Updated: April 3, 2024, at 7:40 p.m.
The chair of a local governing body will resign next month.
Jim Malec, who holds the top post of the Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission, will resign from the commission May 1 because he is moving to a home outside his single-member district, 2A02. He said he hopes to return to Foggy Bottom ANC and plans to run for re-election in the district he’s moving to, 2A08, which Commissioner Jordan Nassar currently represents.
He said he plans to include an election to replace himself as chair in the draft agenda for the April ANC meeting, and he will resign as chair either prior to or during the meeting.
“I have loved every minute of my time serving alongside you,” Malec wrote in a Tuesday email announcing his resignation to commissioners. “It hasn’t always been easy. In fact, it has rarely been easy. But it has always been fulfilling, and even in the hardest times, it’s been worth it.”
Malec has served as the ANC’s chair since May after several commissioners called for the resignation of former chair and current 2A06 Commissioner Joel Causey from the position last April following The Hatchet’s reporting on his sex offender status in the state of Florida.
Commissioners re-elected Malec as chair in January. He piloted the ANC during hearings over the summer on the proposal to convert The Aston, a former GW residence hall, into a homeless shelter.
Malec also oversaw the election of members of the Community Advisory Team overseeing The Aston’s conversion in November, months after adjourning a July meeting due to infighting. Malec said in November that the election of CAT members may have been the D.C. government’s first instance of ranked-choice voting. He said the new ANC chair will need to serve as co-chair of the CAT, but he could still serve on the team if designated by the new chair.
Causey, who as of last month was on a leave of absence from the ANC for personal reasons, requested to postpone the next CAT meeting slotted for April until the governing body selects a new chair, according to an email obtained by The Hatchet sent to CAT Co-Chair Richard Livingstone and Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto.
“Given this transition, I propose that we postpone our April meetings until after the ANC conducts elections for a new chair,” Causey’s email states. “Introducing an acting chair for a single meeting could lead to unnecessary confusion.”
Malec said he’s also asked the ANC’s other commissioners to nominate him to the body’s Bylaw Revision Committee, which will ensure the ANC’s bylaws are consistent with D.C. Code. Malec proposed bylaw amendments in February to clarify that commissioners attending meetings via audio or video connections are considered present.
Malec said the new chair will also need to lead the process of hiring a new executive director and perform the duties of the executive director in the meantime, like technological setup at monthly meetings, until former executive director Peter Sacco, who resigned in February to start a new position with Serve DC, the Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism and Partnerships, is replaced.
Malec said in a March ANC meeting that the ANC initiated the hiring process for a new executive director and that the governing body could not organize a hybrid meeting without a new executive director.
“I want to stay as involved as I can and as is appropriate,” Malec said.
This post was updated to clarify the following:
The Hatchet updated this post to clarify that Malec could still serve on the CAT if he is designated by the new chair.
