ANC 3F Has An Opening

by Marlene Berlin

In DC, the advisory neighborhood commissions are government at the neighborhood level, and the Forest Hills/North Cleveland Park ANC gets it done. Our commissioners have worked hard on a number of neighborhood issues: The sidewalk shutdown at the Saul Centers construction site, getting DC Water to rectify extreme puddling on Albemarle, the Broad Branch Road reconstruction, constructing a new vision for the Van Ness commercial area, making sure we have community input on the Forest Hills playground renovation, and much, much more. (It’s all right here.)

And now there is an unexpected vacancy on ANC 3F.

David Solorzano Lowell, the commissioner representing 3F06 and the ANC’s secretary, sent a letter of resignation to the commission on January 15th and moved to U Street on January 19th. He sends this farewell message to the community:

“I truly appreciated the ability to (I hope) contribute to my neighborhood and my city, as well as the dedication of my fellow commissioners. Though I am no longer in SMD 3F06, I will continue to work with community members to improve our great city.”

ANC 3F06

If you live within 3F06’s borders and are interested in running, this article explains the role of the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner.

As for the next steps, Simon Gottlieb, executive director of the District’s Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, explained in an email the process of filling this vacancy:

“Residents of Single Member District 3F06 who might be interested in filling the vacancy have until the close of business on February 24th to go down to the Board of Elections (441 4th St NW) to pick up a nomination petition and then return it with the signatures of 25 other registered voters in SMD 3F06. If two or more candidates do so, the ANC will have to announce at its March meeting that it will hold a special election at its next meeting to fill the vacancy. If only one candidates completes this process, he or she will automatically fill the seat. If no one does it, the BOE will reannounce the vacancy and the process will start over.”

This is an exciting time to be on the ANC. The commissioners are hard workers and would welcome another to the crew. Think about it, talk to your neighbors about signing on, and contact the other commissioners with your questions.