In Jake Sticka‘s (SFS ’13) last week as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, the ANC held its monthly meeting on the Georgetown University campus in “recognition” of the school, as announced at the last meeting. In the meeting, the Commission planned to discuss the campus plan with students on campus but instead focused on pressing issues afflicting local residents, such as “distressing” Comcast boxes, flashing neon signs, and tall tree fences.

The campus plan: No questions? Moving on
Chairman Ron Lewis said that the campus plan is now being implemented and is off to a good start. He said that the “approach to partnership” and improved relationship between the school and various neighborhood communities was important in the approval of the plan.

“We expect that to continue,” said Lewis ‘The issues are not easy, even in implementation.”

Lauralyn Lee, Associate Vice President for Community Engagement and Strategic Initiatives at Georgetown, said she is pleased at how quickly the school and neighborhood created a working relationship.

No one in the audience had questions about the campus plan.

Comcast boxes are no longer “making an aesthetic wreck”
Last month, many residents expressed concerns about small, refrigerator-sized boxes sprouting up in Georgetown’s brick sidewalks—without the ANC’s approval.

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As promised yesterday in a press conference, ANC 2E finally released the full details of the provisions in the Campus Plan. University officials and neighborhood leaders have ruminated over these “proposed conditions” since negotiations restarted in early April. Both parties responded with an extremely satisfied view on the result. ”I am confident that this agreement represents the interests of our entire community and aligns our long-term strategic plans with the goals of our growing city,” President John DeGioia said yesterday in an email to the Georgetown community.

Not all students reacted to the agreement with as much excitement as the Mayor and President DeGioia. “Particularly promising in this agreement is the stated desire by both sides to make campus a more lively and social place … That said, they are certainly elements of the agreement I found troublesome … Students are full members of society and they should not have their ability to freely choose housing redistricted. The complete ban of student cars from the neighborhood also strikes me as unfairly discriminatory,” ANC Commissioner Jake Sticka (COL ’13) said in an email to Vox.

Earlier today we brought you a few highlights from the recently released provisions on the Campus Plan. Now we’re giving you the full breakdown: from housing to food trucks to the satellite campus. Enjoy.

Full list after the jump.

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Friday, At large Council-member Phil Mendelson (yes the same one who says the current redistricting plan is discriminatory) filed a letter to the Zoning Commission opposing the 2010 campus plan. He further writes that he is in agreement with ANC2E and the Office of Planning in that Georgetown should house 100% of students on campus.

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.

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Georgetown University’s student Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner is a tough gig. Our commissioner doesn’t have many—or any—allies on the issues that matter most to students. If our commissioner is voting in our interest, he or she is probably voting alone. Even when student commissioners simply speak to their colleagues about the student perspective, we’re pretty sure their words fall on deaf ears.

But as if that weren’t bad enough, it’s even harder to become the sole student commissioner on Georgetown’s ANC than it is to be the student commissioner. Freshman Jake Sticka (COL ’13) has committed to running for the position in November 2010—but it’s going to be an uphill battle just to get himself on the ballot. Add that to the serious challenge of even finding someone who actually wants to run, and Georgetown University is lucky we have an ANC commissioner at all.

Finding a candidate is work. While it doesn’t make sense for Georgetown students’ purposes, current ANC Commissioner Aaron Golds (COL ’11) explained that due to the election cycle, only freshman can run. The student commissioner must live on Georgetown’s campus for his or her entire tenure, so a potential student commissioner has to commit to running his or her freshman year, get on the ballot on the August of their sophomore year, run in November, and serve from January of an odd-numbered year (sophomore year) to December of an even-numbered year (senior year). To establish and maintain residency, that freshman also has to commit to living on Georgetown’s campus for a minimum of two and a half summers and to forgo ever studying abroad.

It’s not surprising, given all of these restrictions, that of the eight or so students who attended information sessions Golds held at his house about the position, only one student opted to run. But Sticka has committed, in spite of the constricting nature of the job.

“I’m pretty concerned about whether or not the student voice is being heard, and whether or not the community actually respects the University and the students’ role in the community,” Sticka said. “Hopefully, on the ANC, I can advocate for those interests.”

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