Results are in for races to serve on the District’s Advisory Neighborhood commissions, the D.C. government’s lowest level of elected office.
The vote tallies, which are still unofficial, cover dozens of ANC contests in or near the Borderstan coverage area.
As of 12:26 a.m. today, the winners (in bold) are:
(Updated at 12:55 p.m.) More than 100 locals who live in or near the Borderstan coverage area are running for the lowest level of elected office in the D.C. government today.
In contested Advisory Neighborhood Commission races, we’re curious who got or will get your vote. You can weigh in through the polls below and in the comments.
(Updated at 5:55 p.m. Aug. 21) The 2016 ballot for the lowest level of elected office in the D.C. government is now almost final.
More than 100 locals who live in or near the Borderstan coverage area have submitted nominating petitions to serve as members of the District’s Advisory Neighborhood commissions. They had until yesterday to collect the signatures of 25 of their neighbors in their single member districts and bring the paperwork to the D.C. Board of Elections.
But before the ANC candidates officially can get on the ballot, they must make it through a petition challenge period, which lasts until Aug. 22.
The candidates for the Nov. 8 general election for now include:
(Updated at 4:19 p.m.) A community activist has succeeded Thu Nguyen on the Columbia Heights Advisory Neighborhood Commission.
Christine Miller yesterday secured “decisively more” votes for Nguyen’s ANC 1A05 seat than her opponent, Oliver Barham, according to commission Chairman Kent Boese. But it wasn’t immediately clear exactly how many votes she received in the special election.
Nguyen stepped down in May to move to Philadelphia, triggering a race for the ANC single member district, which is bounded roughly by Newton and Irving, roughly 16th and 14 streets NW.
“I am very excited,” said the 41-year-old Miller.
(Updated at 2:55 p.m.) The race to enter (or stay in) the lowest level of elected office in the D.C. government officially has begun.
More than 20 locals who live in or near the Borderstan coverage area yesterday picked up nominating petitions to serve as members of District’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.
Monday was the first day prospective candidates could get the nominating materials. They have until Aug. 10 to collect the signatures of 25 of their neighbors in their single member districts to get on the Nov. 8 ballot.
So far, the candidates include:
Two Columbia Heights residents interested in helping local schools are facing off in a special election next month for a seat on the neighborhood’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission.
Christine Miller and Oliver Barham are vying to represent the ANC 1A05 district, which is bounded roughly by Park Road and Irving, 14th and 11th streets NW. The winner of the election for the seat would succeed Thu Nguyen, who stepped down last month to move to Philadelphia, according to ANC 1A chairman Kent Boese.
Miller, 41, has lived in Columbia Heights for over 11 years. She currently is working with Columbia Heights-area schools and their community outreach programs.
The ANC candidate said she hopes to use her relationships with community leaders and businesses to help connect them with her neighbors.
“There are people I have talked to who want to work to build up our community, but often don’t know where to begin or that they even have representatives on all of these issues,” Miller said. “I want to give our members the tools to empower themselves and affect change. I believe that the things that are important to our community — public safety, schools, supporting local businesses, livability — improve when you have a strong community that is knowledgeable and engaged.”
Barham, 34, moved to D.C. in 2009 and has lived in Columbia Heights for the majority of his time here.
The third year graduate student in mechanical engineering said he intends to use problem-solving strategies to come up with practical ways to improve the quality of education within the community.
Community leaders in Columbia Heights and Park View are looking to ensnare landlords suspected of illegally dumping garbage that overflows public litter cans in their neighborhoods.
ANC 1A members last night unanimously approved a resolution that aims to identify which multi-unit residential buildings in Columbia Heights and Park View do not use private trash collectors as required by law. Under D.C. code, District trash collectors won’t take garbage from residences with at least four units.
The resolution calls on the D.C. government to check whether the residential buildings with at least four units have contracts for private trash collection and dumpsters in good condition. The ANC members also want a list of all the buildings audited, with information on the properties’ compliance.
A real estate agent has succeeded a dog walker on the Columbia Heights Advisory Neighborhood Commission.
Realtor Richard DuBeshter, who ran unopposed for the ANC 1A06 seat vacated by pet care company owner Patrick W. Flynn, officially took office during a swearing in ceremony today. Flynn resigned from the commission last month to devote more attention to his business.
