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With the start of the new year comes the start of a new term for the city’s advisory neighborhood commissioners. ANC 5A still has a lot of vacancies that need to be filled, including one covering part of the Riggs Park neighborhood. Four of ANC 5A’s nine seats are vacant:

• 5A01 (Riggs Park)
• 5A04 (Catholic University)
• 5A05
• 5A07 (west of Fort Totten Park, south of Riggs Road)

Each ANC commissioner represents a single member district (SMD) of approximately 2,000 residents for a two-year term. ANC 5A has a monthly public meeting typically the fourth Wednesday of each month, except in July and August. There is also typically a monthly executive (planning) meeting.

Petitions will be available starting January 13, 2025, and will be due on February 3, 2025. Instructions on how to run for a vacant ANC seat are available on the DC Board of Elections website. Also see DCBOE’s Overview for Filling ANC Vacancies.

Elected and agency officials often rely on ANCs to help get things done. Having a seat remain vacant for a long period of time can be disadvantageous to residents. So, think about it. Thanks in advance for serving.

ANC 5A01

ANC 5A01 includes UDC’s Lamond-Riggs campus (including food hub) and the Lamond-Riggs Library. This is my SMD. I am not going to run for this seat. I think it is a nice manageable area. Big-ticket items for this area include UDC’s renovation of the Lamond-Riggs campus and a couple of transportation projects.

ANC 5A04

ANC 5A04 primarily covers Catholic University. Catholic has its fair share of projects going on. The area also abuts some of the large development projects happening in the Edgewood/Brookland areas. In the past, Catholic officials have assisted in getting a student to run. Hopefully they will do that again this year.

ANC 5A05

ANC 5A05 includes a mix of apartments, single family homes, and a few large institutions. The big-ticket items in this SMD include the ongoing construction of new campuses for Yu Ying and Washington Latin public charter schools, the protracted (non)development of the Armed Forces Retirement Home, and a couple of transportation projects.

ANC 5A07

ANC 5A07 is the area just west of Fort Totten Park, south of Riggs Road NE. This seat was vacant for much of the previous term. It would be great to have someone fill this seat for the full term. The area includes National Park Service parkland, a few apartment buildings and single-family homes, the Metropolitan Branch Trail, Impact DMV Church, and a few public charter schools plus Mary’s Center. One of the big-ticket items is the forever stalled Metro redevelopment of the large parking lot at Fort Totten Metro station. Generally though, there are a lot of Metro property and NPS issues for which it would be nice to have a dedicated ANC representative to work with Metro and elected officials. Also, an affordable housing development is slated for the corner of Riggs Road & 1st Place NE.