Want to know how your ANC candidate feels about transit, housing, and development? We’ll ask for you.

Every two years, DC residents elect who will represent them at the neighborhood level — these elected officials are known as Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners. Commissioners are grouped into 40 different “Commissions” (abbreviated as ANCs). GGWash sent questions to each ANC candidate to give them an opportunity to share how well they align with our beliefs and principles.

GGWash wants to help you identify pro-urbanist candidates running for these positions since ANCs play a particularly important role shaping and managing the growth of neighborhoods. Most transportation and zoning issues come before an ANC for debate and a vote. Commissions are also instrumental in bargaining for developing community benefits packages in larger Planned Unit Developments (PUDs), and in general are the official venue for where these development and growth conversations project by project.

Hello Greater Greater Washington Community! My name is Jesse B Rauch and I am the new Elections Assistant at GGWash! I’ve lived and worked in the District for over 16 years - including stints with the DC Council and DC State Board of Education. Through my education policy work, I learned how cities can act, at times for, and at times against, justice and equity. And beyond the Mayor and our DC Council, our ANCs can influence how we achieve justice and equity. And that’s why I’m excited to share what our ANC candidates have to say in 2020.

While ANCs don’t make laws, ANCs carry what is defined as “great weight” when interacting with DC government agencies and processes. In fact, the informal power of ANCs can be quite far reaching, and the relationships commissioners build within the DC government and with top elected officials are influential.

As of September 17, 2020, for the District’s 296 single-member districts, there are 107 competitive races, while 164 are uncontested (only one person is running) and 25 have no candidates running.

Our questions include both general, city-wide questions, but also specific questions for each and every ANC! Derived from our beliefs and principles, we asked a few general questions, like these:

• If there were a way to improve bus service or safety for people walking or bicycling in your neighborhood, but it required removing some on-street parking, how would you approach the situation? Give a specific example if possible.
• To meet the District’s housing needs, Mayor Bowser has proposed building 36,000 additional housing units in the District by 2025, 12,000 of which would be affordable to people making 60% or less of the Area Median Income. Do you support this initiative, and if so, what role do you think your ANC could play in addressing housing affordability challenges? How and where can your neighborhood contribute its fair share of the housing our growing city needs?

And for different ANCs, we asked specific questions, including:

For ANC 1B: What is your opinion on the potential redevelopment of the Reeves Center? What do you think would best serve the community?

For ANC 2C: Do you support the 7th Street bus lanes?

For ANC 3F: What is your opinion of bike lanes on Connecticut Avenue?

For ANC 4C: What is your opinion of the Northern Bus Garage redevelopment? Should the garage be equipped to charge electric buses?

For ANC 5B: Do you and how would you support the construction of the National Capital Trail Network’s planned Metropolitan Branch Trail improvements?

For ANC 6B: What’s your position on the current design of the Southeast Boulevard and Barney Circle project?

For ANC 7B: How will you continue to support the Skyland development so it serves the community’s needs? Do you support the current plan?

For ANC 8A: Whether you agree with Councilmember White or not on the addition of bike lanes in Ward 8, how would you approach pedestrian and bicyclist safety in Ward 8?

Click here to view all of the questions GGWash sent to candidates.

Candidates have until September 30 to return their filled-out questionnaires; soon after, we’ll post their responses. GGWash plans on evaluating and endorsing candidates, like we did in 2018. Stay tuned for more details as they happen.

If you’re a candidate and you did not receive a questionnaire or if you are a write-in candidate, please email me at jrauch@ggwash.org.