DuBeshter said he’s seen the “good, bad and very ugly” of Columbia Heights since he came to the neighborhood in 2000. Since his arrival, DuBeshter said he has served on the North Columbia Civic Association, and has strived to make his neighborhood a better place by participating in community clean-ups, safety walks and work to create the Trolley Park at 11th and Monroe streets NW.
Patrick W. Flynn, a community leader in Columbia Heights, is set to step down today as one of the neighborhood’s ANC commissioners to devote more attention to his pet care company and avoid a potential conflict of interest.
Flynn, who owns Patrick’s Pet Care in D.C., is slated to resign at midnight from ANC 1A. He has represented the ANC 1A06, which is bounded roughly by Park Road and Irving, 14th and 11th streets NW, since 2012.
“The reasons for the resignation are several, but mostly relate to the growth of my business and a lack of time available to be an effective advocate for our neighborhood,” he said in an email to his neighbors. “The specific timing involves a new business opportunity in the neighborhood that will be forthcoming in the next few months that will require a vote by the ANC.”
Flynn told Borderstan his company is expanding. But he declined to elaborate. Patrick’s Pet Care, which opened in 2012, offers pet sitting, dog walking and other pet services.
After the vacancy for his seat appears in the D.C. Register on Nov. 20, locals who live in ANC 1A06 will have 21 days to file paperwork to run for his spot on the commission.
Photo via Facebook/Former ANC Commisioner Patrick W. Flynn
Watch out, frequently absent ANC commissioners.
D.C. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau today introduced a bill that would ax commissioners who miss meetings for three months in a row.
The bill, called the Advisory Neighborhood Commission Absenteeism Penalty Amendment Act of 2015, was co-introduced by councilmembers Anita Bonds and Elissa Silverman and aims to “make it easier for ANCs to reliably have the quorum required to conduct official business.”
“Like several of my colleagues, I was an ANC Commissioner,” said Nadeau, who served on ANC 1B from 2006 to 2010, from the podium. “I found, as many commissioners can relate to, it can be difficult to enforce attendance among a group of volunteer leaders.”
As written in the bill, any commissioner who fails to attend official public meetings for three months will “be considered resigned from the position.”
“District residents and business leaders should not be penalized for poor attendance of their representatives,” Nadeau added from the dais.
Nadeau said that the legislation was requested in a resolution from Columbia Heights and Park View ANC 1A, and that it “mirrors similar language already in the procedures governing ANC 1B.”
Final bill will make it easier for ANCs to do business. Commissioners can’t miss more than 3 meetings in a row. Bill requested by @ANC1A.
— Brianne K. Nadeau (@BrianneKNadeau) September 22, 2015
As former ANC, I appreciate their hard work as volunteers. This bill will ensure they have quorum to do imp’t community business.
— Brianne K. Nadeau (@BrianneKNadeau) September 22, 2015
I also want to commend the work of @ANC1A Chair @KentBoeseDC for his leadership on the ANC absenteeism bill I intro'd today.
— Brianne K. Nadeau (@BrianneKNadeau) September 22, 2015
Photo courtesy of Brianne Nadeau
ANC 1A is asking for online feedback on what should be done with the former Bruce Monroe School site at 3000 Georgia Ave. NW.
Residents can share their thoughts on what should be done with the plot of land in a new online survey.
The District currently owns the parcel of land. Currently, the site is designated for temporary park use.
ANC 1A Commissioner Kent Boese wrote on local blog Park View, D.C. that the site “has mostly been a nearly three acre open space since that time with the exception of a fairly successful community garden located in the southwest corner of the property.”
The park also currently houses a Little Free Library.
The deadline to submit a survey response is Sept. 9, 2015.
Paintballing the Presidents — Someone defaced a mural with a paintball gun in Adams Morgan yesterday. The vandal took specific aim and struck all of the depicted presidents around their groins. Were they trying to say something? [Washington Post]
Tree Me — The sidewalk reconstruction at Otis Place between the elementary school and recreation center has been modified to incorporate trees. ANC 1A commissioners worked with the District Department of Transportation to reconsider the sidewalk plans to make room for the greenery. [Park View D.C.]
