Robert Gordon, a longtime Advisory Neighborhood Council commissioner, officially announced his candidacy for the D.C. City Council Thursday. His announcement was made at the historic Avalon Theatre on Connecticut Ave., which Gordon helped restore.
Gordon is running in the Democratic primary for the city council, which includes AU. He has lived in Ward 3 for 26 years. The Advisory Neighborhood Council is responsible for overseeing wards, or local areas within the District. Gordon is the current chair of ANC-3/4G, which includes the Chevy Chase area of D.C.
Working with the ANC is one advantage Gordon cites to his advantage in the council's Democratic primary.
"Improvements were made at the ANC level, and now it is time to implement improvements for all of D.C.," Gordon said in a press release.
Gordon also credits his experience working as a contractor in Iraq to his benefit. He ran a survey of 4,000 schools in Iraq to assess their existence and what furniture was left. The project was supposed to be completed in three weeks, but according to Gordon, actually lasted three months.
He came back to the United States and then returned to Iraq to help rebuild the schools, traveling for 18 months in various parts of Iraq. He said if he could do this in Iraq, it could be done for schools in Washington D.C.
Gordon said he would love to have AU students volunteer with his campaign. He admitted he is well known in the upper Northwest section of D.C., but he needs to get his name out to the entire ward. He said he is looking for volunteers who can "be inspired by somebody who's done something in life."
Gordon said that he loves college students and he promised if any AU student got five or more friends together who were registered Democrats of the District, he would come to AU and have coffee with them.
"I think it's cool that a politician would reach out to D.C. college students like that," said Max Rollinger, a freshman in the School of Communication. "It's always nice to have people who enjoy opening the door for students who want to go into politics."
Michael Kaplan, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs, said that he thinks what Gordon is doing is "a great thing" in reaching out to the students.
"Look at [voter] turnout, [which] is especially low among people our age," he said. "It's a crime against the system that so few people vote to begin with."
Gordon said he is proud of the new Katzen Arts Center, which initially caused controversy among local residents. "Any art center that adds cultural value to the city is actually a good thing," he said.
However, the new School of International Service building has come under controversy recently because of the proposed underground parking structure that could possibly add congestion to Nebraska Avenue. Gordon would not a take a direct stance on this proposal, saying he was unfamiliar with it, but would not want to go around an ANC ruling anyway.
Seven to eight candidates will run in the primary for Ward 3.
