Shaw & Gallery Place Elections

This coming Tuesday, November 4, DC residents will go to the polls to vote for a slate of candidates on all levels--from President, to City Council, to the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission representatives.  It is this last and most local level of elections that concern me the most and is arguably the most contested on November 4 (most of the city elections were decided by the primary).

Shaw and most of the Gallery Place/Chinatown/Penn Quarter area are in Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2C.  ANC2C (map) has only four representatives, and for the last two years has been deadlocked on almost everything, facing split votes over and over.  This Tuesday we have a chance to elect commissioners who will change this deadlock and help our neighborhood move forward.  If you live in ANC2C, please, please vote!

A few weeks ago, the Convention Center Community Association (CCCA) held an open forum where all ANC candidates and Ward 2 Council candidates were invited to attend.  Only one candidate for each of the four seats on ANC2C attended, and I think it is reflective of the best options we have for getting our ANC working for the neighborhood again.  Here's a quick rundown:

ANC2C-01: Alex Padro is the current commissioner and was the only candidate for ANC2C01 to show up.  Alex has worked extremely hard for the Shaw area and definitely deserves to get re-elected.  My only hesitation is that he is so closely identifying himself with Jack Evans, our Georgetown-focused Council member...
ANC2C-02: This is my area, and Kevin Chapple is my current commissioner and was the only candidate ANC2C02 to show up at the forum.  Kevin has worked hard and knows his stuff.  I think he deserves the credit for getting such nice brick alleys in the 6th & Marion streets area and his ANC2C-02 website and magazine have been a great tool for communicating here in the neighborhood.  Kevin's opponent is Leroy Thorpe, whose influence on the ANC is the main reason it has been so ineffective.  (Leroy history: City Paper on Leroy Thorpe, City Desk on Leroy Thorpe's coup when he lost the last election)
ANC2C-03: This is the Convention Center and Gallery Place area.  Jessica Lanza was the only candidate to show up, and she certainly deserves to be elected over the current commissioner Doris Brooks.  Doris is a flunky for Leroy and has not been helping our neighborhood.
ANC2C-04: Theresa Sule was the only candidate to show up and she is a rock star!  Theresa's comments produced the most cheering and strongest positive reaction from the crowd at the forum.  She is a graduate of Dunbar High School and has been serving our neighborhood in lots of ways over the years.  She definitely will be an improvement over the current commissioner, Barbara Curtis, another flunky for Leroy.

Voting is obviously a personal choice and responsibility.  I don't take endorsements lightly, but after going to the forum a few weeks ago and attending numerous ANC meetings over the last two years, I think the choices are obvious for a good, functioning ANC that will represent the interests of Shaw, Gallery Place/Chinatown and Penn Quarter.  Go out on November 4 and vote for Alex Padro, Kevin Chapple, Jessica Lanza and Theresa Sule.