Candidate Statement: Mark Eckenwiler ANC6C04

Each year I make space available on Frozen Tropics for ANC candidates who send me their candidate statements. The following is one of those statements: 

I moved to Capitol Hill with my wife Victoria in 1996. Our two sons attended DC Public Schools from kindergarten through high-school graduation. We love this wonderful community, and over the years have given countless volunteer hours serving local schools and civic groups like CHRS. In 2002 I joined ANC 6C's Planning, Zoning & Environment Committee, where I now serve as chairman.

The neighborhood east of Union Station faces a number of challenges in the coming years. As the ANC Commissioner for 6C04, I will work to

• Ensure the continued revitalization of the H Street corridor, with special emphasis on promoting mixed-use projects combining neighborhood-serving retail and residential units.
• Improve local transportation infrastructure, including a) streetcars on H St. and b) long-term improvements to Union Station.
• Promote DDOT policies that reduce motor vehicle traffic in the neighborhood and give priority to residents for increasingly scarce on-street parking.
• Support our public schools as rapidly rising enrollments strain their capacity and resources.
• Protect the character of our rowhouse neighborhood from development pressure on areas currently outside the historic district.

To make these things happen, I plan to

• Improve the ANC's communication with residents about upcoming events/issues through multiple means (email, Twitter, web).
• Hold periodic meetings to listen to the specific concerns of 6C04 residents.
• Continue to chair the ANC's zoning committee, working to ensure that resident-applicants are treated fairly and that commercial development serves the community's interests.
• Troubleshoot problems in the neighborhood, from reporting burned-out streetlights to having vacant/blighted buildings taxed at the punitive class 3 and 4 rates. (For more information, see tinyurl.com/vacantblighted.)
• Work cooperatively across ANC boundaries to address concerns affecting all of Capitol Hill.

Residents can learn more about the work of ANC 6C at anc6c.org. (A map of ANC 6C for 2013 can be found athttp://ancdc.us/Ward%206%20ANC%206C%202013%20Boundaries.pdf.) Specific information about my zoning committee is available at anc6c.org/committees.html. Residents can also visit twitter.com/6C_PZE (or follow @6C_PZE) for official updates on the work of the committee, and visit www.twitter.com/20002ist (or follow @20002ist) for wider-ranging personal commentary. In addition, community members are welcome to email me at ANC@eckenwiler.org.