Crossing Confusion — A protected bikeway on 15th Street NW is extending a few blocks north to bypass a busy intersection, but it lacks crosswalks. According to D.C. law, all four sides of an intersection are legal crosswalks, which means it would be legal for someone to cross at the “missing” sidewalks. [Greater Greater Washington]
Chilling News — The Good Humor ice cream company sent an old-school ice cream man to Dupont Circle to pass out free treats yesterday. Did you miss him? Don’t worry, he’ll be back on Friday. [Borderstan]
(Updated at 8:22 p.m.) An ANC commissioner has joined a chorus of voices questioning the actions of an embattled local developer.
Developer Jay Gross is currently involved in a nasty fight with Petworth residents, reports WAMU, over what Gross says is a conspiracy to keep him from renovating three rowhouses located on Grant Circle.
The fight has already prompted several heated exchanges between residents and the developer, and recently culminated into a $25 million lawsuit filed by the developer.
Now, Gross may soon have to fight a war on a different front.
Gross has of late drawn the ire of Commissioner Patrick Flynn, who serves on Columbia Heights ANC 1A.
Flynn says his problem with Gross started when he tried in June to obtain a copy of the developer’s plans to renovate two homes on Kenyon Street NW on concerns that the property’s maximum lot occupancy requirements would not be adhered to.
“Without knowledge of [the] lawsuit I recently asked Mr. Gross for a copy of his plans to redevelop ,” Flynn wrote to Borderstan in an e-mail.
“Given all the illegal construction that has taken place in my neighborhood,” Flynn said, “I think I am fully within my rights, and fulfilling my duties, to request to see copies of the plans and permits for any property or development in my single member district.”
Though Gross responded to Flynn’s request, he did not include a copy of his plans. Instead, Gross attached a scanned building permit and asked a question of his own.
“Would you mind telling me why the ANC is interested in the lot occupancy for this project since it’s not an issue you all are usually involved with?” asked Gross.
Flynn has also asked the zoning administrator and the director at the DCRA for a copy of the plans, but has not received them. “Again,” said Flynn. “I received no plans, just delays, despite repeated follow ups.”
Flynn said he will look at the plans even if it means finding the time as an unpaid elected official to obtain them in person.
“It’s a shame that it’s come to this,” Flynn added. “I certainly hope that DCRA hasn’t been spooked by the lawsuit and that is why they still haven’t produced the plans for me and my constituents.”
Flynn continued: “Private property is a sacred and constitutional right, and I understand that. But I also know I was doing my part in protecting the public trust against illegal construction.
“The public has a right to know that what is being built is within the code and the letter of the law,” Flynn said. “If it is in fact in the minority of construction that is built within the letter of the law, then it should be left alone.”
“If the developer doesn’t answer and the city doesn’t answer, who is watching out for us?” said Flynn.
Both the DCRA and Jay Gross were contacted by e-mail shortly before this story was published.
DCRA spokesperson Matt Orlins told Borderstan by phone that, although he had no comment on the matter, he would look into the case for Flynn.
Roger Simmons, a lawyer who represents Gross, said in a letter and e-mail sent to Flynn this evening that he was unaware the commissioner was “harboring ill-feelings toward [Gross] personally and the developments on which he works.”
The letter continues: “In contrast to [Flynn’s] public statements, Mr. Gross has always been prompt and transparent with [Flynn], and [he] has not had any bad experiences with [Gross] or his company. Further, Mr. Gross has worked promptly and continuously with the neighbors at his project on Kenyon, and knows they have appreciated his responsiveness and thoroughness in responding to them and addressing any concerns that have come up.”
Image via Google Street View
Money, Money, Money — Logan Circle ranks among the top 100 most expensive neighborhoods in the nation, according to a new report by apartment listing service Zumper. [Washington Business Journal]
Hot Hot Heat — It’s going to be hot out there this weekend. So hot, in fact, that the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory through 8 p.m. this evening. With humidity factored in, it may feel like 100 degrees or hotter. Stay cool and drink lots of water. [Capital Weather Gang]
Pearl Dive Prepares Picnics — Pearl Dive is now accepting orders for 4th of July picnic packages. $35 nabs you six pieces of fried chicken, three jalapeno corn muffins, spicy cole slaw, potato salad, three blueberry streusel pies, a tablecloth, and Greenware eco-friendly utensils. [BadWolf DC]
Sorry, Second State — Multiple sources in the know say Second State on M Street closed for good yesterday. [Borderstan]
ANC 1A Loudly Opposes Noise Regulation — Commissioners for ANC 1A voted Wednesday night 8 to 0 in opposition to the Nightlife Regulation Amendment Act of 2015. [Borderstan]
