The southern half of DC’s area east of the Anacostia River, Ward 8 contains neighborhoods such as Historic Anacostia, Barry Farm, Congress Heights, and Shipley Terrace. It has DC’s highest unemployment and poverty, but also some beautiful parks, historic buildings, and a few terrific candidates for Advisory Neighborhood Commission. Here are four that deserve your vote.

Map created with Mapbox, data from OpenStreetMap.

What are ANCs, and why should I care?

Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, or ANCs, are neighborhood councils of unpaid, elected representatives who meet monthly and weigh in with the government about important issues to the community. ANCs are very important on housing and transportation. An ANC’s opposition to new housing, retail, a bike lane, bus improvements, etc. can stymie or significantly delay valuable projects. On the other hand, proactive and positive-thinking ANCs give the government suggestions for ways to improve the neighborhood and rally resident support.

Each ANC is divided into a number of Single Member Districts (SMDs), averaging about 2,000 voters. Races often hinge on a small handful of votes; Your vote, every vote, really counts.

Not sure which SMD you live in? Find out here.

Here are our endorsements

After reviewing the candidate responses from each competitive race in Ward 8, we chose four candidates to endorse. You can read their positions for yourself here, along with responses of many unopposed candidates.

Anacostia’s famous Big Chair. Photo by David Clow on Flickr.

In ANC 8A, we endorse LaTasha Gunnels and Greta Fuller

Historic Anacostia is the heart of ANC 8A. Forming the southern shoreline of the Anacostia River, this ANC runs diagnonally north from the Anacostia Metro Station towards Pennsylvania Avenue.

The proposed 11th Street Bridge Park is big news for these neighborhoods, as the bridge will add recreational options and strengthen connections across the river; even though it’s not yet built, the bridge is already bringing increased investment and change to the area.

The continued development of the Martin Luther King Jr. corridor is also an issue to highlight, along with the ongoing debate of how to incorporate the right mix of market rate and affordable housing into the neighborhoods: neighbors often feel that Ward 8 is asked to house disproportionate amounts of social services and supportive housing compared to other wards.

Finally, to the south of the ANC lies Barry Farm (also often called Barry Farms), a large and aging public housing complex slated for redevelopment. There are mixed feelings about the proposed plans; many are wary of displacement and broken promises here, while others say the changes are welcome.

Directly in the center of this ANC is ANC 8A05, home to the historic Frederick Douglass Home. LaTasha Gunnels won our endorsement in this race.

Gunnels wants to “preserve and restore” many of the historic buildings in her area, but also is supportive of diverse types of new housing that would “ensure that long (time) residents can continue to live in our community, while at the same time attracting new residents, businesses and retail to our neighborhood. A great way to measure balance is having a community where residents of all income levels have the opportunity to rent or buy.”

She is hopeful about the proposals included in the 11th Street Bridge Park project, and supports using “build-first” principles when redeveloping Barry Farm. That way, the redevelopment happens in sections and current residents can move into a new section before their homes are demolished.

On transit, Gunnels is enthusiastic. Where should bike lanes and pedestrian improvements go in ANC 8A? “Everywhere! Goal is to have a transit-rich neighborhood.” Sounds great!

Nearby and to the west is 8A06, which includes the parkland along Poplar Point. This is a heavily contested race, with four candidates running for outgoing commissioner Tina Fletcher’s seat. Two of the candidates responded our questionnaire, and between them we think Greta Fuller is the best choice.

Fuller believes that a “mixed income community would jump start the recovery of 8A,” that “there should be a balance of affordable and market rate housing,” and that some “of the development should also target home ownership.” She too is “very hopeful” that the plans at the 11th Street Bridge Park “will allow current residents [to] be here to enjoy the new development.”

She has “fought for over 10 years to have new sidewalks in the community” and “actively lobbied for bike share in the community.” Fuller seems like a solid choice for commissioner here.

The only other candidate to complete our survey for this race was Jason Anderson, whose answers were generally short and unhelpful. When asked where he would encourage new housing to be built, his response: “In another Ward.” What should the neighborhood look like in 20 years, and how will he work towards that vision? All he said was “Clean”; to help, he would “start cleaning.” We hope you give Fuller your vote.

View from Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Photo by Eric Fidler on Flickr.

