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About ANC 2E

Welcome to ANC2E!

This page provides you more information on what an Advisory Neighborhood Commission is, and what we do to help make our communities a happier, safer, and more welcoming place!

What is an ANC?

Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) were established in 1973 as part of the Home Rule Act (and approved by popular referendum on May 7, 1974). ANCs are advisory boards providing official citizen representation to other governmental bodies. They consider a wide range of policies and programs affecting their neighborhoods. These include traffic, parking, recreation, street improvements, liquor licenses, zoning, economic development, police protection, sanitation and trash collection, and the District’s annual budget. In fact, no public policy area is excluded from the purview of the ANCs.

The commissions present their advisory views to District government agencies in the Executive Branch as well as to the Council. They also present testimony to independent agencies, boards and commissions, usually under rules of procedure specific to those entities. By law, the ANCs may also present their views to Federal agencies.

"Great Weight"

DC government agencies are required to give ANC positions “great weight” in their decisions. The vagueness of the term “great weight” is a cause of some frustration, but it means at least that the DC agency must: make its decision in writing, explicitly answer ANC arguments, and send a copy of the response to the ANC. The ANC’s voice is always heard, although it might not always be heeded.

Unfortunately, non-DC agencies are not required to give the ANC “great weight”. In DC, there are many of these examples are the water & sewer authority, Metro, and the National Park Service. However, an ANC can lobby these agencies and, as the elected representative of the people, can often make an impact.

Communication is a very important role for ANCs, and it goes both ways. ANCs must be given 30 days notice of proposed government actions (45 days for liquor licenses). The commission then has the responsibility to inform the citizens and transmit their reaction back to the deciding agency.

Commisioners

There are 37 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in the District (including six in Ward 2). Each is named by the ward number and a letter; for example, Burleith is within ANC-2E, and Glover Park in Ward 3 has ANC-3B. Each ANC commissioner is elected from a Single Member District (SMD) which includes approximately 2000 residents. Commissions range in size from 2 SMDs to 14 SMDs depending on the size of the neighborhood. In the whole city, there are 299 SMDs (and a like number of ANC commissioners).

Commissioners are popularly elected and serve two-year terms; they are volunteers who receive no compensation for their service. Each commission receives operating funds (an allotment) from the DC government; the amount depends on the size of the commission. ANC 2E gets about $17,000 per year, most of which goes towards salary and office expenses. ANCs may not solicit funds from private sources, unless specifically authorized by the City Council (though donations may be accepted up to $400).

What is ANC 2E?

As the Georgetown commission, ANC 2E reviews all development in the historic district and all local liquor licenses. It has worked to improve parking and traffic; to repair streets and sidewalks; to gain a citizen voice into street closings for things like utility cuts, road races and movie filming; to increase public safety; and to recognize outstanding contributions to the community.

Frequently Asked Questions

Similar to a legislative district, a Single Member District, or “SMD”, is a district of approximately 2,000 residents in a set area of DC. Each SMD elects one commissioner to the local ANC. There are currently eight SMDs in ANC 2E, and several hundred city wide. Single member districts are updated with each federal census to reflect changing population movements in the neighborhood. 

For a topic to be included in a future ANC agenda, please contact the ANC’s Executive Director, Peter Sacco, at: 2E@anc.dc.gov, who will coordinate with the appropriate single member district commissioner. Otherwise, please contact your commissioner through the information provided on this website.

ANC 2E typically meets on the Monday immediately proceeding the monthly Old Georgetown Board. The Old Georgetown Board meeting schedule can be found here. On months where the Monday falls on a holiday, the meeting is typically moved to Tuesday.

A notice about the meeting location and agenda is provided seven days in advance of the meeting. Posting is done on the ANC 2E website, via ANC 2E’s listserv, and via the Georgetown and Burleith Groups.io listservs. ANC 2E may also call special meetings.