Watkins School. Brian Flahaven Works the Polls, November 4, 2014
ANC6B Commissioner Brian Flahaven to Resign Seat on Friday
by Larry Janezich
Last night, ANC6B09 Commissioner Brian Flahaven announced that he will resign his seat on ANC6B effective Friday, January 15. The reason, he said, is that he and his wife are expecting their second child in April. The couple had their first child last year.
Flahaven was first elected to ANC6B 2010 with a group of reform candidates determined to bring change to an ANC which was widely regarded as insular and unresponsive to community concerns. He drew support from residents in Hill East who sympathized with his claim that the proposed Barney Circle Historic District was being foisted on Hill Easters against the wishes of a majority of the community. The proposal, which had received ANC6B approval, died while before the Historic Preservation Review Board after Flahaven was elected. Flahaven went on to establish the ANC’s Hill East Task Force largely comprised of community residents to advise the ANC on matters concerning Hill East.
Flahaven served two years as Chair of the ANC, in 2013 and 2014. During his tenure, he lead a successful effort against proposed residtricting changes for Hill East in 2011 and pushed the city to close DC Gerneral. Flahaven was regarded by many as a strong voice for development in ANC6B as evidenced by his support for the Hine Development, development of Reservation 13, RFK, and the new Southeast Boulevard as well as residential projects on Pennsylvania Avenue and along the 15th Street, SE, commercial corridor. Flahaven also pushed hard for redevelopment of the Boys and Girls Club in Hill East, but turned critical of the Department of General Services (DGS) restrictions which seemed to limit the financing to Low Income Housing Tax Credits. The community and Flahaven strongly supported a mixed income project. Community opposition eventually lead DGS to withdraw the RFP.
As ANC parliamentarian, Flahaven undertook the massive job of rewriting the ANC’s by-laws and worked long to continue the work started by former ANC commissioner Brian Pate to update and modernize the ANC’s website.
Flahaven’s last ANC6B meeting will be tonight at 7:00pm in Hill Center. To read his statement announcing his retirement posted last night on his website, go here: http://bit.ly/1JH3nWz
Once the vacancy is official, the Board of Elections will announce procedures for a special election to fill the seat for the remainder of Flahaven’s term through January 1, 2017.
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
Brian was a great commissioner for ANC6B09, Hill East, and Barney Circle. He’ll be missed on the ANC.
Thank you Brian for your work as ANC6B Commissioner. I’m a constituent of his and he has done an amazing job representing the interests of the neighborhood and keeping us informed on things that affect us.
Brian’s dedication and commitment to our Hill community has been amazing. The incredible amount of hours he has donated to serving those who live on the Hill is commendable. If he were ever to run for a city office one day, I would vote for him in a second – just throwing that out there! Thank you Brian, and thank you to your family for their patience and support as you spent so many evenings and weekends at community meetings and drafting documents and doing the due diligence that so many who have “served” this city have neglected to do for far too long – we appreciate you!
In response to comments above for those who think there is no impact on neighbors, I suggest you take a walk on Archibald Walk a 10 ft wide alley that is the front door for neighbors. It’s an unusual, possibly a one of a kind open space that neighbors share and hang out in. I have a friend who lives there and have followed the Barrack’s Row Heritage Trail that features its unique character. The tree house is 10- 15 ft from neighbors’ bedroom windows. Would you want to get out of the shower and start dressing with kids watching you? Its a public space shared by all. Why should one neighbor have private control of it? Especially, owners that are absentee owners and rent the house out? They come on the weekend to their investment property on Archibald to play in the tree house. The homeowners have to live with it the rest of the time.
Check it out and see how it impacts the neighbors and the historic character of such a cool space.
During my time with Brian on the Commission, he was a paragon of integrity, comity, enthusiasm, strategic acumen and vision. He set an example for constituent communications that paid elected officials would do well to emulate. And he had great heart—I’ll never forget the time he called Mayor Vincent Gray on the carpet for surreptitiously planning a Redskins training center at Res 13, or how he catalyzed his neighbors to fend off redistricting plans in 2011. I fully understand why he is vacating his seat, but he will be missed. Thank you for your service Brian!