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.
In February, I’ll have been in this ANC nine years. I spent 12 years in the DC area as a child, mostly in Arlington, and I remember the District getting Home Rule. My B.A. is from UMUC. Since returning to DC, I’ve spent time on the Alcoholic Beverage Committee for ANC6D and served as commissioner for this SMD for two years (2011-2013). This is my home, and I want to do well by it.
So few of the new condominiums or rental units being built have more than two bedrooms which means the ANC loses young families. The studios or one bedroom apartments being built are often priced outside the range of people with their first or second job or older residents downsizing. We also have a segment of the population aging in place. Serving on the ANC gives me an opportunity to argue for affordable and workforce housing on projects so that we can keep the young adults, a chance to argue for wide enough sidewalks and long enough pedestrian lights for the disabled and elderly, and also to ask for larger units which could house young families when developers come before us.
With the soccer stadium coming in at Buzzards Point, we’re adding degrees of difficulty to an already awkward traffic flow; days where there’s a baseball game, too, could be a nightmare. Parking has also become a serious issue. We as a neighborhood need to lean on DDoT to come up with a solution before the newer stadium opens. In my SMD, we end up with residential street parking blocked. While these problems may sound small, these issues have an impact on everyone using the roads, pedestrians and bicyclists as well as drivers.
In addition, connecting neighborhood residents with jobs at The Wharf and the new businesses opening in the ANC is a top priority.
Lastly, I feel strongly about the environment. Laws, such as the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, are often passed without regulations or penalties to give them teeth. Holding developers to not just LEED or other environmental standards, but to the letter of DC law is important. As an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, I would have an opportunity to do so again.