Titan Of Trinidad

Kathy Henderson, ANC 5D Chair (file photo)

Trinidad resident Geoff Hatchard posted a piece on Greater Greater Washington announcing that ANC 5D (the local representative body for the Trinidad and Carver/Langston neighborhoods) decided to hold its meetings in an area that avoids the residents it’s supposed to serve.

The Commission, chaired by ANC 5D05 Commissioner Kathy Henderson, decided to hold its regularly-scheduled monthly meetings at the 5th District Police Station, located outside of the commission’s boundaries, rather than at any number of public places available in the neighborhoods.

Of note, Hatchard points out that only about half of the residents in our neighborhood have cars, so many residents may not be able to attend.

From Greater Greater Washington:

The new ANC 5D, which includes the neighborhoods of Ivy City, Trinidad, Carver Langston, and Gallaudet University, will hold its second monthly meeting next Tuesday at a location outside the ANC’s boundaries. Why would the level of DC government closest to the people purposely meet at a place that makes it difficult for residents to attend?

…

There are multiple community spaces that could house meetings within the ANC: Gallaudet University, churches, two recreation centers, multiple schools, and other locations open to the public. It would be easy to find a place where residents could walk a couple blocks to interact with their elected representatives.

Open, honest government requires that citizens have easy access to public meetings, and it simply makes no sense for ANC 5D to hold meetings outside of the very neighborhood it represents, especially when more convenient meeting locations exist.

For more information on the fallacious reasoning used by ANC 5D to hold meetings outside of its boundaries, check out Geoff’s post at Greater Greater Washington.