Who's to blame? How did some of our Advisory Neighborhood Commissions get so off-track?
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A change is "a comin".
When I first moved to Congress Heights, I was just excited to be a homeowner. I had no thoughts or ideas of what I would “do” in the community – I was just happy to live in the community. I was happy to have a place to call home, where I could finally paint my walls, finally get a dog, finally have that “I live in Washington DC proper” bragging rights.
I had small dreams.
It wasn’t until after I got my dog and I spent many afternoons and weekends walking my new neighborhood and meeting my fellow neighbors that I truly began to appreciate all the great things about my neighborhood. Mostly all the great people I met on my strolls, Ms. Rose*, Ms. Blue*, Mr. RJ*, just to name a few. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t like them because they were closer to my parents and grandparents age than mine and it didn’t occur to them to not like me because I was new to the neighborhood. Never once did I encounter that “great gentrification debate” that seems to be the focus of media coverage about progress and development East of the River. I am not saying concerns about the possibility (because I don’t think it is a foregone conclusion) that people will eventually be priced out of their homes but I don’t see it being the primary issue of the problems facing East of the River today, tomorrow, or even next year. We have big problems East of the River: staggering unemployment, apathy, poverty pimps, poor schools, a councilmember who cannot stay out of the news and crime, but I do not think “gentrification” (whatever that may mean) is at the top of things we need to solve ASAP.
Anyhoo, back to my awesome neighbors.
Everyone (with the exception of one woman who shall remain nameless) was really nice, very inviting, and very excited to see they had a new neighbor on the block that wanted to make a positive contribution to the community. Thus, through a common goal (in this case protecting and promoting our neighborhood) I was inducted into the tribe of my neighborhood. I learned many great lessons for my neighborhood elders, I got the skinny of who was doing what (or not doing what) and what we needed as a community to improve and thrive.
Forget claims of the big bad gentrifiers top-secret plan to push out all the “poor” people (perhaps there is a plan and I just missed the invitation). You want to see some Ward 8 folks, especially older residents get upset? Start messing with their neighborhood or infringing on the right for them to enjoy the house they have lived in for 20 or 30 years. You know how mad your grandma got when you tracked mud all over her clean kitchen floor or when you broke a window at your Great Aunt’s house? I rather go three rounds with Floyd Mayweather than be the person who let her dog poop on one of my tribal member’s yard. I do not even want to discuss what my tribal elders think or say about the rowdy house down the street, or the neighborhood drug dealer around the corner. If looks could kill Congress Heights' streets would all look like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
These negative things were not defining my neighborhood but they were detracting from it. East of the River residents from all across the spectrum, want a proactive, detailed, and aggressive plan from our community representatives to execute positive improvements our community.
Unfortunately, we still have a ways to go. I have written about the problems with Advisory Neighborhood Commission 8C for years, I have listened to complaints, and concerns from other community stakeholders about the shenanigans that occur at their ANC meetings (assuming of course their ANC even meets) and we all say the same thing.
It is time for a change.
We cannot continue to elect the same people year after year after year (sometimes for over 20 years) and they do not really “do” anything for the community, let alone accomplish anything.
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| ANC Commissioner Sylvia Brown encourges residents to get involved. |
Let me be clear, not all ANC Commissioners are bad. I have met some awesome ones - I met two this past weekend at the Second Saturday: Solutions meeting at Big Chair Coffee. I have seen ANC Commissioners who walk through fire for their community, provide thankless hours of community service and who are always available to lend a hand or an ear to their constituents but just as there are good Single Member District Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners there are some who really suck.
Some Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners East of the River should have officially (because not coming to meetings is quitting) resigned long ago. Even worse, we have some Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners who should be spending some time right now behind bars. Their crimes against the community and the legal system should earn them all expense paid trip to jail.
Who do we have to blame for some of our Advisory Neighborhood Commissions?
You and me.
- Our apathy.
- Our ability to turn a blind eye.
- Our hope that “someone else but me” should fix it.
- Our reluctance to call foul on something we know is wrong or illegal.
- Our inability to find out what the ANC laws are and how we can use them to not only benefit our communities but to put the smack down on someone who is not treating the community – our community – with the respect it deserves.
Our inability to identify, encourage, and support competent community members to help lead our Advisory Neighborhood Commissions out of dysfunction into success.
Do not get me wrong. I know firsthand how frustrating and mentally taxing it can be to sit in a bad ANC meeting. You want to yell, you want to shake your fist, you want to LEAVE. The incompetence, the confusion, the lack of focus or accomplishment doesn't really encourage residents to get involved. The inability of some commissions to accomplish the most basic and common sense tasks such as filing the quarterly financial reports (on time), responding to agency notifications, even notifying the community of ANC meetings don't instill a lot of confidence by the community.
Commissions are only as good as the Single Member District members elected by the community to represent them. If you have lacking Single Member District Commissioners, you have a lacking ANC. It's that simple.
If the ANC Chairperson is a ranting megalomaniac then your ANC meetings are not going to be inviting or productive. If your Vice-Chair is known to punch people in the face, how can they encourage decorum at meetings? If your treasurer can’t do simple math and has a felony conviction for embezzlement who is accounting (and protecting) ANC funds? If your secretary can’t read or write and hasn’t been seen since the swearing in ceremony who is keeping track of what is happening in meetings?
Advisory Neighborhood Commissions do not report to the Mayor, the DC Council or the DC Auditor. They can’t make your ANC do anything, not even stop stealing (and this is not hyperbole several ANCs have had serious issues with embezzlement).
The only people who can make an Advisory Neighborhood Commission effective and hold their Single Member District Commissioners accountable are you and I. Concerned citizens are the gatekeepers, the judge and jury of how successful our ANCs can be.
Moreover, to be fair, we should not just be holding commissioner's feet to the fire we should be offering them a hand and some support. We should be asking, “How can I help?” and not just complain. We should ask, “Could this person really do a great job if they had some support?”
It is time for a change.
It is time to stop accepting mediocrity or incompetence or greed as the standard.
It is time to vote some of these folks out and replace them with residents (new and old) who not only care about their community but have the skills to do the job.
Ask yourself, “Am I that person?”
*names changed for privacy
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