Politics
A lot is at stake in ANC elections
ANCs, or Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, have no power to directly approve or reject any proposals. Nevertheless, they can have a tremendous effect on their neighborhoods and their growth, for good or ill.
That's why it's very important for DC residents to learn about the candidates and cast informed votes in ANC races, and why Greater Greater Washington will be making ANC endorsements this week.
ANCs wield the greatest influence over the retail corridors in a neighborhood. Restaurants and bars need liquor licenses to sell alcohol, and public space permits to open up sidewalk cafes. They generate noise and trash which often engender specific opposition. Their business is already one of thin margins, and resistance from the local ANC is often enough to make a restauranteur give up and look elsewhere.
In a number of neighborhoods, from 14th and U to M Street SE/SW, ANCs have in recent years often raised obstacles to the growth of businesses in DC, especially restaurants and bars. We rarely really know what the majority of residents want since there aren't opinion polls or plebiscites, but there are a great many residents, especially newer residents, who would welcome a particular business opening up in their neighborhood, but don't attend ANC debates or speak to their Commissioner.
Just look at the tremendous hassles the beloved Hank's Oyster Bar at 17th and Q, NW has faced just to expand into an adjacent townhouse. Getting approval has cost owner Jamie Leeds tens of thousands of dollars and taken over her life for months, and this is even with the clear support of the local ANC. Over in Bloomingdale, the ANC's opposition blocked a liquor license for the popular Big Bear Cafe.
This isn't to say ANCs should take an absolutist stance in favor of any business, regardless of hours, noise, trash or other considerations. I support the use of Voluntary Agreements in many cases and supported extending the 17th Street moratorium. When they try to work out a reasonable consensus between residents and businesses, ANCs can play a valuable role. In many neighborhoods, they do just that. But sometimes, they have veered toward the attitude that nothing should change.
ANCs also often get to make the call on smaller governmental decisions. For example, Georgetown's ANC voted against a Capital Bikeshare station at the Georgetown Car Barn, and DDOT promptly deleted that station. Virtually no CaBi supporters knew of the impending vote, and so only Ken Archer, who typically attends the ANC meetings, was there to speak in favor. It wasn't enough for the ANC.
ANCs have tipped the balance on the naming of Metro stations, on bus routings, on parking, and on whether to include bricks or bulb-outs in streetscape redesigns. Many a time, residents are upset to hear about a decision of their ANC but hadn't weighed in or even met their Commissioner or voted in the past.
I've listed some cases where ANCs have done some harm, but that doesn't mean ANCs themselves are a bad institution. They often force push large development projects to solicit some community input, and keep an eye on government projects like streetscape reconstructions to ensure contractors don't mess up and that project managers don't forget the impact projects will have on business.
There are plenty of instances where ANCs are a positive force in a neighborhood. That most often happens when the Commissioners are not simply those who volunteer but when residents take an active role in elections. Democracy is a great form of government, but it only works when people vote and engage their representatives. If an ANC isn't representing a neighborhood effecively, residents have not only the opportunity but the obligation to make their voices heard and press for change in decisions and, if need be, in decisionmakers.
Next week, DC residents will have a chance to make their ANCs better. Greater Greater Washington will make a few suggestions for which candidates we would support. We also encourage you to weigh in with your own opinions.
 | David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.   |
Comments
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Go here to read on "Hill Rag" for a voter guide with candidate bios and positions:
http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/Voter-Guide.pdf
or here for a very thorough report on the ANC6B campaign:
http://www.thehillishome.com/2010/10/early-voting-starts-tomorrow/
Study up, Capitol Hill voters, and find the candidates for education and openness, then vote!
by Trulee Pist on Oct 25, 2010 10:36 am • link • report
by m on Oct 25, 2010 10:50 am • link • report
by Andrew on Oct 25, 2010 11:43 am • link • report
by Matty on Oct 25, 2010 11:49 am • link • report
by Fritz on Oct 25, 2010 11:57 am • link • report
by Malak Yusuf on Oct 25, 2010 11:57 am • link • report
-DDOT first recommended a station right outside GU's gates
-DDOT concluded there wasn't space there
-DDOT suggests an alternative location by the Car Barn
-The ANC objects, in part because one commissioner cited vague fears of noise even though the proposed station wasn't in his SMD. Other commissioners objected because the sidewalk is too narrow.
