We have offered to post brief statements from all of the ANC candidates running for seats on Capitol Hill and the surrounding neighborhoods that we cover here on The Hill is Home. These statements are not endorsements and have been posted exactly as submitted by the candidates.
Lia Veenendaal-Selck ANC 6A08
Hello! My name is Lia Veenendaal-Selck, and I’m a candidate for ANC 6A08. My husband, Fred, and I are homeowners on 17th Place, and deep believers in all that our neighborhood has to offer. We really enjoy this community and are looking forward to raising a family here.
A bit about me…
My background is in education. I am a former public school teacher and I currently work for an educational nonprofit called Teach For America. As the Senior Managing Director of Program for the DC Region, I lead the team that trains and develops our teachers in the DC area. During my time on staff, we have worked with many of the schools in and around our neighborhood (Hines, Eastern, Brown, Maury, and Miner), and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know more about our community through my work with these and other schools.
I am very enthusiastic about the potential prospect of serving our neighborhood as commissioner. Below, I’ve described the main reasons behind why I am running for this position, as well as some qualities I feel I will bring to this work:
- Drive and passion for community engagement: I am a firm believer in effecting change at the grassroots level. As residents of our neighborhood, we all have a very important perspective to share in influencing the direction of citywide decisions. I am incredibly excited about the power we can have in voicing our concerns and advocating for what we want to see happen in our community.
- Service mindset: Serving others is one of the things I care most about. It is the main motivation behind my career in education, and it is also my main motivation behind running to serve as our neighborhood’s ANC representative. I have a deep commitment and desire to work hard on behalf of the community in which I live.
- Desire to listen and learn: People in our neighborhood come from many different backgrounds and experiences. Each one of us wants a great neighborhood and I value the different perspectives that people hold on different issues. Given this, I am deeply committed to actively seek out people’s opinions and to continue to learn and engage in dialogue so that I can best represent the needs and views of all of the residents in our community.
- Record of results: I currently work at the senior management level in a fast-paced, results-oriented nonprofit. In this environment, I have a great deal of experience working quickly to achieve tangible results, which I hope to use for the betterment of our community.
- Commitment: I take the ANC position very seriously and as such pledge to attend all ANC meetings as your representative and ensure that our neighborhood has easy access to the information covered.
My priorities:
- Promote great schools within safe walking distance for students in neighborhood. As a former teacher, the issue of education is close to my heart. I want to make sure that all students in this neighborhood have access to a great education within safe walking distance of their home.
- Make traffic safer and slower throughout our neighborhood. The volume and speed of commuter traffic on C Street, 17th Street, and 19th Street is dangerous for pedestrians, bikers, and local drivers. It detracts from our neighborhood’s appearance and residential feel. I pledge to support and advocate for policies and initiatives to curb this traffic flow and make the streets of our neighborhood safe and calm for our residents.
- Ensure cleaner streets, neighborhood beautification, and safer sidewalks for our neighborhood. Too often, trash is found in and around our streets and lots, and dead trees can be found on citywide streets throughout our neighborhood. Some of the empty lots that exist are unkempt and become additional traps for trash. Additionally, many of the sidewalks in our neighborhood are broken up by tree roots and some sidewalks are little more than dirt paths (check out the path on the southern side of the C Street and 1900 block) that can be very dangerous and difficult to navigate for elderly pedestrians. There are some very simple things we can advocate for as neighborhood residents to change this reality, and I would love to work on this together.
- Promote consistent access to neighborhood parking for residents. Many residents that I’ve spoken with have mentioned concerns about having access to parking in their neighborhood during high school football games, on school days, or because of zoned parking regulations. I am committed to working towards ensuring all of us have consistent access to parking near our homes.
- Advocate for increased access to recreation and community education, especially for children and teens in our community. There are some fantastic programs in place already at the Rosedale Community Center and I’d love to see even more opportunities for children and teens in our area. I would also love to see more small community playgrounds for children within our single member district.
- Raise and address OUR neighborhood’s concerns: One of my primary concerns as commissioner would be to make sure that all of our neighborhood residents have a voice in how our community develops. As such, I am committed to learning more about the issues that you find most urgent to address and working with you to find and propose solutions. Please contact me with your thoughts, ideas, and opinions. I’m very eager to hear from you!
How to reach me:
I would love to meet with you at any point to hear about your opinion and perspective on issues affecting our community. If these times don’t work for you but you’d still like to meet, I’m happy to! My contact information is below. Just email me and we’ll set something up.
- Meet me:
- ANC 6A Candidates “Meet & Greet”
- October 5 @ 7:30PM
- Lane Memorial CME Church, corner of 14th & C Sts NE
- Sponsored by – North Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association (NLPNA)
- Meet me for coffee
- Saturday, October 23 @ 1:00-3:30 PM
- Sova, 1359 H St, NE
- ANC 6A Candidates “Meet & Greet”
- For more information: www.liaveenendaal-selck.org
- Contact me: lia.veenendaal@gmail.com