Meet Your New Commissioner

A new district commissioner was sworn into the Georgetown, Burleith and Hillandale Advisory Neighborhood Committee on Monday.

Ellen Steury is the new commissioner for district seven, the farthest northeast section of the neighborhood spanning from Whitehaven Street to S Street.

“I think it’s a great place to live,” Steury said. “I feel very privileged to live in Georgetown.”

She has lived near the intersection of R and 28th Streets for seventeen years, and first became involved with the Advisory Neighborhood Committee as a concerned resident.

“I had first hand experience of how important the ANC could be to residents in the community,” Steury said. “The ANC made decisions that really did make a difference in the quality of life for the community.”

In her part of town, residential issues rule since it doesn’t share borders with Georgetown University and has only small pockets of retail, Steury said.

In 2005, she went to the committee about an issue with the Evermay estate, which is in the seventh district and near Steury’s house. The committee and the previous seventh district commissioner were extremely helpful to her and her neighbors, she said.

Steury is not currently working and wanted to fill her time getting involved in the community, providing a service that had helped her in the past, she said.

“I expect that it will be interesting and that the involvement in the community will be rewarding,” she said.

Steury is also looking forward to her role as part of the neighborhood committee in helping to preserve Georgetown’s historic charm, but also recognizes that businesses need to thrive, she said.

“I think that’s a treasure for the city and certainly the Georgetown residents,” she said. “It’s important to honor that and preserve it for the future, but at the same time keep Georgetown a livable place.”

It’s Steury’s first time serving on the Committee. And although she is finishing the term in place of the former District 7 commissioner, Charles Eason, she has not ruled out running for a second term. She is currently the only woman to serve on the ANC2E committee.

“I have noticed that several of the members have served several terms, and that suggests to me that it is a position one might want to keep,” Steury said.

Steury will become active on the committee in time for the February ANC2E meeting.