Commissioner William Ellis for Chair of ANC 8C
From Commissioner William Ellis of ANC Single Member District 8C01. As a resident of ANC 8C who has seen his efforts (he doesn't just talk about it) Commissioner Ellis has my full support.
I am running for Chair of ANC 8C because I believe I am the best chance for our community to take hold of the opportunities that lie before us and become the great community all of us here know we can be.
Our past Chair, has let us down in so many ways, it would be devastating if she is elected chair again. Because of our Chair not responding to the auditors report made in 2009, the Auditor’s Office has held our 2010 allotment of 20k. Not only has our Chair has failed to give out community grants, she continues to hold this ANC hostage by forcing us to stay in an office that the Auditor deems and I quote “A waste of funds.”
But that is the past, moving forward I will continue to drive this ANC to a higher level of transparency, by providing you at every meeting, a copy of meeting minutes, the yearly budget, quarterly reports, and treasurer reports. I already started this in my first term as ANC Commissioner as Treasurer, but received push back from other commissioners. I believe that this is your community, your commission, and everything should be made available for you to critique and comment upon; from meeting minutes to budgets. No longer will this commission act as a silo in the community, but a Commission that the community is apart of and more importantly Proud Of!
As Chair my first goal is to use 40% of our yearly budget to give grants out to our community. My two points of focus are one; Neighborhood Watch programs. I want to bring back the Orange hats in the community and partner with our PSA’s in hopes of reducing crime, and forming a stronger bond in our communities. Part Two of my grant focus is my plan to focus on Elementary School PTSA’s. We owe it to our youth to make sure that every kid has proper school supplies, books, mentoring, and tutoring at their disposal. As chair I’m pledging 10k dollars of our ANC allotment to Elementary School PTSA’s, and challenging other Commissions in Ward 8 to do the same. Our Kids need this, and we as elected officials must step up to bat!
I have also created a yearly agenda for our Monthly ANC Meetings. I have invited Directors of Government Agencies to come to our meetings, so that the community can address their concerns to the highest level of government personnel. Also, if I am chair I will personally make sure, that our Council Member Barry and his constituent services comes to our April Meeting, Chancellor Henderson attends our September Meeting, and Mayor Gray attends our June Meeting. I have worked with many of these people, and have had a couple of directors come out to my SMD Town hall Meetings in 2010, but it is a must that our monthly meeting be productive, informative, and inspiring.
Also as Chair, I plan to have executive meetings, every 3rd Monday of the month from 7 to 9 pm, and make them open to the public. Even though the public won’t be able to comment at these E board meetings, I feel it is imperative that the community is able to witness all of the dealings of the Commission, just as the community is able to attend all council member hearings at the Wilson Building. This will be a big change for the community, but it will hold us to a higher level of accountability, not seen in other Commissions in the Ward 8 or even the city.
Lastly, I am running for Chair because I LOVE my community. I’m tired of our meetings only addressing the problems of the community; I think we all know those too well. As chair, we will take 5 minutes at the beginning and end of our meetings just to talk about the great things our community has to offer. I moved to Bowen Road in 2003 after I finished my college at Catholic University. There’s no place I’d rather be, I live 2 blocks from Anacostia Metro, where I take the metro in to work. I live a ½ mile from Poplar Point and Anacostia Park where on the weekends; I go for a run in the park. I can walk to the Big Chair Café for breakfast on Saturday Mornings, walk to Barry Farm Rec. Center in the summer, where we have the greatest outdoor basketball league in the country. Not to mention I can walk to the new Spirit Fitness Center at the Salvation Army Building on MLK to workout or yoga. We have the best Public Open enrollment High School in DC in Thurgood Marshall here in ANC 8C. What we have coming up next is even more impressive, from Poplar Point, Homeland Security, Congress Heights East Campus Development, Sheridan Station, and the Street Car Project, the 11TH Street Bridge, South Capitol Street Bridge, Belleview Redevelopment. The list can go on and on, we are great already; we have great people, great leaders, great neighborhoods, and great schools, so let us not forget to tell that story, because as we know, no one will tell it for us.
