Kathryn Tinker, a senior in the School of International Service, was recently appointed to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3E01, becoming the third AU student to be elected as a member of the ANC.
Tinker was sworn in on June 28. Her jurisdiction includes parts of Tenleytown and Friendship Heights . Tinker took over for Elizabeth Haile, the previous commissioner, who had to step down after she moved to Bethesda and was no longer a D.C. voter.
While this is her first time serving as an ANC commissioner, her time at AU helped her accrue leadership experience.
Tinker served as president and communications director of AU’s chapter of College Democrats and enjoys learning about local politics even though she has never taken a political science class at AU.
As an ANC member, Tinker will be responsible for responding to neighborhood complaints as well as trying to create “smart growth policies,” that will help her district develop and thrive, Tinker said.
Tinker decided to run for ANC while catching up with friend and Ward 3D10 Commissioner Joe Wisniewski at Politics and Prose. Wisniewski informed her that the councilwoman for Tinker’s zone was stepping down. Tinker had not thought about running before then, she said.
However, Tinker is not a newcomer to D.C. politics.
She canvassed for the reelection of the DC mayor at the time, Adrian Fenty, her freshman year.
“Through my history of time at AU people would assume that I planned this,” she said.
She was sworn in after an extensive appointment process, which involved her going downtown to the Board of Ethics for petition forms and then collecting 25 signatures of D.C. voters living in the zone she would represent.
“[Getting the signatures] in my district was tricky,” she said. “A lot of people aren’t D.C. voters or have only recently moved into the district.”
Once she collected the signatures Tinker had to wait another week to be officially sworn in. This period, called the challenge period, gives other ANC members and community members a chance to contest signatures and question the validity of her candidacy. Her candidacy was not contested before the period ended on June 19.
Tinker said that working at the ANC would be a good way to learn about local politics.
“Some people do internships, but I like to take the road less taken,” she said.
rzisser@theeagleonline.com
