What Are ANCs (Advisory Neighborhood Commissions) anyway?

Sometimes I forget that many people in the District are not familiar with the intricacies and peculiarities of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) or the locally-elected commissioners who serve on them.

According to the anc.dc.gov website, “The ANCs' main job is to be their neighborhood's official voice in advising the District government (and Federal agencies) on things that affect their neighborhoods.”

There are 40 ANCs in DC - an average of five per ward - and each ANC is subdivided into an average of about seven Single Member Districts (SMDs). Each SMD, is comprised of roughly 2,000 residents and is represented by one commissioner, for a total of roughly 290 ANC commissioners across the city.  I often describe the ANC as comparable to a State House of Representatives or Delegates but working and making recommendations on a neighborhood level.

As you might imagine, ANC commissioners tend to be the kind of people who keep their ear to the ground, and know what’s going on in their neighborhoods and communities. When the city wants to do something that impacts their community, they are the first to know. If a group home for seniors, or low-income families, are experiencing acute needs in their neighborhood, commissioners can be their advocate. Likewise, when residents are not sure how to get action on a particular issue, they can often turn to their ANC Commissioner to push for results.

As we work our way together through the COVID-19 crisis, the ANCS are a ready-made, decentralized network of “eyes and ears” for our city. Technology now makes it possible to tie all the ANC commissioners from across the city together virtually, to provide feedback on the DC Government’s COVID-19 response, in real time, and from every neighborhood in the city.

That was the purpose of the virtual citywide ANC Commissioner calls that I helped organize, along with my ANC 6B Chair and colleague, Brian Ready. Together, we shared concerns and ideas, talked about things that were working well, things we could do as commissioners and neighbors, and the things for which we need help from the city. 

It’s understandable that many residents don’t know about ANCs and their often-quiet, behind-the-scenes work. For me, it provided a great opportunity to learn the nuts and bolts of how the city works and to understand how laws and regulations passed by the DC Council and District agencies actually impact the everyday lives of people and businesses.  I encourage you to find your ANC representative on the District’s website and let them know how you are making it through the COVID-19 crisis. I’m sure they would love to hear from you.

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