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.
After over a decade and a half as a community leader and elected official, I am known as the ‘go-to’ person in Shaw. If you like today’s Shaw, you have me to thank.
I have led the revitalization of the Shaw neighborhood for over 16 years, as ANC Commissioner since 2001, Shaw Main Streets Executive Director since 2004, and Chair or Board member of the Friends of Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Neighborhood Library, Friends of Kennedy Playground, and other neighborhood nonprofits. I helped attract nearly $3 billion in public and private investment to the neighborhood, supported the construction of thousands of new market rate and affordable housing units, helped open over 250 new businesses, and helped save Shaw’s economic and ethnic diversity by preserving existing affordable housing. I have promoted the neighborhood’s African American history, brought public art to the neighborhood, and championed historic preservation, including redevelopment of the O Street Market, Howard Theatre, and Wonder Bread Factory and restoration of the Carter G. Woodson Home. I helped bring the city’s first skate and dog parks to my ANC Single Member District, as well as a new neighborhood library and improved schools, parks, and recreation facilities. I’ve protected residential parking by creating Residents Only parking areas, rebuilt the neighborhood’s tree canopy, got new traffic signals installed, and had sidewalks and other infrastructure replaced. I’ve helped deliver services to low and moderate income families and seniors, and encouraged donors to support initiatives like the distribution of backpacks and school supplies to schoolchildren and Thanksgiving dinners to families and the homeless. Shaw is a cleaner, safer, and more attractive place, thanks to my work.
There has been no junior high school/middle school in the neighborhood since 2008, when Shaw Junior High School closed. Although a new $54 million school was to be built on the old school’s Rhode Island Avenue site, ground has never been broken. The DCPS boundary realignment plan’s proposed Center City Middle School serving students from Ward 1, 2, 5 and 6 neighborhoods should be built at the Shaw JHS site. Pressing the new DCPS chancellor and the Bowser administration to commit to a schedule and capital funding for construction will be the top priority for my ninth term.
Listening to constituents and effectively partnering with nonprofits, developers, businesses, other ANCs, and District government agencies have been hallmarks of my service. I spend dozens of hours each month attending community meetings to update neighbors about what is happening and is proposed for our neighborhood and obtaining feedback about projects, service delivery, and new initiatives. I am stopped by constituents every time I am on the street.
If you have questions or suggestions, I’d like to hear from you.
If you want to see Shaw continue to evolve into a better place for residents and visitors alike to live, work, shop, play, pray, and learn, please vote for me on November 8, 2016.
Alexander M. “Alex” Padro
Commissioner, ANC 6E01
Vice Chair, ANC 6E
202-518-3794
padroanc@gmail.com
Facebook: @alexpadrodc
Twitter: @AlexanderMPadro