A teenager who is looking forward to his senior prom and being a role model for his generation was sworn in as the youngest elected leader in D.C. Monday.
Quentin Colón Roosevelt, 18, is the great, great, great grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt. While he’s quick to say he’s a distant relative, his heritage does play a role in why he ran for advisory neighborhood commissioner.
“My grandfather was a lawyer for the CIA,” he said. “His grandfather did politics and government stuff, as well. I think, you know, we just want to be involved in what’s going on around us because we feel we have to give back to this country that’s given my family so much.”
Colón Roosevelt is finishing up his senior year at an online school and hopes to attend college in the area.
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Colón Roosevelt – part of wave of Gen Zers who ran and won elections across the country – knows he will be scrutinized more because of his age but said he looks forward to proving his value as an ANC.
Colón Roosevelt lives in Spring Valley and will represent that area as well as the Palisades and Kent neighborhoods. Housing, pedestrian and bike safety, and education are among his top concerns.
“I think that the school system where I live needs an overhaul, really, and so we have a new school coming in Ward 3,” he said. “It’s called MacArthur High School, right now. It’s on MacArthur Boulevard, and I really want to make sure that school sort of flourishes so we have a real neighborhood high school, because when we have neighborhood schools, neighborhoods just get so much better.”
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While he likes the idea of one day running for city council, he says it will depend on timing. He’d be happy working for D.C. government someday.
ANCs serve two-year terms working directly with residents in their service areas on a wide range of issues, including traffic, parking, trash collection and liquor licenses. They present their positions and recommendations to D.C. government agencies.
