Some notes on the 2C notes
Commissioner Theresa Sule posted the notes of the ANC 2C meeting on the 2C04 listserv, which then was reposted on the MVSQ listserv. So if you want the full notes you will need to consult those listservs.The case of the sexual assault that occurred a few months back on th 1600 block of Marion has been closed and a suspect arrested.
Parcel 42 is a project that will be 100% affordable at 50% of the Area Median Income which $51,350. The project is exploring its financial options. The project would be workable if the project had and higher AMI. If this were possible a lower AMI could also be able to create a range. In its current situation the project can not be financed. Given the current problems if the AMI was lowered on the project without making some of the units market, the project would be even more
difficult to finance.
and it is not the only project in the Shaw area with financing problems, Radio One, understandably may not be able to anchor the big project that was supposed to go on Parcel 33.
Tom Petty wanted support for the Friends of Bundy Field to have a dog park on the Bundy vacant lot. He has a petition of 200 supporters. The parking lot is a 75 car parking lot. Commissioner Chapple motioned to develop a compromise between OPM and the friends of Bundy. The motion was 2nd by Commissioner Padro. Motion failed with a 2-2 vote.
Commissioner Sule motioned to actively support the Friends of Bundy Field in finding alternative space in ANC2C for a dog park. Motion was 2nd by Commissioner Brooks, motion failed with a 2-2 vote.
And lastly the commission voted to have
Pair Networks host the ANC website. I've been using Pair for a decade for my hosting needs and I have enjoyed their consistently good and affordable service, so good choice.
Labels: ANC
Before the ANCs
Everyso often I see on
other blogs commentary about the
ANC system here in the District. Suggestions on how to improve them varies, but I wanted to share something, which may or may not add to the discussion. The ANC system came about after Home Rule in the 70s and are in line with the Ward system. Before Home Rule there were the civic (black) and the citizen (white) neighborhood associations that would advocate for city services.
I noticed, when poking around in early 20th century DC history, some associations' borders kept changing or had proposed changes due to population changes or other reasons. In 1925 the North Washington merged with the North Capitol and Eckington Citizens Asssociations to become the North Capitol Society. The reason was the two groups tended to overlap and replicate each others work.
Even after the ANC system, there were changes in size and number. The system that was put in place in 1974-1976 does not look the same as the one we have today. So changes can be made, because they have been made.
Labels: ANC, city services, history
No stopping Leroy
Today on ANC 2C02 Kevin Chapple's blog is a letter announcing that Mr. Leroy Thorpe, who was deposed, dethroned, by Kevin in 2006,
is requesting a recount for the 2008 election. I'm not that concerned this year, as the difference is 29 votes, as opposed to 5 votes in 2006.
This is just one thing, but Leroy surprised us back in 2006 with his take over of the ECCA and the invented position of puppet master, I mean Parliamentarian for ANC2C chair Doris Brooks. So any guesses of what else he'll do besides this? Will he start up a ANC2C centric 'non-profit', or his own publication. What will he do next because I don't think he'll go quietly.
Labels: ANC, politics
Locally....
Part of me is screaming and cursing.
Reason 1- Michael Brown has the majority of the non-Democratic vote for city council. I'm so unhappy about that.
Reason 2- I regret that Jessica Lanza was not able to secure the seat for ANC2C03 with only 40% of the vote, according to the
unofficial results.
The results between Chapple vs Thorpe and Sule vs Curtis look good, close, but it appears that the puppet show may come to and end, Praise be to G-d. And of course Padro wins by a landslide.
Over in Ward 5, Anita Bonds wins over the tree killer Jerry Mack. Sadly Ted Mcginn is behind Sylvia Pinkney. And Mark Jones, who had no spelling errors on his signs, got the DC School Board seat for Ward 5.
Labels: ANC, ANC5C meeting, politics
ANC2C02- Don't vote yourself into an abusive relationship
They basically confirmed something that I always knew to be true, many in this neighborhood fear reprisal from Leroy Thorpe if they ever "supported" his opponent in his re-election bid. Just two years ago I will admit that I was in the same boat but today I am not scared and to tell you the truth if Leroy were stupid enough to do something to me or my family it would say more about the man than anything I have ever written on this website.
