Only one of the three student candidates from Georgetown was elected to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission on Tuesday. Mike Glick (CAS ‘05), who ran unopposed in the all student District 4, received all 77 votes cast for the ANC in that district.
In District 2, Eric Lashner (CAS ‘05) received 150 votes, 34.48 percent of the electorate. Although absentee ballots and special ballots have yet to be counted, it appears that Lashner was defeated by resident Jason Hurdle, who received 220 votes, or 50.57 percent of the 435 votes cast. Mike Griffin (CAS ‘05) the student candidate in district 3, received 136 votes to opponent William Skelsey’s 254.
Glick, who will take office on Jan. 2, said that although he is excited about being elected, he is disappointed by the overall outcome of the election.
“I’m looking forward to serving on the ANC and representing the student voice. It’s a bittersweet feeling, though, because Mike and Eric put their hearts into the campaign, and they would have been great commissioners,” Glick said.
Glick noted that he would face a challenge being the sole student representative on the ANC, but that he was confident about the abilities of the ANC to work on concerns that affect both students and non-students.
Current ANC Commissioner Justin Kopa (CAS ‘03) said that he thinks having only one student on the ANC is not a set- back for students.
“We’ve had one student on the ANC before. He will be able to represent the student voice just as well, although being the only student will make the commissioner’s job more difficult,” Kopa said.
Lashner said that he thought some voters were given the wrong ballot when they went to the polls because their names did not appear on the voter list. He said that he has heard from several people that they were given the ballot for District 4 when they should have been given one for District 2.
However, Lashner said he was satisfied overall with his campaign efforts, but emphasized that increased student participation could have changed the outcome of the election..
“I felt like I got a lot of non-student votes. The number of students that were registered that didn’t vote could have made the difference in my race,” Lashner said.
According to Co-Chairman of Campaign Georgetown Drew Johnson-Skinner (CAS ‘04), the outcome of the election is not entirely negative for students.
Johnson-Skinner said that he thinks Hurdle and Skelsey will do an adequate job representing the concerns of students.
He attributed the lower than average student turnout to the lack of a presidential election and the absence of a single issue affecting students.