-The Old Georgetown Board makes the final call and says they can't put one there. Yes, they were probably influenced by the ANC, but they may have objected regardless.
-DDOT reevaluates the originally proposed location.
-This week DDOT is installing one just outside the GU gates like they first proposed
So, yes there was some nimby spirit animating the ANC's objection to the Car Barn location, but it's also the case that the Car Barn location was probably just not a great proposal in the first place (the sidewalk is pretty narrow there and more people live near the final location). Moreover, the final station location is actually in the SMD of the commissioner who was opposing the Car Barn location.
The ANC hasn't put up a fuss on any of the other CaBi stations and is generally pretty good on transportation issues all things considered. For instance:
-They didn't object to the idea of a streetcar, even with overhead wires (on K St.) if temporarily necessary
-There's a push from some on the ANC for performance parking in Georgetown
-They pushed for a Barnes Dance at Wis. and M
-They oppose virtually all new curb cuts
They're not perfect--they make too much of a fuss over closing streets--but given the often irrational views of angry residents, they do a pretty good job.
by TM on Oct 25, 2010 12:53 pm • link • report
In principle ANCs are a good thing. But for whatever reason they seem to be populated by those who are anti-change and pro-regulation. There is not an issue that they think can't best be cured by some additional restrictive rule or some oppositional filing designed to increase barriers to change.
Unfortunately I don't see a way to counter the trend. It's pretty hard to run on a platform of "letting things blossom" because that usually means hands off. ANCs don't really have authority to do anything, they only have authority to prevent things from happening. So that's what they do--block things.
by ah on Oct 25, 2010 1:16 pm • link • report
We need to clarify which government processes require citizen input, under which circumstances, and who gets input, how input is measured, and how decisions are made. Most decisions are rightfully influenced by people who live nearby; with a database of voters and their locations, a computer could easily send out "ballots" via emails. Otherwise it's only the self-selected crusaders who have input.
by M.V. Jantzen on Oct 25, 2010 1:35 pm • link • report
by Ben on Oct 25, 2010 1:47 pm • link • report
by TH on Oct 25, 2010 2:14 pm • link • report
by Dave Stern on Oct 25, 2010 3:04 pm • link • report
by Douglas Bell on Oct 25, 2010 3:12 pm • link • report
<< Hope you the candidate you are endorsing, Brittany Kademian is competent. >>
by MY on Oct 25, 2010 3:38 pm • link • report
by Steven Yates on Oct 25, 2010 3:56 pm • link • report
Isn't it ironic that Tom Smith, the Chair of the Ward 3 Dems, is arguing to disenfranchise AU student because, well, I guess because it would put him out of office.
These students are not doing anything illegal. Shouldn't we be encouraging them to take a stake in local affairs and being a part of the community?
by William on Oct 25, 2010 3:56 pm • link • report
Yes, they are. Can anyone really justify why ANCs should have veto power over where Bikeshare stations are placed or be able to dictate which restaurants are allowed to open?
by JustMe on Oct 25, 2010 4:06 pm • link • report
by ah on Oct 25, 2010 4:28 pm • link • report
And what about 3D02? No one there either--it's 25 signatures! Did anyone bother to walk through the neighborhood?
I'm not a fan of Tom Smith, but he's not exactly "disenfranchising" students who have chosen to remain registered in their home state rather than in DC. That's their choice, not his.
by ah on Oct 25, 2010 4:31 pm • link • report
Tom Smith has filed a brief with BOEE asking for relief against the students efforts to mount a write-in campaign. Afterall, most students are not in DC when the August deadline for petitions takes place.
by William on Oct 25, 2010 4:40 pm • link • report
I do believe in local political control. That's why we elect a city council. I don't want a bunch of ignorant neighborhood busybodies dictating transit policies. There is no better example of the uselessness if not outright damage to the fabric of our communities caused by ANCs than ridiculousness like dictating to DDOT where it may and may not but Bikeshare racks.
by JustMe on Oct 25, 2010 4:41 pm • link • report
by ah on Oct 25, 2010 4:56 pm • link • report
by ah on Oct 25, 2010 5:00 pm • link • report
But this is a practice that is longstanding for college students throughout the United States and it isn't illegal.
