“How are you going to discourage students from bringing their cars? How do you discourage them, outside of shooting them?” a Georgetown resident exclaimed at a meeting organized by the Citizens Association of Georgetown Monday night.
To audience laughter, CAG Vice President Luca Pivato—who is perhaps best remembered for telling a young alum who disagreed with his criticism of the University’s 2010 Campus Plan to “fuck off”—explained how to report illegally parked cars and added, “To shoot, it’s up to you.”
This is just the latest example of the unreasonably antagonistic approach to town-gown issues many local leaders have adopted, a problem exacerbated by many of the current members of Georgetown’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission. It is time for students, faculty, and residents who are put off by these neighborhood leaders’ increasing belligerence to encourage pro-University candidates in this year’s ANC election.
Typically, the lone student commissioner on Georgetown’s seven-member ANC is tasked with presenting the University’s perspective. The small pool of students willing to take on this largely thankless position is further winnowed down due to the difficulty of getting on the ballot. Only students graduating in odd numbered years are eligible, and they must decide to run during the spring of their freshman year. The student commissioner must also live on Georgetown’s campus for a minimum of two and a half years, summers included, which precludes studying abroad.
Candidates must also obtain the signatures of 25 registered D.C. voters living in their Single Member District, a tough task since so few Georgetown students are registered to vote in the District and the student commissioner’s SMD is largely composed of student dormitories. The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics doesn’t make things much easier, providing candidates with outdated lists of registered voters in their SMD.
Given the significant difficulty of running for student ANC commissioner, Jake Sticka (COL ’13) should be commended for deciding to enter this year’s race. Although he has been on campus for less than a year, Sticka already has a clear picture of current town-gown dynamics and the importance of the 2010 Campus Plan’s passage, telling the Voice he hopes he can get the neighbors to be “more cooperative in their relationship with the University.”
Students and faculty should do what they can to support Sticka’s candidacy. Students who are registered to vote in D.C. and faculty who live on campus can help facilitate Sticka’s campaign by getting in touch with him and letting him know they will sign his candidacy petition. Students who are not D.C. voters should seriously weigh the costs and benefits of changing their voter registration.
While it is heartening that there is already a strong candidate running for the student commissioner position, it will take more than one commissioner to change the dynamics of the ANC. Students and faculty living off-campus, as well as residents unhappy with the current state of town-gown relations, should consider challenging the ANC incumbents. Even if they don’t win, pro-University candidates could at least change the combative discourse and encourage neighbors to compromise on the 2010 Campus Plan. There’s a saying that all politics is local—any one concerned about the future of the University should start acting accordingly.
