As you fill out your ballot, you may want to know more about our most important yet most underrated local races: the Single Member District ANC commissionership! These brave and generous souls volunteer their time to make sure we can have good governance at the most local level. Meet your ANC candidates and let us know if you have any questions! The candidates’ answers have been lightly edited for clarity. Don’t know YOUR Single Member District? Click here and find it! ––María Helena Carey
Your name
Vince Mareino
Your ANC single member district
6B07
What is a landmark people may know your SMD from?
Both Payne and Watkins Elementary
Why are you running for ANC?
Since I bought my home 12 years ago, my block’s population has increased 10-fold — and the neighborhood only got nicer. I want the rest of Capitol Hill to welcome in new people, too. Call it YIMBY, call it urbanist, call it Green, the point is, we can lead by example in showing how dense urban neighborhoods are pleasant places to live.
Why do you believe ANC is an important office?
City-wide, the ANC is often seen as a force against change, but we can be a force for positive change, too. We can help the city government get the local perspectives that it needs on neighborhood projects, so that it can proceed with confidence.
Why should your neighbors should vote for you?
My favorite part of the job is using my ANC credentials to get city government officials to listen to their citizens. Vote for me and I guarantee that, if you have a problem that the city government can solve, I will be working with you to find the right person to talk to, and to actually get their attention. And if you don’t like how I do, run against me! It’s an unpaid position, so I honestly won’t mind if someone else thinks they can do it better.
Why should we all keep an eye on Advisory Neighborhood Commissions as a whole?
At least on my ANC, we try our best to represent our voters. But it’s hard when we only hear from a tiny segment of our neighbors. The more people who email their Commissioner or talk to their Commissioner, the more that the ANC will represent the views of the neighbors and not just the best guesses of the Commissioners.