Do you want to serve your neighborhood? Run for ANC!

If you’d like to make your neighborhood a better place and get involved in what’s happening, here’s a great opportunity!

The Advisory Neighborhood Commission, an elected position whose job is to advise the City Council on local issues, and also to issue grants and work on local community projects, is up for election this cycle. (They also have the power to effectively allow or deny liquor licenses, which is a big deal.)

So you should run! Here’s the most recent maps of the ANCs. And if you live in ANC 1A10, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE RUN. Current 1A10 commish Lenwood Johnson is terrible. (The ANC 1A10 map is to the right.)

Johnson opposes anything useful (like the new Park View sign), he acts like a child on neighborhood listserves, bragged about having unregistered guns in his house, was nearly censured by the ANC, and is just generally a terrible ANC commissioner. Please register to run against him, and if more than one person registers, please work together so you aren’t splitting the anti-Lenwood vote. Seriously. I will volunteer on your campaign.

Here’s more info on running from Cecilia Jones, president of the Northwest Columbia Heights Community Association.

As active, concerned members of the community we have certain responsibilities to ourselves and to each other. We should become knowledgeable about how to request city services (speed humps, zoned parking, special trash pick-ups, graffiti removal, street light repairs, etc.) We should also understand the laws that affect local businesses. We should understand the roles and responsibilities of government agencies in matters of public safety, zoning, nuisance properties, licensing for establishments serving alcoholic beverages, halfway houses, etc. These are the things that affect our day-to-day lives and our property values.

The Advisory Neighborhood Commission is a political structure in DC where one Commissioner represents a Single Member District (SMD), about 2000 residents. Each of DC’s 8 Wards have at least 4 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (e.g., 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D). Each Commission has about 8 to 10 Commissioners. On November 6th, nearly 300 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners will be elected to represent DC’s neighborhoods.

Have you ever considered running for public office? Would you like to become your neighborhood’s ANC? Or would you like to support a candidate who is already running, or encourage someone you know to run? What we must NOT do is refuse to act now and complain later.

If you are interested in becoming an ANC, July 9 is the first day to pick up a nominating petition (see http://www.dcboee.org/popup.asp?url=/pdf_files/nr_966.pdf and http://www.dcboee.org/home.asp for more information.)

Recent re-districting has changed the shape of many SMDs. If you don’t know which SMD is yours, please type in your address at: http://citizenatlas.dc.gov/atlasapps/reporthometab.aspx

Important 2012 Dates:

July 9th – Nominating Petitions are available.
August 8th – Nominating Petitions are due. Petition Requirements: 25 signatures of registered voters from the candidate’s Single Member District.November 6th – General Election for ANC Commissioners and other races

**Note: ANCs are non-partisan so there is no primary, just the General Election on November 6th. The position of Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner is unpaid, and can be very demanding.
Please talk about the upcoming ANC election among your neighbors and friends. Please go to the next ANC Meeting in your area: http://anc.dc.gov/anc/site/default.asp

Block Captains: Please forward this e-mail to your block lists, or those you feel might be interested. Time will run short, and there’s so much that can be done with the support of a strong ANC. The ANC controls grant funding for local projects and represents our interests to the City Council and other DC and Federal Agencies.