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| | | Two candidates running for Fengler's neighborhood commission seat | | January 26, 2010 | | | | Voice Correspondent | | Two Northeast residents are vying for a seat on the Northeast Capitol Hill advisory neighborhood commission (ANC6A).
Voters will choose between candidates Drew Ronneberg and Bobby Pittman, both of whom have experience with advisory neighborhood commissions, at the commission’s next meeting on Feb. 11 at Miner Elementary School, 601 15th St. NE, from 7:10 to 8:10 p.m. Residents must live within the bounds of single-member district 6A02, located roughly between 8th, 12th, E and H streets NE, in order to be eligible to vote.
Former 6A02 commissioner Joe Fengler, who was on the commission for seven years, announced his resignation in an e-mail last month, saying he would be moving outside the boundaries of the single-member district.
Fengler is endorsing Ronneberg, a 10-year Hill resident who works as a research and development supervisor for energy efficiency at the U.S. Department of Energy.
He has served as the commission’s economic development and zoning committee chair for the last three years, and first joined the committee in 2003.
“I have a proven track record and experience,” Ronneberg told the Voice. “I know what the community wants, and I am approachable.”
He said his priorities are preventing crime on the H Street corridor and managing parking problems that have stemmed from the neighborhood’s growth.
Ronneberg also hopes to attract more businesses to the area and to “keep the momentum going for H Street developments,” he said, particularly the retail-residential H Street Connection complex slated for construction between 8th and 10th streets.
“He’s a classic example of a resident volunteer,“ said Fengler, describing Ronneberg as the commission’s unofficial zoning expert. “Drew is the best candidate and he has my unequivocal support.”
Pittman, who did not return multiple phone calls and e-mails from the Voice requesting comment, is currently the co-coordinator of Police Service Area 102, a public safety committee that covers much of the western portion of the neighborhood commission’s boundaries. He has also been listed as the president of the Linden Neighborhood Association, which originated within the commission's boundaries. Pittman was a commissioner for the Adams Morgan advisory neighborhood commission in Northwest until he moved out of the neighborhood in 1997.
His departure garnered controversy when he refused to let five newly sworn-in commissioners, one of whom was his replacement, enter the commission’s office, according to a 1997 Washington City Paper report. He argued that his term did not expire until the commission’s next meeting, and he eventually called the police to mediate the dispute, the report said. According to the report, Pittman eventually relented.
Departed commissioner Joe Fengler also was the neighborhood commission’s chair. The commission elected commissioner Kelvin Robinson the new chair in a split 4-3 vote at its Jan. 14 meeting. | | | | | Log in to comment on this article |
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