Members of a local governing body elected new officers during a meeting Wednesday.

The Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission voted to elect 2A03 Commissioner Trupti Patel as the new vice chair. Commissioners also unanimously voted to reelect 2A02 Commissioner Jim Malec as chair.

Members also welcomed Luke Chadwick, the newest commissioner of ANC 2A who represents single-member district 2A05, for his first meeting.

Here are some of the meeting’s highlights:

Commissioners elect Patel as new vice chair

Commissioners voted 5-1-3 to elect Patel, who represents the majority of the historic Foggy Bottom neighborhood, to serve as the vice chair of the ANC for the 2024 term in a second round of voting after the first failed. 2A04 Commissioner Ed Comer was the sole member to vote against Patel.

Commissioners voted 4-1-3 for Patel in the first round of voting, with 2A06 Commissioner Joel Causey, 2A08 Commissioner and then-Vice Chair Jordan Nassar and ANC 2A09 Commissioner Evelyn Hudson absent for the vote and Chadwick abstaining. Following the vote, Comer raised a point of order and said a simple majority of all commissioners in an ANC is required to elect an ANC officer, instead of a simple majority of the commissioners present at a meeting, according to a Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia opinion from July 1997.

Malec said the opinion was “inconclusive” and declared that the first round of voting failed, with the ANC then voting a second time and electing Patel.

Following his initial abstention in the first round of voting, Chadwick said he had no intention of holding up the election and that he only felt comfortable voting for commissioners he was able to speak with before the meeting. He said he was “disappointed” to only just learn about the opinion Comer raised.

“It may have affected my vote,” Chadwick said.

Comer nominated both 2A01 Commissioner Yannik Omictin and Nassar as vice chair in the first round of voting to run against Patel, who both declined the nomination. Commissioners also unanimously reelected Malec as ANC chair and 2A07 Commissioner Dasia Bandy as treasurer, with Comer reelected as secretary with only Patel voting against him.

Commissioners welcome new commissioner

Chadwick, the new commissioner for ANC 2A05 that includes Columbia Plaza, Shenkman Hall and the Remington apartment complex, attended his first ANC 2A meeting Wednesday after the ANC confirmed him the day prior. Chadwick, a second-year master’s student in the urban planning program at Georgetown University, filled the vacancy for the 2A05 position created when Kim Courtney, the former commissioner of the single-member district, resigned in July.

In commissioners’ opening statements, Chadwick said he is proud to represent Columbia Plaza and 2A05.

“I’m really honored to represent my constituents and glad to be here,” Chadwick said.

Chadwick said he works in law in his “day to day” and looks forward to his time on ANC 2A.

“I’m really excited to bring my perspective to the ANC and do my best to put things forward that bring as much benefit as possible to the people in our communities,” Chadwick said.

Chadwick received a bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations from Syracuse University in 2018 and began attending Georgetown in August 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Commissioners hear New Year updates from MPD lieutenant

Michael Howden, a lieutenant for the Metropolitan Police Department’s Police Service Area 207 — which covers the majority of Foggy Bottom, West End and downtown D.C. — said many of the robberies in greater Foggy Bottom in 2023 were of high-end jackets. He said community members should consider sewing GPS tracking devices like Apple AirTags in the lining of expensive jackets.

Reports of robbery in Ward 2 and ANC 2A increased more than any other crime between 2022 and 2023, according to Open Data DC. Last year, there were 394 robbery incidents in Ward 2, jumping from 235 in 2022, and 27 incidents in ANC 2A, increasing from nine in 2022.

“We also had a significant impact in the number of robberies and that’s driven by the high-end jackets primarily,” Howden said.

A string of both armed and unarmed Canada Goose jacket robberies near campus in January and February last year prompted a GW Alert that urged students to be cautious while wearing them.

Howden also said there is an upcoming cleanup of a homeless encampment on 23rd and I Street near the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro station, which has been delayed by scheduling issues and weather issues.

Commissioners consider three liquor license applications

Commissioners unanimously voted to approve the Washington Marriott Hotel’s application to sell beer and wine in its lobby. While commissioners voted to approve the Washington Marriott Hotel’s application, they voted to change the originally proposed hours of alcoholic beverage sales from 6 to 1 a.m. to 8 to 1 a.m after Patel expressed concern about people being able to purchase alcohol at 6 a.m.

Commissioners unanimously voted to protest Bodega Taqueria y Tequilas’ application to sell alcohol and provide live entertainment. Commissioners, including Patel and Comer, said they were worried about the potential for loud noise late into the night affecting neighbors, with District House across from the location and the Residences on The Avenue a block west.

Commissioners also unanimously voted to protest Hotel AKA Washington Circle’s application to sell alcohol and provide live entertainment because of issues with the hours for the hotel’s “summer garden” in its courtyard, which would be open for alcohol sale, service and consumption from 8 to 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 8 to 3 a.m. and Sunday from 10 to 2 a.m.

Commissioners fail to consider a resolution concerning the Secure D.C. crime bill

Commissioners ran out of time to consider a resolution Patel introduced and commissioners voted 4-1-4 to add to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting, subsequently pushing it back to the end of the agenda, considering the Secure D.C. crime prevention package currently under deliberation in the D.C. Council. Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto introduced the 90-page package of crime bills to the D.C. Council Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety earlier this month, passing in an initial committee vote last week.

The package would create new gun-related offenses like endangerment with a firearm that would make it a felony to fire a gun in public and make it easier for people to be charged with retail theft, among other initiatives. A bill Pinto introduced in September that allowed warrantless searches of people charged with violent crimes in any public space was expected to be in the package, but Pinto didn’t include the bill after community members raised concerns about its potential disproportionate impact on people of color.

Commissioners were only able to stay in the meeting location in West End Library between 7 and 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, running over that time before considering Patel’s resolution. Commissioners said they would communicate about potentially scheduling a special meeting to consider the Secure D.C. resolution after the meeting.

Commissioners will hold the next ANC meeting Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. in West End Library.