--
Off SeventhAnother commenter on the Off Seventh's blog
already compared it to an abusive relationship. But let me stress that point even more. Voters of 2C02, you are like Tina Turner, just after she's escaped a long abusive marriage to Ike, redone her image, and Ike comes threatening Tina with violence to force her to come back. ANC2C02, be the strong Tina. Be the Tina that goes forward on to bigger and better things, not the Tina who makes excuses and lives in fear.
Please don't be in denial about how bad it is and was. Daddy 5-O has
a good refresher of why you don't want to go back. It should also be good reason why the rest of you all in 2C shouldn't keep the enablers of the abuse (Brooks & Curtis) on either.
Before I finish this I want to thank everyone who voted for Kevin Chapple back in 2006. Especially the voters who were abroad at the time and submitted their absentee ballots, who made their neighborhood a better place to come back home to. By doing so you brought in a man who truly serves the people of 2C. Kevin is a man who shares information with the people, knowing that information is power, and power belongs to the people.
Labels: ANC, politics
Kevin needs signs
Walking around the hood, I noticed a lot of Leroy Thorpe signs in yards. The puppet master of ANC 2C02 wants his job back. Well if you don't like being informed about what's going on, unless you belong to a small clique of loyal followers, go ahead vote him back in.
But you can't tell me you don't want current ANC2C02 Kevin Chapple's
seasonal magazine or his informative
website with video and updated info of things going on in around central Shaw. These did not exist before Kevin people. What you got before was yelled at or a poorly edited flier that may or may not have found its way to you.
Let's not go back to the
bad old days of Thorpe. Let's not even stall in the
bad present of an unelected Thorpe puppet regime (yeah, lotta drama for such a little slice of DC) with Ms. Brooks, as the puppet ANC 2C chair. By re-electing Kevin Chapple and Alex Padro, and electing Lanza and Sule you get rid of the whole puppet show, or at least move it to a civic group where it can't do too much harm.
So I'm distressed at the lack of Chapple signage. Guess I'm going to have to write a check to campaign fund. It seems Kevin had a fundraiser earlier this month, but lo, there is a place to where monies may be sent, according to his website:
P.O. Box 26064, Washington, DC 20001. The maximum contribution is $25. Checks should be made out to Kevin Chapple, with "reelection campaign" written in the memo section.
Labels: ANC, politics
Supporting Jessica Lanza
After some thought I have decided to have InShaw endorse the ANC candidacy of Ms. Jessica Lanza. Though I don't live in Ward 2, I work in Ward 2, ANC2C03 exactly. Having someone who is both interested in the Penn Quarter/ Gallery Place area as a developing and residential place is a good thing. Downtown is a little different, but the residents of that area and Shaw share some similarities. And due to its proximity to Shaw, the ups and downs of Downtown can impact Shaw and Mount Vernon Sq.
Another reason why I support Ms. Lanza is that the current ANC2C03 leader is lacking and is holding back ANC2C as a whole. A change will hopefully shift things in ANC2C and move away from the unaccountability and ineffectiveness.
Check out
Jessica's website, see her informative
blog.
Labels: ANC, politics
Diversity of Buildings
Yesterday I did stop by
Jessica Lanza's fund raiser. I was superfashionably late because I had to sell a man an air conditioner. Thank you craigslist.
First thing I did when I got into the building was write a check. Yes, I live in Ward 5, and not in the Ward or ANC single member district that Ms. Lanza is in. However, I walk through it and work in it, and what happens in 2C impacts my life in 5C. And really there is so much development and lunch option goodness happening in 2C-03 that it should be represented by someone with more strength than a sock-puppet. Seriously, can Ms. Doris Brooks conduct a meeting or two without her puppet master pulling her strings and throwing his voice?