In ANC 8B, we endorse Diag Davenport

Southeast of Anacostia are the neighborhoods of Fort Stanton, Woodland, and Buena Vista, all of which sit in the narrow and dense ANC 8B. Besides the ongoing controversy at nearby Barry Farm, residents here want to know what commissioners hope to do about the Skyland Town Center, which until this year was the proposed site of one of the withdrawn Walmarts. Public safety is also a key concern.

For ANC 8B06, which runs along the Maryland border south of Suitland Parkway, we like Diag Davenport.

Davenport acknowledges that current residents at Barry Farm “deserve transparency and certainty about their housing future, which has not been accomplished in the past.” He is “[i]n concept… a proponent of the notion of redeveloping Barry Farms to increase total housing units, increase home quality for all, and disrupt the high concentration of lower-income families. All these goals should have positive effects, if achieved responsibly.”

To take on public safety Davenport wants to engage youth directly with ANC-sponsored programs, as well as work alongside the Metropolitan Police Department. Overall, he seems to be a positive and inclusive candidate.

Opponent Mitchell Hawkins III seems like a reasonable candidate as well, but in the end we were less convinced by his answers on housing and transportation and decided to give our support to Davenport.

St. Elizabeths. Photo by hellomarkers! on Flickr.

In ANC 8C, we endorse Kristal Knight

Following the bend in the Anacostia River and including Congress Heights, Barry Farm, and parts of Bolling Air Force Base, ANC 8C is a large area with a number of controversial projects underway within it.

One is the aforementioned Barry Farm redevelopment on the northeastern corner of the ANC. Another is the St. Elizabeths campus. Here, among other long-promised developments, plans for a Wizards and Mystics practice facility and stadium are underway. While the proposal promises to bring jobs, revitalization and development to the area, many have balked at the growing price tag.

Finally, terrible conditions and alleged abuse by landlords has sparked investigations at a series of apartment complexes near the Congress Heights Metro station. WMATA has considered selling nearby land here for future development, and given the proximity to both St. Elizabeths and the Metro station, the area is poised for change.

8C01 covers areas south of St. Elizabeths and a large swath of the Air Force base. For this seat, we think Kristal Knight would make a good commissioner.

Knight is supportive of the plans at St. Elizabeths and eager for the “countless new opportunities for residents” it will bring. She says that the “redevelopment of Barry Farms is well overdue,” but demands “clear and actionable answers on the city’s plan to provide for temporary housing for displaced residents and for when they return post-redevelopment.”

When asked about the changes coming to Congress Heights area, Knight is reflective: “As a homeowner, I understand my taxes may rise, the dynamics of my neighborhood may change and some of my neighbors may be forced to move away due to rising housing costs. I am not settled with any of these potential effects. I am also concerned about what Congress Heights will become without thoughtful community revitalization; a place without access to quality and fresh food options, new employment opportunities; rising crime and the potential deterioration of property value.”

In the end, Knight vows that “intentional policy making can assure longtime residents will still be here to enjoy the fruits of redevelopment instead of [being] displaced by them.”

Knight says she wants “to attract more for Ward 8 residents” as commissioner, and also has specific recommendations for more bike lanes in the area.

Opponent Karen Lucas also responded to our questionnaire with detailed and well-thought out responses. While we agreed with Lucas on some areas, her stances on bike lanes (“NO BIKE LANES”) and removing street parking for better bus service (“ABSOLUTELY NOT”) were hard for us to swallow. We encourage you to support Knight with your vote this election.

Bolling Air Force Base. Photo by F Delventhal on Flickr.

In ANC 8D, there are no contested races. In ANC 8E, we aren’t endorsing anyone.

The southern tip of DC is ANC 8D, and ANC 8E follows Southern Avenue north from there along the Maryland border.

In 8D, as per our endorsement process outlined here, we didn’t offer endorsements because there are no contested races there. In 8E there is only one contested race, and based on candidate responses we did not have enough information to make a confident endorsement.

Want to read the responses of all of the Ward 8 ANC candidates who responded to our questionnaire and judge for yourself? Check out the full PDF for Ward 8. You can also read about all 8 wards at our 2016 ANC Endorsements Page, where you’ll find links to our endorsements, our analysis, and all candidate responses.

These are official endorsements of Greater Greater Washington. To determine this year’s endorsements, we sent a reader-generated candidate questionnaire to all ANC candidates. We then published candidate responses and collected feedback. Staff evaluated all candidate responses and feedback for contested races and presented endorsements to our volunteer editorial board, which then made the final decision.