Metro has proposed changes to the W6/W8 bus route that would discontinue bus service to two segments off of Stanton Road at 8pm (Elvans Road is located within the boundaries of the newly redistricted single member district 8B04). The reason for this is because of several incidents where rocks, and sometimes bricks, were pelted at buses as they traveled through. There is no question who the individuals are that are terrorizing residents and bus drivers. They are a group of younger residents, ages 12-19, who clearly have nothing better to do other than to destroy property and make living day to day a little harder. 

I can easily say there is no better moment than now for parents to step up and take responsibility for their children, but sometimes the home situation is not always what we expect it to be. As a community, we all must come together and gain control of where we lay our heads. We can not continue to standby and allow the unruly to run rampant in our neighborhoods. Clearly, this is a direct result of the lack of recreation in our community, the high number of youth who have dropped out of school and the fact that the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services being turned into a revolving door of violent repeat offenders who are placed back into our neighborhoods with not one drop of opportunity to do better. But I do not find any comfort in knowing that DC Police and Metro Transit Police continue to work in a fashion that is uncooperative and against the interest of the public good. 

At every single Police Service Area (PSA) 703 meeting this year, there has been a recurring theme about the unwillingness of Metro Transit Police to work together with MPD to address the crime in our Ward 8 communities that take place on Metro property. Instead of wasting resident's time with finger-pointing on whose responsibility it is to handle which crime, one would think and hope that these two entities would come together and figure out what's the best way to move forward and address the concerns of residents. There are many residents who would have to walk up to a mile in the dark of night in order to get to their place of residence if service is discontinued on these routes. It is a shame that our hardworking people, many who work various shifts in the service and hospitality industries in our great city, would have to be subjected to such inconsideration and inconvenience due to the terrorist actions of the careless few.

Metro held a public hearing on the proposed service changes in Ward 8 last night, 6 days after their "announcement". The short notification of the hearing only shows that Metro can care less about what the public thinks on this issue. This is what Metro wants and they have made it clear with their actions they will move forward with their plan no matter what the public may demand. Metro is still accepting written statements from the public until 5pm on Nov. 5th. The statement may be sent to the Office of the Secretary, WMATA, 600 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001, or emailed to writtentestimony@wmata.com. Statements also may be faxed to (202) 962-1133. Please voice your opinion and concern on this important issue and reference the hearing number 576 in your correspondence with Metro.

*Updated Oct. 29, 2012

Today, I am proud to receive the endorsement of former ANC 8B Chair and DC Council Candidate, Jacque Patterson. Jacque is someone who knows the hard work firsthand of an ANC Commissioner. 

"As a 8B resident who chaired ANC 8B for 6 years, I enthusiastically endorse Anthony Lorenzo for ANC 8B04! I have witnessed his concern for constituents, his understanding of public policy's affect on my neighbors and the integrity of his public service! I encourage everyone in his Single Member District to vote for a young man who will put service before self!"

I am proud to have his endorsement and I look forward to working with Jacque in making Ward 8 a better place for us all.

View endorsement at www.facebook.com/AntLorenzo.

Late Monday afternoon, the DC Board of Elections handed down their decision on my challenge to the nominating petition of Darrell Gaston, Chair of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 8B. The board found Mr. Gaston had not only provided forged signatures on his petitions, but found my challenge was sufficient to remove his name from the ballot this November. For a person like myself, this decision was inevitable. Many acts of selfishness and political grandstanding for the betterment of his own image over the progress of our Ward 8 communities eventually revealed itself for what it is. 

I first met Darrell Gaston 10 years ago at a get-together at my bestfriend's house on Bowen Road SE. The most I remembered about that time was he had a very arrogant attitude that rubbed me the wrong way. Because of that, I urged my buddy to cease having relations with him. I've always stayed clear of individuals who walk around with the attitude that they're better than everyone around them. Since Darrell is a black gay man, just like myself, many in the black gay community shared this same view of him as they still do today. He was never someone I wanted in my circle of close-knit friends.

