2010 Campus Plan update: Special ANC meeting on Thursday
Posted by: Geoffrey Bible in News, Vox Populi, tags: 2010 Campus Plan, ANC, DC Students Speak, Jake Sticka, Mark Stern, Scott Stirrett
Thursday evening will be the first test that the recently filed Georgetown University 2010 Campus Plan will need to go through before it goes to the D.C. Zoning Commission in April.
The special Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting—which will be held at nearby Duke Ellington School—begins at 6:30 p.m. and will likely include speakers from the Citizens Association of Georgetown, the Burleith Citizens Association, and, of course, the ANC commissioners themself.
Jake Sticka (COL ’13), a newly elected member of the ANC, said in an interview with Vox that the special meeting will focus solely on the plan and will be used to help draft a resolution from the ANC. The resolution will not be voted on until the next regular meeting of the ANC at the earliest.
Sticka also noted that public input—including students—is likely to be the focus of the evening.
In response to the special meeting, DC Students Speak created an online petition for those who support the plan to make it clear to the ANC.
As of early Monday evening, there were approximately 280 signatures, according to Scott Stirrett (SFS ’13), an organizer of the petition. The group also created a Facebook event page encouraging students to attend the ANC meeting and voice their opinions.
Another Georgetown student, Mark Stern (COL ’13), sent an email to the GeorgetownForum listserv advocating his reasons for supporting the plan and encouraging neighbors to also sign the petition.
In reply to his email, some neighbors refuted—without providing any supporting evidence—his claim that the University raises the property value or the homes, and also claimed that students cause the lack of parking space surrounding campus.
Several neighbors have expressed support for the plan and have signed the petition, Stirrett claimed in an email to Vox.
Read Stern’s full email:
Dear neighbors,
My name is Mark Stern and I am a sophomore at Georgetown University. I’m writing today as a member of our community to share with you my perspective on GU’s 2010 Campus Plan. I believe that the plan is a good one. It will allow Georgetown to build facilities that it has long needed: a new athletic training facility, additional spiritual space, an expansion to Lauinger Library and a state of the art Science Center. Each of these measures will, in turn, benefit the broader Georgetown community. The training facility will enable our athletic programs, like our powerhouse men’s basketball team, to continue to offer first-rate, inexpensive sports competition in Georgetown’s backyard. The additional spiritual and study space will remain, as always, open to the public while the Science Center will allow GU to remain on the cutting-edge of research, as befitting for one of our nation’s top universities. In short, a better Georgetown University is a better Georgetown. I know that many within the community leadership, like CAG and various ANC2E commissioners, have spouted vitriol about the plan. I understood this opposition when the plan included university expansion into the neighborhood in the form of the “1789″ block. I feel as though GU’s administration showed a serious commitment to compromise and community engagement when they dropped that proposal. With its removal I know no longer see objectionable elements in the plan. The remaining points of opposition do not, as covered here and here, seem to stand up to facts. Luckily, I only see this university antagonism reflected in community leaders. Actual community members that I have spoken with, like my neighbors this summer, see students as the great resource that we are. They affirm, unlike CAG and others, that GU is an integral part of this community. If you agree, please consider signing this petition in support of GU’s 2010 Campus Plan.
Thank you,
Mark Stern
And our favorite response to Stern’s email:
Yeah, I’ll sign your petition – when pigs fly. Get rid of the extra tall smokestack so that I’m not inhaling your waste! Build more dorms on campus so you’re drunken fellow students aren’t living next door to me in nice homes which they decimate with trash, urinating, vomiting, and defecating in my garden and on my sidewalk! You should be proud of your e-mail — I’m taking out my checkbook right now and writing a check for $5,000 to CAG to oppose GUs ridicuilous [sic] plan!
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Hey ya’ll,
I really do encourage students to come out to the meeting and share their perspective; whatever it might be. In the end it is students that this plan affects most and we need to make sure our voice is heard.
–Jake
Umm, would it be right to conclude that “JS” is our “representative” to the ANC? Swept into elected office by a vote of 6 to 1? He seems to tout the fact that he is the youngest elected official in DC, but he fails to mention that he has missed every opportunity to use that position to advocate on our behalf. He skipped the swearing-in ceremony; he skipped the first ANC meeting.
Perhaps he should consider resigning to allow somebody who actually wants to fulfill the responsibilities of the position to take over.
It would be quite silly to turn this comment section into a brawl over ad hominem attacks! Thus, while I have a few points to make, I’d like to keep things brief and respectful.
1.) In order to be eligible for candidacy, Jake Sticka had to acquire dozens of signatures of current residents of Georgetown. This is quite a task considering how few students switch their registration from their home states! In acquiring these signatures, Jake had to knock on a lot of doors throughout the community and explain to his neighbors why he felt he was best qualified to represent them. Having watched him partake in this rather grueling activity throughout the summer, I can safely say that it was no easy task. However, his dedication to the cause of bettering the Georgetown community never wavered.
2.) Jake missed the first ANC meeting of the year, which took place before he was sworn in, because it was held in early January before he was home from visiting his family on the West coast for the holidays. This scheduling was undoubtedly unfortunate, but he was immediately caught up and has been promoting the next meeting heavily.
3.) Here is a lovely photo of Jake’s swearing-in ceremony, which, it should be noted, he did attend.
http://img829.imageshack.us/i/img5269x.jpg/
After striving for a year to achieve the position and leading the dialogue on the Campus Plan, Jake has, in my opinion, proven his commitment to the position and all of its responsibilities. Perhaps some in the community disagree with his position on the Plan, but this does not mean he should be attacked on a personal level. Such criticism is not constructive; it is not thoughtful; it is not civil. It is merely unkind.
@Duh?,
Hey there. I am in the student representative elected to SMD04 of ANC2E, yes. If you are actually a student at GU and feel this way, please feel free to contact me (my Facebook is very visible and my email is easily found through the Georgetown directory). I would be happy to speak with you, or any other constituent, about the issues you raise. I do regret not having been able to attend the first meeting of our ANC, but it was held on January 3rd with a very short agenda. I’m sure you can understand that.
If you are a constituent, I ask that you not use the anonymity of the internet to make claims against me. If you knew me, you’d know that ‘tout’ isn’t something I often do.
Also, I got 9 votes, not 6. A VERY significant difference, I’m sure you’ll agree. ;)
–Jake
Apologies, there were two typos there. Firstly, I am in fact*. Secondly, If you are not a constituent.* Thanks.
It’s interesting that some neighbors are opposing the smokestack. I wonder if the smokestack would be necessary if GU had been allowed to build the cogenerator in the 1990s. Of course, the cogenerator project was killed by neighborhood opposition, when neighbors claimed it was an environmental danger, despite the fact that it would have been a cleaner source of energy than the existing plant. The neighbors killed the project, celebrated their victory over the University, and now pretend that they’re advocates of cleaner energy.
DR, can you provide a link? I’d love to read more.
We could build a power plant that ran off of solar, wind and water power, but then the community would claim it used kittens as fuel.
@Doug: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/7524/canal-road-warriors
There are no university students here at the meeting. Shame on you campus supporters who chose not to attend