Why I am running for Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner

First of all, thank you for visiting my blog. If you live in ANC 5C-02, this simple act says something about you. It demonstrates that you are concerned about your neighborhood and that you want to elect the right person to represent you on the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC). I hope that over the course of the next three months, I will win your confidence in my ability to do the job.

I am running because I want our neighborhood to have the best representation possible on the ANC. The best person for the job might not be the candidate who has lived in the neighborhood the longest. He or she might not be a carbon-copy of the demographics of the area. You might disagree with that person on some political issues.

The question you should ask about an ANC candidate is, first and foremost, will this person listen to my concerns about commercial development, parking, crime, and other issues important to me? Will they act on my concerns? The Commissioner is not going to do your personal business for you, but he/she should help point you in the right direction and take action when doing so will benefit several other neighbors.

In order to listen to your concerns, the Commissioner must make him or herself available to you. How else will the Commissioner know what your concerns (or praises) are? Our current Commissioner has not done this. She has not held meetings with her constituents. If elected, I will hold at least one in-person townhall-style meeting with all constituents every three months (perhaps more often if there are pressing issues).

Secondly, once the Commissioner knows where you stand, he or she must be an effective advocate for your interests. When a commercial developer comes to the meeting seeking ANC endorsement, the Commissioner must be careful to make sure that the often-competing interests of the neighborhood are covered. Neighbors are going to disagree about all sorts of things, so it's important to try to balance everyone's interests.

Last year, when a local church decided to build a very large low-income-housing apartment complex in our neighborhood, our current Commissioner thought that this was such a noble idea that no real discussion with her neighbors was needed. This was a mistake that the Commissioner has yet to resolve.

The intentions of the church appear to have been noble and the availability of affordable housing is a great concern. A more effective Commissioner would have brought both sides together to talk early on; instead, the ANC voted on the issue before most of the constituents even knew about the proposal. Today, the church's proposal is worse off than it would have been if the community had been informed from the beginning.

Your ANC representative should also effectively advocate your concerns to the City Council and the Mayor. We sometimes wonder whether our neighborhood is being treated differently than other parts of the city. Should a homeless shelter with clients that include sex offenders be located next to an elementary school? This issue is now on the road to resolution largely due to the hard work of an unelected citizen and her civic association.

I also believe that we can improve the Commission itself. Anyone who has ever been to an ANC meeting knows that the meetings run a bit long and that few voters know when the ANC meetings are taking place. This must change. We must reach out to all citizens, not just those people who are connected to either the Internet or the right people. Most of the Commissioners do a decent job, but there is never a bad time for new ideas and strategies.

When I picked up petitions earlier today to begin the process of securing a place on the ballot in November, I had to fill out a total of four forms. All of the forms were essential, but it reminded me that much of the time we find ourselves confronted by bureaucratic government machinery.

We neighbors want some aspects of our neighborhood to change (crime!) and other aspects we cherish to be preserved. Yet so often we feel alienated from our government, wondering whether we will ever see our vision for our neighborhood come to pass. Only by working together, all people of all backgrounds and perspectives, can we hope to achieve our goals. I look forward to working with you to make our mutual vision a reality.

Kris Hammond
ANC 5C-02 candidate