Anyway, after writing a check for political change, I went out on the patio of the condo building on the corner of 7th and H and gazed at the sights. What I really liked was the diversity of building styles jumbled up together representing different periods. There was the synagogue dome on 6th & I, with the brutalist
Wah-Luck House, and 555 Mass in the background. There was little homogeneity, and that's what made it so lovely. Looking over at
555 Mass I thought about all the people living there who came to stake their claim on downtown. With the older 19th and turn of the 20th century facades I thought of an earlier DC. And then the larger buildings set back that house the residents, hold the employees, and draw in the shoppers and diners who give life to the streets below.
And then I saw the lightening in the distance, and high tailed it out of there.
Labels: ANC, politics, weather
Getting all nosey in 2Cs business
First I'd like to say that there is love and happiness over here in ANC 5C. We have been blessed with great leadership as well as good and plain old leadership. So I sit comfortably outside the boundaries of ANC 2C at home.
I was praising the Lord upon hearing
the news that someone is running for the ANC 2C-03, the seat currently held by 2C Chair Doris Brooks. Brooks was elected chair with the vote of sorta outgoing Mr. L. Thorpe of 2C02. However, despite electoral defeat, Mr. Thorpe assists Ms. Brooks as the "parliamentarian" an office with powers that, I believe no other ANC has. But that's a whole 'nother long sad story.
ANC 2C03 amazingly covers a huge swath of real estate that includes all the Gallery Place Penn Quarter loveliness that is 7th and the odd side of 9th Street. I'm wondering if the boundaries were drawn up prior to all the condos, because that's a lotta people to be represented by someone so..... lacking.
Ms. Jessica Lanza is planning to challenge Ms. Brooks. She is having a fundraiser June 7 from 6pm to 10pm at the Residences at Gallery Place, 777 7th Street NW, 3rd floor. Individual contributions are limited to $25. I got $25 in my budget, and since I haven't heard of any other challengers, she's got my support. Gotta remove Mr. Thorpe's puppet.
Speaking of
Mr. Thorpe, I noticed a flier on the sidewalk today from his hi-jacked ECCA (another long sad story) organization. And should you not have received this flier in your gate or mailbox I will retype his letter to Shaw residents, caps & all
por tu:
DEAR SHAW RESIDENTS: ANC 2C-02 SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT HAS EXPERIENCED AN INCREASE IN CAR ACCIDENTS AT THE CORNER OF 5TH & "QUE," STREETS, NW OVER A NEARLY TWO YEAR PERIOD. THE ECCA- EAST CENTRAL CIVIC ASSOCIATION WILL ADDRESS THIS ISSUE AT OUR MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2008 MEETING TO BE HELD AT THE THIRD BAPTIST CHURCH LOCATED AT 5TH & "QUE," STREETS, NW.
ALSO ANC 2C-02, ONCE THE SAFEST SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT OF ALL FOUR COMMISSIONS WHEN I SERVED AS IT'S REPRESENTATIVE HAS BECOME ONE OF THE WORST REGARDING CRIME. CHARLES WALKER A RESIDENT OF ANC 2C-02 WAS SEVERLY ROBBED AND BEATEN LAST WEEK at 6TH AND QUE STREETS, A SIGN THAT CRIM AND DRUG DEALING ARE NOT PRIORITIES FOR THE CURRENT ANC COMMISSIONER SERVING ANC 2C-02. JUST TAKE A LOOK AT THE 1500 BLOCK OF 7TH STREET IN FRONT OF THE LAUNDROMAT, THE LOWEST PRICE GAS STATION LOCATED AT NEW JERSEY & RHODE ISLAND AVE OR 5TH & N.
I'm not going to bother with the signature which has a bunch of letters that mean nothing to me. I got only to words for that letter. Pig poop. It looks like someone is going to try to get his seat back. Guess puppeteering gets tiring after a while.
Labels: ANC, politics
In praise of business
Richard Layman's Blog Rebuilding Place as well as
DCist both posted the email sent out by
Politics and Prose regarding a bench outside the independent bookstore targeted by ANC Frank Winstead. The first part of the email struck me as oh so true:
Every once in a while we get an abrupt reminder that we live in a jurisdiction where small business is not respected or encouraged. When we first opened across the street, there was no government agency that could advise us on what we needed to do. Then, after we made the applications we needed to, we could not get an occupancy permit, no matter how many times we called or went down to the office responsible for that. The process simply stopped somewhere in the Office of Regulatory and Consumer Affairs. We were fined and we started over again, but the certificate was never issued at our first location.
