School of Public Affairs sophomore Sami Green is in the process of running for AU’s seat on the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3D, a position which has remained vacant for seven years due to complications with District zoning laws.
Green petitioned to fill the ANC seat for Single Member District 07, which includes the South side residence halls and all buildings west of New Mexico Avenue.
“It has been a trying and interesting process,” Green said.
Student Government President Andy MacCracken said that Green’s campaign has been fraught with difficulties.
“It is very unfortunate that there have been a lot of structural challenges [concerning Green’s campaign],” MacCracken said. “The seat hasn’t been filled in over half of a decade, which is unacceptable.”
ANC’s address local issues such as zoning, economic development, parking, police protection and sanitation, according to the D.C government Web site.
AU recently released a new campus plan, which calls for building residence halls, offices and new academic buildings in the Nebraska Avenue Parking Lot. The campus plan must be approved by ANC 3D. However, the commissioners and AU’s neighbors are opposed to new construction, said Tom Smith, the commissioner for District 02.
“Some people don’t like the idea of having 1,000 students living in what is now the Nebraska Parking Lot,” Smith said.
Certain laws have been a major obstacle to filling the ANC seat, according to AU’s Community and Local Government Relations Director Penny Pagano.
Students who tried to fill the seat in the past were unable to collect enough signatures from AU students who were also D.C. residents in the appropriate single member district, Pagano said.
Candidates for the position of commissioner must live in their single member district for at least 60 days prior to the election, and candidates must be registered voters in D.C., according to the D.C. government’s Web site.
In addition, voters who sign the petition to name a commissioner and who vote for that commissioner must also be registered to the District, according to the site.
Green voided her California residency last year, and in a voter registration drive last spring at least 30 other students also registered as D.C. residents, Green said.
In the last round of redistricting, AU’s main campus was divided between SMD 07 and SMD 02, making it more difficult to meet the petition requirements.
“When [AU’s district] was split up, I don’t think that anyone realized the effect that it would have on the campus,” Smith said.
The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics registers voters living on AU’s main campus to 4400 Massachusetts Avenue, an address that is located in District 02.
In November, after Green had collected the required 25 signatures, the Board of Elections and Ethics invalidated the petition. The Board could not tell the difference between students living on South side in SMD07 and on North side in SMD02, according to Green and Pagano.
In December, the Board of Elections and Ethics agreed to use the residence halls’ unique four-digit numbers at the end of the ZIP code to differentiate D.C. voters living in District 02 and District 07. However, the Board of Elections and Ethics has yet to update their registration system, according to Pagano.
Green will not be able to obtain a new petition until this is done, Pagano said.
In 2006, the Student Government tried to field a candidate, but no one stepped forward to fill the position, The Eagle previously reported.
“[The ANC’s activities] aren’t exactly the exciting things students come here to study politics for, which is why I commend [Green] for doing this,” MacCracken said.
The ANC 3D commissioners, like Smith, have been very supportive, according to both Green and MacCracken.
“Students are a part of our community, and the fact that the seat is empty is a real loss. It is a loss for AU, and it is a loss for the community,” Smith said.
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