Many people vote where they are in college and change back when the return home the next summer. There is nothing different happening here.
Tom Smith is simply being a hypocrite. DC Voters should have rights, except when they are college students threatening his domain.
by William on Oct 25, 2010 5:05 pm • link • report
I am supportive of the goals of the American University students running for these ANC seats to build support for the American University 2020 campus plan that will provide more on-campus housing and hopefully move the law school to Wisconsin Avenue from Spring Valley. As important as ANC seats are, however, I am concerned about changing hundreds of voter registrations from competitive states such as OH, PA, etc, to the District to elect an ANC commissioner from American U. It would be a shame if a couple of hundred people shifting voter registrations resulted in a Speaker Boehner.
by Ben on Oct 25, 2010 5:06 pm • link • report
They're not inherently without value, but certainly there are alternatives that would be less destructive. The ANCs don't do anything that alternate institutions couldn't do. And a city council is local control. The representative of Georgetown's local interests is Jack Evans. ANCs are a vestige of an idiotic era of 1970s starry-eyed beautiful thoughts of how great it would be if local communities all "had a voice." Just because they're not universally malicious doesn't mean they could be kept. Any number of alternatives could do as much or more good than ANCs do. The first step is for our institutions like DDOT to tell ANCs to pound sand when they whine about something. The next step is for ABRA to tell the ANCs that their opinions don't count for a damn thing when it comes to liquor licenses. This defense of the ANC system is just a bunch of DC residents who've developed Stockholm Syndrome of the city's pathologies.
by JustMe on Oct 25, 2010 5:11 pm • link • report
- advocate for specific projects in the public interest
- more generally, serve as a vital means of educating the local community, both about specific development plans and more broadly about the city's rules & procedures
- hand out grant money to encourage beneficial local projects
For my money, the biggest knock on certain ANCs (and their subcommittees, which often include unelected citizen members) is that the decisionmaking is high-school politics at its worst. Decisions to back or oppose a given zoning application are based not on what the actual regulations say, and whether the applicant has made the necessary legal showing.
Instead, all too often we get into "your neighbors have an unrelated beef with you" or "I don't like the design of your project" (for an application where design elements are not part of the legal criteria suitable for consideration). To call this approach arbitrary and capricious is an understatement, and it is sadly common.
by zaphod on Oct 25, 2010 8:09 pm • link • report
ANC 1D-01: Write in Ben West
ANC 1D-02: Laura Phelan
ANC 1D-03: Jack McKay
ANC 1D-04: Phil Greiner
ANC 1D-05: China Terrell
ANC 1D-06: John Craig
I was honored to serve as Commissioner for ANC 1D-01 for 2008-2010. I have decided to not run for re-election due to professional and personal committments.
by Phil Lepanto on Oct 25, 2010 8:32 pm • link • report
by myopinion on Oct 25, 2010 9:51 pm • link • report
Your ignorance of what ANCs are and what role they play is staggering. ANCs have a role and weight in decisions defined by the law establishing home rule in the District of Columbia. They are a 4th branch of government equal in status to the Council, the Executive, and the Judiciary (which isn't wholly DC ... in our case). They're not subdivisions of a ward and there's no reason for them to sport Ward numbering except that the Councilmembers like it that way ... There's also no reason why an ANC cannot straddle 2 Wards. They were established in the Home Rule Charter (like the Council was established in the Home Rule Charter) and they are given the roles of 'advising both District agencies and departments and federal agencies and departments on behalf of their constituents in regards to most things affecting citizens including safety, health, etc. And they are given 'great weight' in their advisements. So your advising DDOT to tell them to pound sand is a sad reflection on your ignorance since by law DDOT (and agency of the Executive branch) MUST give the advisements of affected ANCs 'great weight' in decision making. I.e., that means the ANC gets a MUCH bigger say in recommending what DDOT (and other DC and federal agencies and departments) do ... or don't do ...
