An abundance of trash on your street? Cars driving too fast in your neighborhood? Looking for a way to get more involved in the community? Your Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner is here to help (and yes, he/she ran for the position knowing it was unpaid!) This week, newly elected Commissioner Lia Veenendaal-Selck (ANC 6A 08) tells us about the improvements she’d like to help implement in her neighborhood.
1 – Tell us a little about yourself and the reason(s) you sought a position on your neighborhood’s ANC.
My background is in education. My husband and I moved to our neighborhood a little over two years ago and we loved the area so much that we ended up purchasing a home on 17th Place. One of the main reasons that I ran for the ANC is that I have a deep motivation to work for and serve the community in which I live. I am also a firm believer in change at the grassroots level, and am very excited about the power that we, as neighborhood residents, can have in advocating for what we want to see happen in our community.
2 – What is the number one issue facing your neighborhood and how do you plan to address it?
There are two issues I’d like to speak about. One that I’ve heard many people mention is the importance of slowing traffic on C St, 17th St, and 19th St. There are many different perspectives on how to solve this problem, and I think it’s critically important that people in our community know about the meetings where these issues will be discussed so they can voice their opinion. I’ll make sure each of these meetings is well-advertised and will make sure our community’s voice is heard when it comes to issues like traffic policies that will affect our neighborhood. A second issue is one that is very easily solved: neighborhood beautification. I’d love to see our neighborhood tackle problems like trash, vacant and blighted properties, and dead trees. This could be accomplished through a few neighborhood clean-up days held throughout the year (we can even apply for grant money for flower planting, etc.), as well as making sure all residents know about the citywide resources we can take advantage of for tackling things like tree-planting and vacant/blighted properties.
3 – What will you do to increase resident participation in the ANC process? Do you have any plans to make meetings more appealing to residents in your neighborhood and/or solicit increased community involvement?
I’d really like to see even more residents both at ANC meetings and participating in the committee meetings that focus on special topic areas that affect our neighborhood (i.e. transportation, economic development, etc.). I’ve been excited to see ANC 6A increasing the methods they’re using to advertise ANC meetings, committee meetings, and the topics that will be discussed, and I’d like to continue to think expansively about the best methods to get the word out. If neighborhood residents are interested, I’d also be very willing to host SMD meetings where I can hear neighborhood concerns and provide residents with updates from the ANC.
4- What do you need from residents in your neighborhood in order to be a good representative?
I care deeply about representing the viewpoints of all of the residents in our neighborhood and working together with residents to achieve the kinds of change we want to see. To do this effectively, I’ll need neighborhood residents to contact me with their concerns, ideas, and perspectives, and be willing to work together (with me and with other neighborhood residents) to make change happen.
5- Complete this sentence: “Capitol Hill is the best place to live in DC because __________.”
…of the people that live here. I have met so many wonderful people as I’ve been out and about the community campaigning over the last few months, and I’m really looking forward to continuing to get to know and work with people in the neighborhood during my tenure as an ANC representative.
Coming up next, a sit down with veteran commissioner Kirsten Oldenburg of ANC 6B 04. In the meantime, leave a comment or suggest an ANC rep to be featured in an upcoming post!
You can also contact the author at lauren [dot] torlone [at] gmail [dot] com and follow her foray into the twitterverse @laurentorlone.
Maybe the installation of speed bumps on 17th street would remind people that they haven’t yet reached the SE fwy. The raceway that has become some streets in the neighborhood is a big concern especially as I take my pup to Congressional Commentary.
I agree with the need to control traffic on C St NE, 17th, and 19th. The C St NE blog has good ideas on this, and I believe 17th and 19th are set to be made two-way at some point.