Shannon Lynch – Candidate ANC 5E04 Commissioner

I was born in Northwest DC, but being the daughter of 2 Army officers, I grew up mostly elsewhere. I moved back to DC over 7 years ago. I currently both live and work in the 5E04 Single Member District, which means I spend 90% of my time in the district I am running to represent.

Initially, I became interested in running for an ANC position because of the challenges I\’ve personally faced in my neighborhood. However, as I began having conversations with my neighbors, I realized these issues were things they too were concerned about.

One of the most common concerns among my neighbors is affordable housing. I have benefited greatly from affordable housing opportunities. In fact, I currently live in affordable housing. However, affordable units like mine are becoming more scarce as rent rises in our neighborhood and as new, more expensive developments come in. As Neighborhood Commissioner, I would advocate that a higher percentage of these new apartments and homes be designated affordable housing.

Not surprisingly, fixing one of the greatest issues our district faces — a lack of affordable housing — would ensure the longevity of one of the biggest strengths of our district, which is diversity. 5E04 is home to people of varying socioeconomic backgrounds, races, and religions. In order to ensure that we continue to have a richly diverse community, we have to make sure people of all backgrounds are able to live here — especially those families and individuals who have called Eckington home for a long time.

Another big concern of my neighbors is crime. While the rate of crime has lowered overall in the past several years, we still have some isolated incidents that put the safety of our community at risk. I think, in part, the solution to this problem may be improving relations between police and our community. No one in our community should be afraid to interact with the police and to help them keep our neighborhood safe. If there are more opportunities for our neighbors to have face-to-face interaction with the MPD assigned to our neighborhood — such as designated community events — I think it would make our district safer for everyone. I think it would also be beneficial to ask police officers assigned to our community to attend Neighborhood Commission meetings so they know what is going on in our community at any given time.

In closing, I ask for the votes of my neighbors because I believe I bring a fresh perspective to the Neighborhood Commissioner position for 5E04. When we have one single person in any position for too long, their view of the district often become limited. I want to bring new ideas to fix big problems and introduce new ways of communicating with the residents of 5E04. All of my neighbors deserve to feel like they know what is going on in their community and have a say in the changes in our neighborhood, and I want to ensure that happens.

I invite any of the residents in 5E04 to email me with any questions, concerns, or suggestions. I\’d love to have a conversation with you. Email – [email protected]