I've heard the grumbling of another small business owner, who is in the TC, about how they'd love to add more servies and amenities, but taking time off to get the run around from DCRA isn't worth the trouble. Apparently change for the better (and in some cases, the worse) requires a permit. It would be helpful if things given by local businesses and enjoyed by the community were supported by the city and our political leaders.
Also another strain of thought that has occurred in this blog's comments and some local listservs regarding small business. Some of you out there have a disdain and just plain hatred of business, regardless of the size. Businesses are no more evil than your regular Jo on the street. Many of them provide a service that is wanted and needed in the community. Small local business can be great neighbors, providing benches, free used coffee grounds, a place to meet and gather, and sponsorship for community, artist and non-profit ventures and events.
When someone asks what's around here, in that what's so great about this place kind of way, I point to the businesses. I mention the quickie mart, the dry cleaners, the coffee shop, the organic bodega, the liquor stores (the good and the mediocre ones, not the scary ones) and the bakery. The only non-business things I point out are the metro stations and the bus stops. I'm not sure what category to put the farmer's market in, as I gather the farmers do drive in to make some profit, but the organization of putting on the farmer's market is something else. I should mention there was one non-profit I use to point to, Chain Reaction, a wonderful bike sales and repair shop. It went "out of business".
I am grateful for those business that have opened up in the past few years, and appreciative to those older businesses that have become more customer friendly (taking down the Plexiglas, unblocking/cleaning the windows). Also I welcome any new business that may want to take up residence on North Capitol or at the corner of R and New Jersey.
Labels: ANC, business, city services
Y'all mean
Because my usual Wednesday activity has been discontinued and because I don't have a TV I wandered over to the ANC 2C Show. I don't think my skin is thick enough to deal with a full fledged meeting, 'cause y'all mean. Not to be too
Deanna Troi, but Captain, I sense hostility.
I say full fledged because Ms. Brooks appeared ill at the beginning of the meeting and the official meeting was adjourned sometime after the minutes (I believe, I can't hear that well) were approved. What occurred after she and Mr. Thorpe left was a community meeting facilitated by Misters Chapple and Padro.
I guess one good thing was the leader of the Organization for Training Others in Need, Carole A. Mumin, wife of Ibrahim Mumin, addressed her grievance with Mr. Chapple and his reporting of the DC Auditors report. She stated that she erred in giving the auditor the wrong receipts, which resulted in a damning report. There were apologies, speeches and testimonials about the program.
Moving on.
There was something about a building on New York Ave. MVSQ has concerns. I wonder how realistic is it to move a brick building that isn't stable. But I'm keeping my thoughts to myself.
Then lastly, there was Parcel 42 and the presentation was for a matter of right proposal. Matter of right, good, as for reasons I'm not entirely free to blog about, PUDs take for-ever. You can get married have kids and send those kids off to college before some PUDs get finished. Not so great, and I'm keeping my thoughts to myself, but the presenters were suggesting 100% affordable housing. Doesn't the Susan Reitig House of Prayer building that's up have affordable housing aspects? And then across 7th St there is a post-riot affordable housing building, which across 8th from that building another affordable housing structure, and across R Street from that a public housing. Then across R/Rhode Island from Parcel 42 is senior affordable housing. So short of the 7-11 that intersection would be a concentrated area of affordable housing if this plan was chosen. I'm no city planner, but isn't this almost like concentrating poverty? And despite being structured to have retail or some commercial space on the first level the building on 7th and R (Lincoln-Westmoreland? Name escapes me now), there is little for profit business that I see. So something is wrong if pre-existing space is underperforming.
I'll stick with the peace, love and happiness of 5C. I am gaining a greater appreciation for Jim Berry and his legacy of grace and being slow to anger.
