Political Quotes

“a serious step was taken last week when the House defunded an elected body that had only a token amount in the D.C. appropriation, a 100th of 1 percent amount in a $6.8 billion consensus budget that had been approved by the control board and the elected officials. This may be because the group involved, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, are perhaps not routinely found in other jurisdictions, and there is little understanding of the vital role they play in our urban environment. Many members seem to think that ANCs, as we call our Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, are like civic organizations in their own home towns. In one important way, they are. The ANC commissioners are volunteers and are never paid. But, unlike traditional civic organizations, ANCs perform official government duties. For example, they must be notified 30 days before any neighborhood action is taken. They must hold hearings and receive comments. Then they must transmit their comments to the agency involved, and then the mayor and the city council must give great weight to the comments of the ANCs. These are unusual officials. Aside from their official duties, they perform tasks that have become indispensable to maintaining the quality of life in the District of Columbia.”