Commissioner Jim Berry Comments On Decorum At ANC Meetings

The next Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting will be this Tuesday, October 17 at 7 p.m. at a location yet to be announced. The ANC website has not been updated yet.

I did not have an opportunity to attend the Bates Area Civic Association meeting on October 2 (their area is technically outside my SMD), but all the information one could desire about the meeting is found here. ANC Commissioner James D. Berry (5C-01) made some remarks at that meeting concerning decorum at ANC meetings.

My post about the last meeting naturally centered on those moments that had the most emotional and newsworthy impact on myself and others around me. It was not intended to be a full account of the meeting, that is the purpose of the minutes (and most readers would not read such a long post).

Barry made some points at the Bates meeting, and I am providing a full excerpt of the minutes:

In rather passionate terms, Mr. Berry indicated that a great deal of discussion on local online electronic discussion groups (listservs) has lately focused on what appeared to be chaotic or controversial aspects of recent ANC meetings. These online discussions implied that very little of consequence was going on at these meetings.

Mr. Berry countered that, in fact, contrary to appearances, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 5C had approved, in concept, nearly $250 million dollars' worth of area development projects that will have a direct impact on surrounding neighborhoods. In addition, as a result of such deliberations, amenities packages stemming from Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) have resulted in direct benefits to area civic, community groups and service providers to the tune of thousands of dollars.

The ANC has given due thought in spreading benefits from amenities throughout the Commission. Commissions around the city are comprised of volunteers who are empowered to consider issues of enormous impact and consequence from interceding to ensure that a resident has the means to address a concern overlooked by a city agency to lending its great weight to approving multimillion dollar development projects. Any fair accounting of the process must, ultimately, consider the crucial results obtained by these Commissioners and deem most lapses in decorum as the healthy give-and-take of citizens' exercising their right to express opposing viewpoints.

If excesses in the emotional content of some residents' expressions should occur, some allowance should be given to the fact that their voices have long struggled to be heard after years of neglect, or worse, indifference from city leadership and area developers.

Mr. Berry concluded in saying that it takes personal courage and civic pride to serve one's community while balancing many diverse points of view. In the final analysis, the Commission on which he sits, is worthy of defense and should be commended for its overall work product throughout the years.