Labels: ANC, development, housing, politics
Home Rule
For work, I'm trying to get a better understanding of Home Rule. Not the cool store on 14th, but the District of Columbia getting more control over local functions that were run/directed by the Federal government. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Reorganization Act of 1973 (Public Law 93-198, 93rd Congress, S. 1435, 12/24/1973) was the thing that gave us Home Rule. Home Rule as in getting a city elected mayor (before, they were appointed) and city council. Also in the period of Home Rule we got our beloved Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in 1975, boundaries established and the system started in 1975, ANCs got elected the following year.
Though I'm not seeing a direct 1 to 1, it seems that ANCs replaced the old civic/citizen association role. The civic/citizen associations were the neighborhood level (there were also block groups, but that's too small) advocacy groups.
References:
"Civic groups vie with neighborhood commissions" Washington Post, Walterene Swanston: Jul 21, 1977. (p. DC-6)
Labels: ANC, government, history
Monday Miscellany
Well the dinner honoring Our Great Leader Jim James Jimmy Berry, former ANC for the TC, this weekend was successful. A fair number of mucky-mucks, like David Catania, showed up to honor Jim. Some of us learned a lot about Jim that we didn't know. Like, hey he got married 4 months ago and she's quite pretty. But the main thing was Jim's leadership, not just with the ANC but in his professional and personal life. He is a humble man who serves, and his leadership was for all, newbies, old timers, all races, everyone. He was what was right with the ANC system.
Mentioning the ANC system, I'm a little fuzzy on aspects of the history of ANCs in the District, but I gather they came in with Home Rule (I dunno) and did what the various civic and citizens associations were trying to do. I will post a "Fun with ProQuest: Truxton Circle pt II", but while trying to figure out what was going on with the citizen's association covering the area that can be now described as the TC, I learned a little (just enough to be dangerous) about the neighborhood associations. I knew, because of B.'s research on DC stadiums, that citizen's associations were the white groups and the civic associations were the African-American groups. Whatever citizen or civic association held sway over the area, so far what I've found are really dull names, North Capitol Citizens(?), Northwest Civic, Central Civic, and Central Northwest Civic Associations. So, I'm going back to searching just Truxton Circle.
If you are just dying for me to mention something about the house, well Sunday we taped out the layout of the upper floor. It appears that I might have an extra foot that I didn't think I had. When I was measuring I had to employ my poor math skills. So the plans I drew up were more of a guide, because I'm using that extra foot for the small bedroom. Looking at the 2nd floor with no walls made me realize how friggin small these houses are and every inch is valuable. Which is why I nixed (along with financial concerns) the contractor's idea to make the stairs normal sized. The stairwell is less than 3 feet wide, and probably is a little over 2.5 feet. He mentioned widening the stairwell would make it easier to get furniture and other bulky things upstairs. Um, bulky stuff don't belong upstairs, because that whole not having a whole lot of space to begin with thing.
Labels: ANC, neighborhood history, renovation, Truxton Circle
Idle finger food chatter
Tuesday night I attended a private event over at the
Old Dominion Brewhouse and ran into
Shaw Rez, as well as
Kevin Chapple, and some other ANC people. Alex had tipped me off about the event and I did see him but we never got around to speaking.
Someone had asked if the food served up was from the restaurant or was it catered. The food I had seen on the menu before. The time I did go out to ODB with a friend I ordered the shrimp wrapped in thin strips of fried potato. They are good but they need a little something, like ketchup. I saw crab cakes on the menu in some form (maybe as a sandwich) and the mini cakes floating around were okay, but I'm picky about my cakes. Someone else had mentioned the chicken bits were excellent once they were dipped in the honey mustard.
Anyway, there was some mention about ANC stuff. One was something I don't even want to report on but it involves a deposed mini-dictator and his plans. Another was a sentiment from Gallery Place to not be in the 2C-verse and join up with that area that calls itself Penn-Quarter. I totally understand that sentiment, as GP has a heck of a lot more in common with PQ than MVS. Then speaking with an ANC from 2F, he supposed that once the Whitman and other places fill up there may be a rearrangement of borders. I gather that won't happen until the 2010 Census.
And lastly, ODB is a minority owned business.
Labels: ANC, business
