Number of ANCs in Ward 5 to increase from three to five
Click
here for Ward 5 redistricting map: http://www.ward5heartbeat.org/2012sum_map.html
The
District`s once-in-a-decade redistricting process has produced new boundaries
for Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) throughout Ward 5.
As
a result of redistricting, the number of ANCs in Ward 5 will increase from
three to five. The new commissions are ANC 5A through 5E. The number of ANC
Commissioners has stayed almost the same, increasing from 36 to 37. New
boundaries for Single Member Districts (SMDs) have also been drawn.
Advisory
Neighborhood Commissioners are unpaid, nonpartisan officials who serve two-year
terms. Each commissioner represents approximately 2,000 residents in an area
called a ``single member district`` (SMD). ANCs hold public meetings once a
month.
All
Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners are up for election on November 6, 2012.
Residents will vote according to the new boundaries at that time. The new
boundaries will go into effect on January 1, 2013.
Candidates
running for ANC Commissioner need the signatures of at least 25 registered
voters in their Single Member District to get on the ballot. Petitions are
available for pickup at the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics starting July 9.
Petitions are due back on August 8.
ANCs
receive quarterly ``allotments`` of funds from the District of Columbia to pay
for office expenses and grant-giving. According to Gottlieb Simon, Executive
Director of the Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, the existing bank
balances of Ward 5`s three ANCs will be ``collected`` before the end of 2012
and redistributed to the five new ANCs on the basis of their population.
Citywide,
``the ANCs will receive the same allotment next year as this year,`` said Mr.
Simon. Since the funds must be divided among five ANCs instead of three in Ward
5, each ANC can expect to receive a smaller amount.
The
quarterly allotments in 2012 were approximately $8,000 per ANC in Ward 5.
According
to the D.C. Code, the role of the ANC is to ``advise the Council of the
District of Columbia, the Mayor and each executive agency, and all independent
agencies, boards and commissions of the government of the District of Columbia
with respect to all proposed matters of District government policy.``
The
District is expected to give local ANCs 30 days` notice of ``government actions
or proposed actions.`` If an ANC makes a recommendation in writing regarding
the government action, the government is required to give the recommendation ``great
weight`` in its deliberations.
ANCs
are given ``great weight`` in matters that affect their commission area, such
as zoning variances, liquor licenses, permits and planning.
2 comments:
It took a lot of meetings, and I know John spent a lot of time at the Wilson building, fighting to keep Bloomingdale together in the same ANC, so it is a great relief to see the map.
However, it seems odd that the ANCs vary in size so much. (At least they got the individual SMDs to fall within the population requirements.) Our new ANC5E has ten SMDs, and I think I see one ANC only has 5 SMDs. So, when the article talks about allotments, I assume they will be based on the size of the ANC?
Also note that an unresolved question is: what happens to the bank accounts of the three current ANC 5 commissions -- ANC 5A, 5B and 5C -- when the new * five * ANC commissions take effect? Do the bank accounts of ANC 5A, 5B and 5C get divided up evenly among the new ANC 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D and 5E? Or perhaps some other formula?
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