RECAP: Tonight's ANC 8C Meeting

September 9, 2009 The Advoc8te

The Advoc8te has just returned from tonight's Advisory Neighborhood Commission 8C meeting. I will be posting a brief wrap up as well as the audio recording of the meeting shortly so stay tuned.

In the meantime I want to post two very important and often overlooked pieces of ANC legislation:

REGARDING NOTICE OF ANC MEETINGS

Each Commission shall give notice of all meetings or convocations to each Commissioner, individuals with official business before the Commission and residents of the Commission area no less than 7 days prior to the date of such meeting. . . . Notice of regular and emergency meetings must include, but is not limited to, at least 2 of the following:

(1) Posting written notices in at least 4 conspicuous places in each single member district within the Commission area;

(2) Publication in a city or community newspaper;

(3) Transmitting or distributing notice to a list of residents and other stakeholders in the community; and

(4) In any other manner approved by the Commission.

Please take special notice of #4. The manner must be APPROVED by the Commisison. Therefore carrier pigeons, singing telegrams and strip-o-grams only satisfy the ANC law if the manner was APPROVED prior by that specific ANC Commission. This goes for blogs too. As much as The Advoc8te loves blogs (especailly mine) posting on a blog (or website) does not count as a legally recognized type of notice if it had not been APPROVED by that ANC Commission prior to the notice going out. The law is very clear - it won't count. The approval must be in the meeting minutes.

The Advoc8te thinks that the blogs (especailly mine - lol) are definetly a useful communication tool especaily in this digital age but they have to be recognized and approved by each ANC. Perhaps we will see an ANC or two take the digital leap and approve specific blogs as approved manners for meeting notice. Until then ANC Commisisoners hoping to point to the blogs as a legally sufficient means of notice are going to have to check out options 1 through 3.

If you feel that your ANC has not been providing the legally mandated notice then you should contact the DC Office of the Attorney General. All you need to do is either call them or send them an email or letter and inform them of the date and time of the meeting and why you feel sufficient notice was not given for an ANC meeting. If the Attorney General determines that meeting did not have the proper notice the OAG will send the ANC and you a letter that declares that meeting invalid and anything that was voted on or decided in that meeting would be considered invalid as well. We need our ANCs to follow the law and to be held accountable. Not only does not giving the proper notice violate the law but it disenfranchises residents from participation in the ANC - and THAT is absolutetly criminal. We need to hold everyone accountable. Ignorance of the law is NOT an excuse.

ANC SPENDING PLAN BUDGETS
D.C. Code, Section 1-3-0.10 (n) states that:

Each Commission shall develop an annual fiscal year spending plan budget for the upcoming fiscal year within 60 days of notification of the amount of the Commission's annual allotment. Prior to adoption of the budget at a public meeting, the Commission shall present the budget at a public meeting of the Commission to elicit comments from the residents of the Commission area.

You have the right as a resident to know how every single ANC penny is being spent. ANC financial records should be transparent and if they won't discuss them in meetings they are breaking the law - end of story. If you ANC won't provide you with copies of the quarterly reports then the DC Auditor will - same goes for Auditor reports. You can pull most of these reports from the Auditor's website but a call to the DC Auditor's office will also get you far. Mismanagement and Theft occurs under a veil of obscurity. It is up to the community to shine a bright and blinding spotlight on all financial transactions. If your ANC isn't doing what they are supposed to be doing then contact the DC Office of the Attorney General, the DC Auditor and the DC Office of the Inspector General. They have plenty of paid staff who's job is to make sure that every penny of the District's money is accounted for and spent wisely. If you think something hinky is going on contact the DC Auditor or the Inspector General or Councilmember Yvette Alexander and they can request an audit of the books and if neccesary escalate the case for criminal prosecution.

ANC 8C COMMISSIONERS FOR 2009 - 2010 TERM

William Ellis/8C01
Dion Jordan/8C02
Mary J. Cuthbert/8C03
R. Calvin Lockridge/8C04
Vacant/8C05
Vacant/8C06
Cardell Shelton/8C07

For more Congress Heights and River East news visit The Congress Heights Examiner website, http://www.examiner.com/x-13507-Congress-Heights-Community-Examiner
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