Our past Chair, has let us down in so many ways, it would be devastating if she is elected chair again. Because of our Chair not responding to the auditors report made in 2009, the Auditor’s Office has held our 2010 allotment of 20k. Not only has our Chair has failed to give out community grants, she continues to hold this ANC hostage by forcing us to stay in an office that the Auditor deems and I quote “A waste of funds.”
But that is the past, moving forward I will continue to drive this ANC to a higher level of transparency, by providing you at every meeting, a copy of meeting minutes, the yearly budget, quarterly reports, and treasurer reports. I already started this in my first term as ANC Commissioner as Treasurer, but received push back from other commissioners. I believe that this is your community, your commission, and everything should be made available for you to critique and comment upon; from meeting minutes to budgets. No longer will this commission act as a silo in the community, but a Commission that the community is apart of and more importantly Proud Of!
As Chair my first goal is to use 40% of our yearly budget to give grants out to our community. My two points of focus are one; Neighborhood Watch programs. I want to bring back the Orange hats in the community and partner with our PSA’s in hopes of reducing crime, and forming a stronger bond in our communities. Part Two of my grant focus is my plan to focus on Elementary School PTSA’s. We owe it to our youth to make sure that every kid has proper school supplies, books, mentoring, and tutoring at their disposal. As chair I’m pledging 10k dollars of our ANC allotment to Elementary School PTSA’s, and challenging other Commissions in Ward 8 to do the same. Our Kids need this, and we as elected officials must step up to bat!
I have also created a yearly agenda for our Monthly ANC Meetings. I have invited Directors of Government Agencies to come to our meetings, so that the community can address their concerns to the highest level of government personnel. Also, if I am chair I will personally make sure, that our Council Member Barry and his constituent services comes to our April Meeting, Chancellor Henderson attends our September Meeting, and Mayor Gray attends our June Meeting. I have worked with many of these people, and have had a couple of directors come out to my SMD Town hall Meetings in 2010, but it is a must that our monthly meeting be productive, informative, and inspiring.
Also as Chair, I plan to have executive meetings, every 3rd Monday of the month from 7 to 9 pm, and make them open to the public. Even though the public won’t be able to comment at these E board meetings, I feel it is imperative that the community is able to witness all of the dealings of the Commission, just as the community is able to attend all council member hearings at the Wilson Building. This will be a big change for the community, but it will hold us to a higher level of accountability, not seen in other Commissions in the Ward 8 or even the city.
Lastly, I am running for Chair because I LOVE my community. I’m tired of our meetings only addressing the problems of the community; I think we all know those too well. As chair, we will take 5 minutes at the beginning and end of our meetings just to talk about the great things our community has to offer. I moved to Bowen Road in 2003 after I finished my college at Catholic University. There’s no place I’d rather be, I live 2 blocks from Anacostia Metro, where I take the metro in to work. I live a ½ mile from Poplar Point and Anacostia Park where on the weekends; I go for a run in the park. I can walk to the Big Chair Café for breakfast on Saturday Mornings, walk to Barry Farm Rec. Center in the summer, where we have the greatest outdoor basketball league in the country. Not to mention I can walk to the new Spirit Fitness Center at the Salvation Army Building on MLK to workout or yoga. We have the best Public Open enrollment High School in DC in Thurgood Marshall here in ANC 8C. What we have coming up next is even more impressive, from Poplar Point, Homeland Security, Congress Heights East Campus Development, Sheridan Station, and the Street Car Project, the 11TH Street Bridge, South Capitol Street Bridge, Belleview Redevelopment. The list can go on and on, we are great already; we have great people, great leaders, great neighborhoods, and great schools, so let us not forget to tell that story, because as we know, no one will tell it for us.