school system, police force, etc. She writes that while Georgetown residents pay high taxes, only a small proportion of those taxes actually come back to benefit the area.

Joynt also laments that the community organizations and council member that Georgetown shares with “too wide a swath of the city” do not adequately represent the issues facing neighborhood residents.

Toward the end of her post, her logic begins to get hard to follow (if it wasn’t already), but she does want to make sure that, even if Georgetown secedes, the federal government will still have the neighborhood’s back if there is a terrorist attack.

“I’m not going to go on and on here, but when you think about it there are many more favorables than negatives to seceding.

I would, however, ask the Federal government to provide our national defense.”

Needless to say, your comments are welcome.

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10 Comments

1. Anon said at 2:19 pm on Wednesday March 10, 2010:

   Why not… Cambridge, MA is its own city. Makes sense to me.

1. Bill said at 2:24 pm on Wednesday March 10, 2010:

   Not surprisingly, Georgetown wants to separate itself from a city of which neighborhood residents make use of all types of municipal services every day.

1. Anon said at 3:12 pm on Wednesday March 10, 2010:

   I see a toll plaza on the Key Bridge somewhere in Georgetown’s future if this unlikely proposal ever happens… very sneaky! Maybe that’s how they’d pay for their own mini-Metro system?

1. Golly G. said at 4:48 pm on Wednesday March 10, 2010:

   God, whats up with blog today?  Way too much stuff about whiny rich people.

   Power to the working people!

1. Pat said at 6:22 pm on Wednesday March 10, 2010:

   Rack Golly G, was wondering that myself. I know this city is full of ‘em, but GEE WHIZ.

1. Wondering said at 8:20 pm on Wednesday March 10, 2010:

   I don’t see the problem with this site talking about Georgetown or high-end properties…just me.

1. annon said at 10:47 pm on Wednesday March 10, 2010:

   i dont think the logic is correct. think about how many wealthy people live in dupont, logan, capitol hill and other established parts of dc. im sure the tax burden of the georgetowns sparsely populated citizens is a lot less then they think. if it was more densely populated and the rest of the city completely poor that logic would make sense and the argument would be valid.

1. kob said at 9:33 am on Thursday March 11, 2010:

   Why not make some of DC’s poorest neighborhoods their own states? They may be eligible for far more attention and federal assistance

   Anyway, regarding taxes .. I don’t think Georgetown could support itself on its own, not without turning M Street into a toll road.

1. jj said at 12:28 pm on Thursday March 11, 2010:

   let’s throw wards 7 and 8 back to maryland while we’re at it. They would get the attention (and funding and opportunities) they need being part of a state rather than a non-represented seat of government. As a matter of fact, I think Marion would make a great governor of Maryland. It’s his destiny and next logical step before becoming President! You go Governor Barry! We love you!

1. Crystal Chisholm said at 1:03 pm on Friday March 12, 2010:

   Wow

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