We have offered to post brief statements from all of the ANC candidates running for seats on Capitol Hill and the surrounding neighborhoods that we cover here on The Hill is Home. These statements are not endorsements and have been posted exactly as submitted by the candidates.
Michael Patterson ANC 6B09
Michael O. Patterson was elected to Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6B to fill a vacancy in Single Member District 6B09 in 2007. He was re-elected to a full, two-year term in 2008.
Between 1999 and 2003, he served as the interim treasurer of the Ward 6 Democrats and was elected as its president in 2001. As a result of an earlier change in the organization’s bylaws, he was the first person to serve as the Democratic organization’s president for two consecutive years. He served as president from June 2001 to June 2003. His public and other community involvement includes serving as a member of the D.C. Democratic State Committee, Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, Anacostia Coordinating Council, and the Fairlawn Citizens Association. From 2001 to 2007, he served as a board member and treasurer for Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc. In early 2001, Mayor Anthony A. Williams appointed him to the D.C. Board of Appeals and Review, as a public board member. He remained on the board until it sunset in 2003. Currently, he is a board member on the D.C. Gas Station Advisory Board.
Mr. Patterson served in the U.S. Army for 23-years until he retired in 1998. Always seeking excellence, he received a Master’s in Public Administration from Troy State University in 2000, graduating with a 3.588 GPA. In 1998, he graduated cum laude with a B.S. in Management/Human Resources from Park University. He also holds an A.S. from Northern Virginia Community College from 1993. In March 2009, he earned a certificate in Public Leadership from the Center for Excellence in Public Leadership, the George Washington University.
Issues important to Mr. Patterson are economic development, jobs, education reform, public safety and the District’s budget shortfall. Like many of us, he is concerned about the lack of economic growth in certain parts of the city, high unemployment, youth and young adult education, crime, and the District’s $175 million revenue gap. An important issue that is unique to his district is DDOT’s plan to change 17th and 19th Streets SE into two-way traffic. “The DDOT did not seek input from the community. We want to know the details of the plan and we want to provide our input. We also want DDOT to address the traffic calming concerns that we have about 16th and 17th Streets SE.”
When asked, “Why are you running?” Mr. Patterson said, ‘I am running because I am a committed, dedicated, and hardworking public servant. It is important to me to be involved in the community. In fact, I believe that it is an individual and corporate responsibility of everyone in the community to be involved. Having your voice heard at the table—before decisions are made—is an important civic responsibility.’
Finally, when asked, “Why should people vote for you?” He said, ‘The citizens of Single Member District 6B09 should vote for me on November 2, 2010, because I am an ardent supporter of the community. Although there are issues that sometimes polarize us as a community, there are many more issues that bring us together. I will continue to work hard for an even better community, better functioning government and a safe place to live on behalf of everyone in our community.’
You can reach Commissioner Patterson by sending an email to mike6b09@anc6b.org.
Disappointing to see Commissioner Patterson was marked absent for 5 of the 11 regular ANC meetings in 2009 and has already skipped 4 of 9 this year. Nice record. The community deserves better.