Change is the buzzword for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, but a local community activist and GW alumnus also plans to transform politics in Washington this fall.

Cary Silverman, who attended GW for both graduate and law schools, has challenged longtime incumbent Jack Evans for his seat on the D.C. City Council – a move that could change representation in Ward 2 for the first time in 17 years. The ward includes Foggy Bottom, Dupont Circle, Georgetown and other surrounding neighborhoods.

It’s an uphill battle for the 32-year-old attorney, who is gathering community support to topple a well-funded politician with supporters like D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty.

Silverman said Evans prioritizes business interests before local issues, citing the 54-year-old’s record of funding big-ticket, tax payer-backed projects like the Verizon Center and Nationals Park while local libraries and schools are shut down.

“Our focus needs to be on (recreation) centers, not the Verizon Center,” Silverman said.

The Ward 2 councilmember contended publicly that his work reinvigorated his ward – the city’s second-most affluent district. Evans became the disrict’s representative in 1991, holding several prominent positions on the council that have made him a leader in the legislature.

Silverman previously served as president of the Mount Vernon Square Neighborhood Association and chair of the Logan Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission. He said Evans – one of the longest-serving members in the city council – has lost touch with the needs of his constituents.

He added that Evans’ juggling between his jobs as councilmember and attorney leads to conflicts of time and interest. Silverman vowed to quit his own law firm job if he is elected.

“I want to know as a constituent that my councilmember is working for me full time,” Silverman said.

Evans’ spokesman, Sean Metcalf, who spoke on behalf of the councilmember, said Evans often works 70 to 100 hours a week at the city council while also holding a job at a law firm and being a single father to 11-year-old triplets.

“It is easy for Cary, who is single, has no kids and no job, to make a statement like that,” Metcalf said. “It is a tiresome and a cheap ploy by the Silverman campaign to gain support.”

Despite butting heads on numerous issues, the candidates both agree that GW’s expansion needs to be checked. At a debate held last week by the Foggy Bottom Association, they agreed that keeping the University to its outlined 20-year campus plan is very important to the greater community.

GW is the largest property owner in Ward 2 and its expansion is highly contentious for some Foggy Bottom residents who see it as a threat to their neighborhood conservation efforts.

Joy Howell, president of the Foggy Bottom Association, said there was some “frustration” among the debate’s attendees.

“Evans did not go more in-depth on his assertions that he has worked with the community in an effort to preserve the Foggy Bottom neighborhood,” Howell said.

Adam Lovell, a GW sophomore, works as Silverman’s campaign field manager. He spends 15 to 20 hours a week on the Silverman campaign, with duties including canvassing, hanging up signs and working to get people to vote in the Sept. 9 primary.

“I really enjoy going out with Cary and watching him listen to neighbors’ concerns, promising to be a receptive councilmember,” said Lovell, a student in the Elliott School of International Affairs. “He is really trying to bring change to the neighborhood.”

Alexa Millinger contributed to this report.