Fast forward to 2011, I began to take a vested interest in the way our government is run and wanted to learn more about  ANCs and those who claim to represent us on them. I soon discovered that the young man I met years ago was very involved in Ward 8 politics and was the Chair of ANC 8B. I found that to be refreshing at first, seeing a young black man taking on a leadership position in the grassroots level of our government, but I had concerns as well. In the fall of 2011, I chose to dive deep into the finances of ANC 8B and did not like what I saw. In the Fiscal Year 2010 Annual Report on Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, it was discovered to everyone's dismay that ANC 8B spent almost $20,000 on telephone bills....for themselves. I found that to be quite appalling when I noticed the number of grants issued to the community that year was $0. This, my friends, is failed leadership. And the fact that my  opponent in my race for ANC, JB Shoatz, is the treasurer only displays how far reaching the incompetence has spread throughout the commission.

When I found out Mr. Gaston was running for the Ward 8 City Council seat, I felt this was an opportunity to not only work in an upstart political campaign but to also help out a fellow young black brother like myself. He had huge shortcomings that needed to be addressed but I felt I could help him in moving pass those issues and working on them to better himself.  So, I signed up to be a Volunteer Coordinator for his campaign, an unpaid position. I was responsible for rounding up people from Ward 8 to knock on doors, pass out literature, do early morning sign waves and participate in various events throughout the ward. While in this position, I soon learned everything wasn't what I thought. I came to realize it was a phantom campaign. What do I mean by that? It's only purpose was to build a brand ward-wide and a tool to collect campaign donations. The funny part about it, even though he raised over $20,000, those who worked on the campaign never got to see what the money was spent on. He only had a few yard signs, one large banner and a box worth of literature. The campaign manager wasn't getting paid, so he left which left the responsibilities to me.  I wasn't interested in being some type of de-facto campaign manager, especially after witnessing erratic behavior by him. He did not like to be critiqued, his clothes were always filthy, he carried a fake designer bag that always caught voters' eyes when he would walk up to their door, in the middle of conversations he would immediately zone out, and he had a very serious stutter issue that he refused to address...even though many residents tuned him out as soon as he would get through the first sentence. Mr. Gaston was holding campaign meetings in the ANC office on Savannah Street. I told him I didn't feel it was appropriate to use a government office for political purposes. He stated it was fine since he was the Chair and not all of the commissioners had a key to the office. One thing that could not be ignored was the strong stench of musk in the air, like someone had been living there and did not bother to keep it tidy. Not to mention the bathroom was downright disgusting.

But one incident that really hit a nerve with the volunteers was a very cold night in February this year when Darrell allegedly had a scheduled radio interview with WEACTRADIO. I met up with a fellow Ward 8 resident Brooke Garner with another volunteer on the way to assist in preparing for the interview. When we arrived, he wasn't there and did not answer any of our calls. Since it was a Friday night, the radio crew had already popped open the Sutter Homes Wine and we happily made our way in to join the gathering. We found out there was no interview scheduled and they did not know who Darrell Gaston was. Due to our calls being unanswered, we decided to go over to where he was staying on V Street SE...not the Hartford Street address that he claimed to stay at. When we arrived, he pretended to be sleep, even though we could hear footsteps on the other side of the door. He finally opened the door only to give some terrible story about being in the hospital and then losing his three (3) phones in a cab. I found that hard to believe since I was texting him the entire day about campaign related issues. At that moment, I decided to walk off the campaign and all the volunteers who were not even being paid for their time walked off as well. This is not the change I support. After that incident, Brooke called Darrell and made it clear her time was being wasted and she wanted no part of him or his campaign. The next day, her headlights were busted out. Fearing her life was in danger, she immediately filed for a restraining order against him. 