Read up on the the law (or in this case the DC 'constitution') and then come back when you can hold an intelligent conversation backed by facts vs. your 'feelings'.
by Lance on Oct 25, 2010 10:13 pm • link • report
As I said: ANCs are a holdover from a misguided era 35 years ago when people thought hyper-local rule and hyper-local "community input" would lead to better governance. That hasn't happened.
ANCs are not 100% negative, but there is no reason for them to exist. At best they should serve as a quaint forum for people to express their provincial opinions as "community leaders" so that they can feel like they "had a voice." Their interference in the operations of DDOT in providing infrastructure was not only unreasonable but provided an undue burden on the rest of the community. There's no reason that some self-important idiot in Georgetown should prevent someone from Dupont Circle from having a place to park his Bikeshare bike. If you have a problem with what DDOT is doing, then talk to the mayor or your city council member: or have your ANC member do that. But the interests of the city over the opinion of some member of the ANC, must be paramount. You, Lance, simply don't understand that at all.
by JustMe on Oct 25, 2010 10:51 pm • link • report
As I said, the allegation he made is that the proponents are mischaracterizing the right of students to reregister in their home state. It's not illegal to change your registration, but I think there are legitimate questions as to whether someone is (or should be) eligible to register in DC solely for the purpose of voting in one election and then reversing that registration immediately thereafter to vote in their home state in subsequent elections.
What I find peculiar is that it appears students are not running for ANC 3D07, which is wholely on the AU Campus (or nearly entirely so). Why not take the path of least resistance?
by ah on Oct 26, 2010 9:38 am • link • report
by David Alpert on Oct 26, 2010 9:43 am • link • report
The voters would have to re-establish residency in their places of domicile, which they often do the following summer.
Really, this is a common practice, particularly taking place in many of the "swing" states where there is much more at stake than an ANC race.
by William on Oct 26, 2010 10:09 am • link • report
Example: Live music and dancing used to be banned in Mount Pleasant restaurants, thanks to a local group that wanted no night life in this neighborhood. The ANC played a crucial role in overturning that ban.
Example: This ANC has proposed a "pedestrian encounter zone" concept for Mount Pleasant Street, giving pedestrians priority over cars in the business strip, and winning enthusiastic praise from Gabe Klein at DDOT. Unfortunately, the local business organization, and Mount Pleasant Main Street, objected to anything that might impede automobile access to the area, and this proposal hasn't gotten off the ground.
Yes, some ANCs are dominated by NIMBY forces. But not all of them. Some of us actually try to make things better.
by Jack on Oct 26, 2010 11:29 am • link • report
Also, 14th street just below U is held captive by another ANC member.
PLEASE VOTE THESE PEOPLE OUT!
by OneWayTheir Way on Oct 26, 2010 11:55 am • link • report
Here's my take--in putting up candidates for both seats (or write-ins) they're ignoring the implicit pact to seek only one seat. The ANC districts were clearly gerrymandered to create an AU "seat" in 2000 that consisted almost entirely of just the campus, as opposed to dividing the campus up into multiple SMDs. So by pushing two candidates they've created trouble. Given that redistricting will occur before the next election for ANC it would not surprise me to see AU lose "its" seat.
by ah on Oct 26, 2010 12:15 pm • link • report
In the instance of the bike share location, DDOT most certainly could have told the ANC to "pound sand" albeit in a more polite and written way.
by Ward One Resident on Oct 26, 2010 3:42 pm • link • report
by Jamal on Oct 27, 2010 9:15 am • link • report
I also know that Brittany is extremely involved in community works such as volunteering at Harriet Tubman, raising money for charities to run in the Marine Corp. Marathon and even being a member of the Washington Conservatory Orchestra. She is very involved with her BC college alumni group in DC and even started and coached her alumni soccer team in the Capital Alumni Network. She is always volunteering through her alumni network as well.
She is progressive minded, extremely hard-working and, refreshingly, actually cares about other people and the community. I am happy to have her as a neighbor and more importantly happy to call her a friend and hopefully soon call her my ANC. She will do a great job representing us.
by Justin on Oct 27, 2010 2:05 pm • link • report
by Brendan on Oct 27, 2010 4:10 pm • link • report
by Vamaya on Oct 27, 2010 5:07 pm • link • report
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