The Advisory Neighborhood Commission's Ward 3D commission - part of the governing body for D.C. neighborhoods - meets once a month and discusses issues that could be pertinent to AU students, but the committee has no AU student representation.
The committee's March 4 monthly meeting began with a police report, which mostly focused on the safety of valuables. 3D04 Commissioner Stuart Ross said he has received complaints of students walking down Massachusetts Avenue drunk on Friday nights.
"I have gotten a lot of calls the last couple of weeks that on Friday nights there have been a number of students - excuse me, younger people - walking really drunk," he said. "It is an annoyance and there is also concern about the kids getting hurt."
No one from AU was at the meeting to represent AU's student body with this issue.
Several members of the committee said AU made up its own district and, as a result, have a seat on the committee that should be filled by a student. The university's main campus sits in two Single Member Districts - 3D02 and 3D07. District 3D02 contains the North side dorms and all other university buildings between Massachusetts Avenue and New Mexico Avenue, as well as all residences north of Westover Place, east of 48th Street and south of Upton Street. District 3D07 mainly contains university property - the South side residence halls and all buildings west of New Mexico Avenue - as well as any buildings in the area of land north of Loughboro Road, east of Indian Lane and south of Rockwood Parkway.
Katzen Arts Center, Nebraska Hall and AU's Tenley campus are in the 3E Commission's district, while the Greenberg Theater is in the 3F Commission district.
Thomas Smith currently represents District 3D02, while the seat for District 3D07 is currently vacant.
Ross said there is a liaison from AU in the audience. Members of the committee said the 3D07 seat is reserved for a student.
"AU has its own district of 2,000 residents," Ross said. "We have tried to get a student elected but there is a problem with the Board of Elections preventing that from happening."
The ANC commissioners would not state what the problem was. The D.C. government's Web site had three rules for who can run for the committee as a write-in candidate. The first qualification is that the candidate must live in the single-member district for at least 60 days prior to the election. The second requirement is that the candidate must be a registered voter in D.C. Any person above the age of 18 is able to change where they are registered to vote, and college students are allowed to register in the area where there college resides, according to Election Protection, a voting rights organization. The final qualification is that the form for the write-in candidacy must be submitted.
3D01 Commissioner Elizabeth Sandza and the Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions could not be reached for comment.
AU's Student Government attempted to field a candidate for the 3D07 seat during the 2006 election but were unable to find someone before the registration deadline, The Eagle previously reported.
ANCs consider and address policies and issues that affect their neighborhoods. The issues include traffic, parking, recreation, street improvements, liquor licenses, economic development, police protection, sanitation and trash collection, according to the D.C. government's Web site. They meet once each month to discuss these issues with input from residents.
The committee's purpose is to allow citizens directly affected by government action to express their opinion, according to information on their Web site. The committees present their findings and recommendations to various D.C. government agencies, the mayor's office and the D.C. City Council.
ANC 3D meets on the first Wednesday of each month. Meetings are held at 7 p.m. in Sibley Hospital's Ernst Auditorium. The meetings are open to the public.
You can reach this staff writer at atomlinson@theeagleonline.com.
