Serve Your Community. Run For ANC.

Interested in serving your community? Want to play a greater role in shaping local policy and addressing neighborhood issues? We last asked these questions two years ago, and it’s time again to call for candidates to represent us on ANC 3F. The man who has represented 3F07 for the past 3.5 years explains the process.

by Bob Summersgill

An ANC commissioner is an elected, unpaid, neighborhood activist. Commissioners provide advice and local knowledge on liquor licenses, development projects, historic reviews, zoning variances, and public space applications including sidewalk cafes and curb cuts.

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3F has seven openings in the coming election, and as of July 22nd, there were four single member districts (SMDs) within 3F without any candidates. (An updated list of ANC candidates who’ve picked up petitions is posted regularly on the DC Board of Elections newsroom site.)

District-wide, there are 296 commissioners organized into 40 ANCs. Each commissioner represents approximately 2,000 people in a SMD. Each commissioner is elected for a two-year term in a non-partisan election.

To find out which SMD you live in, and who the current commissioner is, visit ANCFinder.org and type in your address. It has information about your SMD and ANC as well as contact information for every commissioner, maps, and links to the ANC websites, like ANC 3F’s.

You may register as a candidate today. Go to the Board of Elections office, fill out some forms, and get your nominating petitions. The Board of Elections makes this easy. They won’t let you miss a step. There are no hard questions.

You will be given a packet of information. Included in the package are a map of your SMD and a list of all of the registered voters who reside there. You will need to get the signatures of 25 register voters of any party that live in your SMD. You count as one. Use the list to verify that each signature belongs to a registered voter.

You must return your nominating petitions to the Board of Elections by Wednesday, August 6th, 2014 at 5:00 p.m. There is no advantage to waiting until the last minute. Turn them in as soon as you get all 25 and be done with it.

If another person is running in your SMD, you may need to campaign. You may raise funds to pay for expenses. The per-person fundraising limit is $25.00.

Tuesday, November 4th, 2014 is General Election Day. It’s easier than before to greet your constituents as they head to the polls. New election districts will mean that all of your constituents will vote at the same place.

If you win, you will be sworn in on January 2nd, 2015. The Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions will provide orientation and training. These are very useful, and should be attended if at all possible.

Bob Summersgill is nearing the end of his second term as an ANC 3F commissioner representing SMD 3F07. He is not running for a third term.