Sroufe Announces Candidacy for Special Election for ANC6B02 Vacancy

The Single Member District 6B02 includes Eastern Market, Eastern Market Metro Plaza, and the Hine Project.

Sroufe Announces Candidacy for Special Election for ANC6B02 Vacancy

by Larry Janezich

On Monday, Jerry Sroufe announced his candidacy to fill the vacant seat left by the resignation of Commissioner Diane Hoskins as the representative for ANC6B02.  The single member district is a demanding one, including Eastern Market, Eastern Market Metro Plaza, and the Hine Project.  Sroufe was a candidate for the seat in 2014, losing then to Hoskins by a vote of 343 to 457.

Sroufe’s announcement became public in a letter to ANC6B Chair Dan Ridge on Monday, which read in part:

“As you know, I ran against Diane in 2014. While ours was a competitive race I have had no regrets about losing to Diane – she has been an outstanding ANC Commissioner.

Following the 2014 election campaign supporters encouraged me to stay engaged in Capitol Hill activities.  I have enjoyed doing so: serving on the Hine Community Advisory Committee (HCAC) and as a “resident member” of ANC’s Transportation Committee, chaired by Kirsten Oldenburg.  I have also served as co-chair of a community organization, the Eastern Market Metro Community Association, an organization of residents that actually achieved an additional bit of accountability for DC by requiring public disclosures of sale and transfer of government land.  The HCAC has completed its work.  If elected to the ANC I will resign my position as co-chair of EMMCA and, of course, will no longer serve as a resident member of the Transportation Committee:  I will have time sufficient to be an effective ANC member.”

Sroufe’s letter went on to list the goals he would work toward as commissioner: “Here are five points suggestive of my interests: (1) continuing Diane’s engaged approach to constituency representation, especially with regard to issues involving rodents; (2) working to assure the future of Eastern Market as a food market; (3) holding to the hard-won zoning regulations within the Historic District of Capitol Hill; (4) and insisting that DC government officials and agencies act with knowledge of the “great weight” to be attributed to ANC opinions.  Additionally, (5), I will plan to explore the merits of establishing a new ANC committee: the committee on schools and education.

On February 19, after notice of the vacancy appeared in the DC Register, the Board of Elections made nomination petitions available to interested candidates for the 6B02 seat.  Candidates have until the close of business on March 12 to return the petitions with the names and signatures of at least 25 residents of the single member district (in this case 02) in question.  There will then be a challenge period starting on either Thursday, March 15 or Friday March 16 and lasting until COB Wednesday, March 21 or Thursday the 22 (The BOE has some discretion with regard to when to start the challenge period) during which opponents have the opportunity to challenge the validity of signatures on each other’s petitions.

If two or more candidates for the seat emerge, ANC6B will need to give notice at a meeting that there will be a special election at a subsequent 6B meeting.  The special election will be to fill the remainder of the term – until January of 2019; the seat will come up for contest again in November 2018 in the general election.  If only one person establishes an eligible candidacy, they will be “deemed” the new Commissioner and the ANC will receive a letter from the Board of Elections telling them that.

ANC6B has a second vacant seat as the result of the February 20 resignation of Commissioner Aimee Grace, ANC6B07 (See here:  http://bit.ly/2HtpZeh)   According to Gottlieb Simon, Executive Director of the Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, the resignation is scheduled to appear in this Friday’s DC Register.  If so, petitions for candidacy will be available on Monday, March 5.