For the first time since 2004, Georgetown’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission will see a competitive election. Jeffrey Jones and Michael Savage are both vying to be elected to the ANC 2E’s Single Member District 3 seat.
The area covered by SMD 3 stretches from the front gates of the University to Wisconsin Avenue and is bordered to the north and south by Volta and N Streets. The seat was left vacant after incumbent Commissioner Bill Skelsey decided to step down. Skelsey said he decided to leave the ANC due to increased time demands at home and with his job as an architect.
Savage is a tax attorney and has lived in Georgetown for more than seven years. His opponent, Jones works part-time as a pilot and also is involved with a business that provides green building materials for new construction.
Jones was encouraged by Skelsey to run after the commissioner decided that he would not return for another two-year term.
“I think he has a level head and he is a fair individual,” Skelsey said of Jones. “I think it’s a tremendous opportunity to serve the community. It’s just that this term I would have less ability to [clear my schedule].”
Skelsey said he was not surprised that the vacancy on the ANC has attracted multiple candidates. This is a contentious time for Georgetown politics, especially for town-gown issues. The 2010 Campus Plan will soon be presented to the D.C. Office of Zoning amid increasing neighborhood opposition, and the Citizens Association of Georgetown is gathering signatures on a petition calling for Mayor Adrian Fenty and the Office of Zoning to help defeat the proposed plan. ANC meetings are often the battleground on which disagreements over the plan are hashed out.
The 2010 Campus Plan includes an increase of 2,400 graduate students, which has raised concerns among neighbors who are worried about noise and congestion.
Savage said that, in his opinion, his opponent Jones is more concerned with University issues while he is more concerned with other impending changes that will directly affect his district.
“I think that my focus is a little different from his,” said Savage. “I think that I am of a slightly different opinion on the 10 year plan than he is. … I think the big thing that is happening in our district is the [repaving] of O and P Streets.”
Savage said that his major concern with the 2010 Campus Plan, rather than noisy student parties or the conversion of family homes into student housing, is the increased traffic in the neighborhood and the upkeep of homes that are rented to students.
“With living in the community comes some responsibility and [students] need to be respectful of that,” he said.
Although he did not discuss any details of the plan, Savage said that its current state “needs improvement.”
Jones also shied away from discussing concrete aspects of the plan.
“Let me just say, it’s very much a work in progess, and I don’t want to say anything that could inflame either side at this point,” Jones said.
Asked what issues he would focus on as a commissioner, Jones said that he would hope to maintain a good relationship with city officials. He also said zoning issues and home additions would be part of his main focus.
As for the current state of town-gown relations, Jones simply said that he “would like to see [them] improve.”
