On Tuesday, Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) ANC 6B honored the founding Chair of their Public Safety Committee, Lisa Matsumoto, presenting her with the ANC6B Distinguished Public Service Award.
The award was presented in recognition of high levels of expertise, responsiveness, consistency and overall dedication to our community, said ANC 6B Chair Edward Ryder (6B08). “This recipient has helped not only the commissioners of ANC 6B, but also the Ward 6 community at large.”
Matsumoto chaired the committee from its founding through July, as the brand-new committee found identity and purpose “[helping] it find its mission and really achieve quite a lot,” Ryder told her.
Matsumoto earned her Juris Doctor degree with honors from American University Washington College of Law in 2000, going on to a career at the federal level before stepping away in 2018 to focus on family and community.
The ANC 6B Public Safety Committee was established by unanimous vote in January 2023, when Commissioner David Sobelsohn (6B03) moved the ANC establish a standing Public Safety Committee, such as he said it had in the 1980s. Sobelsohn said this reflects people’s actual concerns and would address issue without a predetermined approach. He said the problem is urgent and residents are concerned; therefore, there should be institutional attention paid to the issue. Therefore, Sobelsohn said at the time, it should be a standing committee, because, he said, there is no end to criminal behavior in sight.
“I think you accomplished exactlly what I wanted the public safety committee to do: to bring in important speakers on public safety, and to have influence on legislation regarding public safety. So congratulations,” Sobelsohn told Matsumoto as she accepted her award.
6B06 Commissioner Chander Jayraman, who nominated Matsumoto to the committee, offered kudos to both Matsumoto and Jody Kent Levy, who are resident of his SMD. “Both of them together did an amazing job of taking it to the next level, after getting it established,” he said, thanking Levy as well.
The committee held its first meeting in March, with Lisa Matsumoto in the Chair, and elected Jody Kent Levy as Vice Chair. Both Matsumoto and Levy had extensive experience in working within the criminal justice system. Both were also appointed to the committee as resident by (now outgoing) Commissioner Jayraman.
The committee has facilitated practical discussion between the community and parties in the public safety system, including US Attorney for DC Matthew Graves and then Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Lindsay Appiah. The committee has also weighed in on matters of public safety at DC Council, drafting an ANC 6B letter to Deputy Mayor Appiah regrading implementation of the Gun Violence Reduction Strategic Plan; asking council about MPD staffing and about OUC corrective action status and for updates on Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) as concerns were raised throughout 2023 and 2024.
Masumoto, Levy and various of the committee repeatedly testified in front of DC Council. On Nov. 14, together with the Greater Greater Washington Community Foundation, co-hosted a District-wide virtual conversation around gun violence reduction strategies in the District. Led by committee Vice Chair Jody Kent Lavy, the two-hour event provided a wide array of perspectives and solutions.
The committee was later chaired by former chair of the ANC 6B Hill East Task Force Brynn Bartlett. The current chair is outgoing ANC Commissioner Frank Levy (6B01). A new chair will be selected in 2025. Matsumoto remains a resident member.
Created by a vote at the Oct. 13, 2020 meeting of the ANC, the ANC Distinguished Public Service Award acknowledges the outstanding contribution by a DC public servant in furthering the work of the commission and its individual commissioners.
Learn more about the ANC 6B Public Safety Committee and its work at anc6b.org.