I made a robust decision to be different than what I experienced first hand. I did not want this young black man to be a representation of what many would believe young politicians to be. We all are not arrogant. We all are not self-absorbed. There are a number of young black brothers like myself who are looking to make a change in the way ANCs conduct themselves in public forums, like Wendell Felder (7E07) and Sentamu Kiremerwa (1A04). This is OUR grassroots level of government and it should reflect the way we feel government should serve us. Every single ANC 8B meeting this year, the treasurer JB Shoatz has been extremely late, only showing up in the last 30 minutes of each meeting. Due to this, he has not been able to give his monthly financial report in the meetings, simply kicking the can down the road to the next meeting, and the next meeting, then the next meeting. This is failed leadership and none of us should be satisfied with it.

I am in this race to be a different voice for my neighbors in Fort Stanton and parts of Hillsdale. If one feels the need to break the law for personal gain, they should no longer represent us. This is what we all have been seeing throughout the year on our city council, ANC Commissioners are not exempt from following the law. The fact that Chairman Gaston feels the need to lie not only about forging signatures on his nominating petition, but about his life story only tells me this individual is very fraudulent and should not be in a position where he is able to dictate how our tax dollars are spent. He has lied about being married, having a 9 year old son, having a college degree, he has been reprimanded by the Eastern Director of Phi Beta Sigma for claiming to be a member of their fraternity when he never made such a pledge, and has recently visited Moten Elementary telling all the parents and staff about how he used to be a teacher and has taught former DC Council Chairman Kwame Brown's kids which is clearly a blatant lie.

Character matters. As the next ANC Commissioner for 8B04, my neighbors can rest assure I will not be a water carrier for flawed individuals. On November 6th, that message will be made very clear to JB Shoatz.

By Renee Green, Mother of Anthony Lorenzo

I had a fabulous day today. Saturday today at 11am, I met with my son to go over his campaign strategies on what he need from his volunteers (his sister, and me). We were there to cheer him on. We felt his energy as he spoke in a calm demeanor about different complexities, which his neighborhood community residents are feeling strongly about matters that are non-addressable and impacts their neighborhood. 

I am so proud of him, as he stood strong and encouraged. He shared a gift with me, and being around him gave me such a thrill to line beside his mission for the ANC seat for the November General Election 2012. As he spoke, words met the right angle to ensure his neighborhood that our investments are most important to our community, and we want to see the works behind the investment being done. Not even the temperature being above 90 degrees today kept us from meeting and sharing with residents what they seek in changes for the area and I, was right alongside him sharing those same changes. 

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the next potential Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for Single Member District 8B04, representing parts of Fort Stanton and Hillsdale communities. In his efforts in communicating his commitment to the residents, he is the right man with a heart for getting their concerns heard and accomplished. You should be proud, because your family are so proud of your encouragement and wisdom. 

Yesterday, Mayor Vince Gray announced the One City Action Plan, a compilation of goals and achievements the Gray Administration has outlined for the city. There are three top goals in the One City Action Plan:

1. Grow and Diversify the District Economy
2. Educate and Prepare the Workforce for the New Economy
3. Improve the Quality of Life for All

As a proud DC native, we have made so much progress in our city since the day Home Rule began for district residents. Over time, many have stepped up to the plate to be our representatives on Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANC) across our city with promises of being a dedicated advocate for the community, only to be revealed as false hope and trickery. There is too much greatness to be discovered in our communities, it's time we return to the days when commitment to public service was a real thing, something you can touch.

That's what I stand for. Having purpose and faith in my community of Fort Stanton is why I stand before you today as a candidate for Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, single member district 8B04. Responsive leadership is what our ANCs need. Dedication to the people over self-enrichment is my motto and the message that needs to be sent to all levels of our government. 

We must not become complacent and satisfied with mediocre representation of our needs and concerns on our Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. When incidents occur that display complete ignorance and disengagement for the use of tax-payer funds, our community must stand up to this careless handling of our money.