Last week, we said goodbye to Aaron, who ably led DCist for the better part of a year-and-a-half. Today, we’re happy to announce our new lead editor is a familiar face—Martin Austermuhle, a longtime DCist contributor and associate editor of the site since September.

Martin came to D.C. roughly a decade ago for grad school, after having received a degree in political science from Penn State University (yikes!). After grad school, he worked in a world of diplomacy while moonlighting as a contributor for DCist, where he focused on local politics and, as you all well know, D.C. voting rights. (Wondering about this voting rights ad? Read here.) He spent his first five years living on the eastern end of Capitol Hill, and has since called Mt. Pleasant home. This week, he takes the next terrifying step in D.C. adulthood: He’s becoming a homeowner in Ward 4.

He’s an avid cyclist, has never listened to the Dismemberment Plan, thinks Rock Creek Park is best, harbors a slight geekiness for local history and municipal regulations, and is still baffled that the District doesn’t have voting rights or self-determination. Fun fact: he was born in Switzerland, but doesn’t speak any of his homeland’s four official languages, and lived in Latin America for 18 years, where he picked up fluent Spanish. Go figure.

Send questions and suggestions to tips@dcist.com, or feel free to get in touch with him at martin@dcist.com or over Twitter, @dcist_martin.