Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

NEWSLETTER
Sign up for our twice-weekly newsletter!

Junior, College Dems leader runs for neighborhood commission seat

Max Wang | Hatchet Photographer
Max Wang | Hatchet Photographer

A fourth-generation Washingtonian and junior on the GW College Democrats’ executive board is running for a spot on the Foggy Bottom Advisory Neighborhood Commission, aiming to promote sustainability, public safety and better use of resources by D.C. agencies.

Detrick Campbell is running for a commissioner spot that has been vacant for more than a year and covers Washington Circle and several campus residence halls. Campbell, an economics and political science double major, said he will use his knowledge on public opinion, public policy and legislation from the classroom to facilitate open communication with D.C. agencies, the D.C. Council and the mayor.

Campbell did not elaborate on how he would accomplish these goals. He said using any means of expressing his goals would be as a private citizen, not as a candidate.

“As a candidate for an advisory board, I cannot have specific platform goals because the commission can deal with narrow issues that can be categorized under the same broad problem but require different recommendations,” Campbell said. “Going through the commission is the only way that I can address my goals as a commissioner.”

Campbell is already involved in the ANC and has served for two months as the liaison for updates and actions in the area, he said.

If elected, Campbell said he will ensure access to services like electricity, gas, trash collection, safe roads and schools. He declined to provide specific details about how he would procure these resources to the community.

“All these services should be as efficient as possible because they can affect the welfare and wellbeing of people,” Campbell said. “It wastes money that can be used in revolutionizing services across the city.”

With ANC meetings just once a month, Campbell said he wants to encourage people to reach out to their commissioner if they need assistance outside the meetings. He added that he looks forward to working with Eve Zhurbinskiy, a student and current ANC commissioner, on helping students learn about D.C. resources.

“The District offers a variety of resources that many people may not know about,” he said.

At GW, Campbell is the director of D.C. engagement for the GW College Democrats, the president of alternative Greek week for the Alternative Greek Council, a JBKO Hall resident adviser and a member of honors fraternity Phi Sigma Pi.

Campbell said he stays up-to-date with community news by regularly attending ANC meetings, subscribing to the Metropolitan Police Department’s updates and talking with alumnus Richard Livingstone in the Mayor’s Office for Continuity Outreach and Services. Campbell interns in the mayor’s Office of Performance Management, where he researches to develop legislation, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Patrick Kennedy, the chair of the Foggy Bottom ANC, said he doesn’t know Campbell well personally but knows that he has attended ANC meetings in the past. Kennedy is happy to see someone represent an area that has gone without a commissioner for more than a year, he said.

“That seat has been vacant for the last year, so it will be nice to have a full commission again,” Kennedy said. “Those people deserve representation.”

More to Discover
Donate to The GW Hatchet