Advisory Neighborhood Commission nominating petitions for the November 3, 2020, general election will be available this Friday, June 26. Advisory neighborhood commissioners (ANCs) are hyperlocal nonpartisan elected representatives. The ANC is a voluntary, noncompensated position. Each ANC represents a single member district (SMD) of roughly 2,000 residents. Each term is two years. Because the position is nonpartisan, generally government employees can serve (of course accounting for individual circumstances that may require recusal or prohibit participation). To get on the ballot, a candidate needs only 10 signatures from voters residing in the same SMD as the candidate.

Having an effective ANC is really important. Our neighborhood is seeing a lot of development and change. Our neighborhood straddles Wards 4 and 5 and therefore is represented by two different commissions–ANC 4B and ANC 5A. There are a certain number of monthly meetings that each commission must hold, but otherwise as with any voluntary position, it is as much work as one wants it to be.

I try to keep things positive on the blog, so I will just make a general observation that in recent years, some of our ANCs have been missing in action or are otherwise sowing division in the community. So I appeal to reasonable, sensible residents who care about the community to consider serving. I have made this appeal periodically over the years. Maybe you like researching, maybe you have ideas about DC’s budget, maybe you have specific ideas about how to improve the neighborhood, maybe you would like to advocate for the community before DC agencies. Maybe you have asked yourself, “Did anyone think of this or that?” when it comes to development. Maybe you have a list of things you wish DDOT were doing in the neighborhood. Well serving as an ANC is a chance to serve in a position that matters because views of the commission are given great weight.

For those wondering, no I am not interested in running. So if there is anyone who lives in ANC SMD 5A01 in particular who is interested, I say go for it. It does not matter how long one has lived here (except one has to have lived in the SMD for at least 60 days) or what one’s cultural background may be. Anyone who is willing to listen, be respectful, and treat the position seriously would be good.

Find more information about ANCs at https://anc.dc.gov. For information on getting on the ballot, visit the DC Board of Elections website.