For Release: Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020
Contact: Nick DelleDonne ,
delledonne.n@comcast.net, 703 929 6656
Dupont ANC Elections – An Opportunity and A Hazard
Neighbors heard candidates for the upcoming ANC2B election at a forum sponsored by Dupont Circle Citizens Association on September 30, and it appears, some of the candidates incriminated themselves with their own words.
Incumbent Matt Sampson (2B01) said he favored reestablishment of the defunct ANC transportation committee (TPI) and wished for greater diversity of opinion and engagement with the community. But Sampson voted against the expansion of the committee in 2019 when Commissioner Ed Hanlon (2B09) nominated three women to the committee.
An aggressive bike promoter, Sampson last year encountered a furniture van on 15th St. where residents had a permit to move furniture on a Sunday morning. Voicing objection to the ramp that movers had straddled across the protected bike lane, Sampson twice disrupted the movers work, shoving the ramp aside. Police had to be called to stand guard while the furniture was loaded onto the truck. Sampson is a reckless endangerment to the community. He should be arrested, not re-elected.
Sampson, who never did his homework or had much to say at ANC meetings, said at the Forum on September 30 that he looked forward to re-establishing the ANC social media Twitter account which Chair Daniel Warwick unilaterally discontinued this year when the Board of Elections found Warwick had used the account illegally to support the candidacy of Patrick Kennedy in his bid for the Ward 2 Council seat. Warwick was tried, convicted, and fined $4000 for partisan use of the publicly financed media account. The Board of Elections never banned ANC2B’s use of the social media. It enforced laws prohibiting their use for partisan politics. The accounts can be used at anytime as long as they are used for legal purposes to communicate with constituents. The charge had been brought by Commissioner Hanlon and it is a good thing he did, because we cannot have rogue commissioners abusing their office for their own gain, as in this case, by Chair Warwick.
Commissioner Sampson, here is a novel thought: Stand up to Chair Warwick, put social media on the agenda at the next ANC meeting, hold a public discussion and reinstate the ANC2B Twitter account. You do not have to wait for a new term of office to address an issue affecting communication with your constituents right now. You have an obligation to do so, do you not?
This is not the first time Chair Warwick has run afoul of the law. In November 2017, Warwick was cited by DC Office of Attorney General for violating DC law and regulation in the commission of his responsibilities as ANC commissioner.
Re-election of candidates Sampson and Warwick pose a danger to the community. Sampson has an opponent in the coming election and can be defeated. Warwick is running unopposed, so his re-election is assured unless we organize a grassroots write-in campaign to defeat him. Let me know if we can work on that together.
Nick DelleDonne
Dupont Gadfly
703 929 6656
Winner of Best Gadfly award, 2020, Washington City Paper
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/322412/best-of-d-c-2020/#/gallery/248680924