Month: August 2004

House of the week

I don’t know how often I’ll do this but I have mentioned this house before. I see it as a good example of adding more squarefootage without looking ghetto or butt ugly. On the corner of R and 5th you’ll see a house with the extra floor.
. From the street you can sort of see the 3rd floor addition but when looking at the adjoining houses it doesn’t look too out of place.

Pix 1
Pix 2

Citizen empowerment

Confession time: I used to be a registered Republican. There are moments I feel that I have that are purely Republican moments in Shaw. Usually they are summed up as, taking matters in your own hands when you don’t believe the gov’ment won’t do it right/at all/ on time/ etc.

I have these feelings during community meetings when folks demand that DPW clean the alleys and the sidewalks and other littered areas and keep the bums off their property. With all due respect to the city government of the District and it’s many departments, the City can be disappointing. Yet on the other hand, citizens really need to take some responsibility and take on some burdens to improve their environment and not wait for the government to do it for them.

Now, I am not advocating that people break the law, endanger their lives, or encroach on others rights and freedoms. There are things that only the state/govt has the right to do, such as arrest, tax, and transfer rights and freedoms. No citizen has that right or should. No. What I want people to do is salt their sidewalks when it snows. I want them to volunteer to clean the street gutters when the Weather Service says there might be flooding. I want them to take responsibility for their children and property. I want them to consider working together, neighbor to neighbor, on a one block level to tackle problems and concerns.

I love my block because people do things that others may believe is something for the government to deal with. We have alley cleaning man. Who is he? I dunno? But he takes it upon himself to sweep up the alley, post no dumping signs, and clean up the alley. B. cleans the sidewalks, whenever. Maybe once a week, a month, a quarter, but he helps keep the neighborhood nice. Lem, is the handyman who (possibly with marketing in mind) keeps an eye on repairs that need to be made on the block, helping with the upkeep. For a while the block had an informal Welcome Wagon to help orient new homeowners, providing community information. For my own part I patched a fence of a vacant property to keep out the illegal dumpers. With a neighbor we (I don’t recommend it) confronted a crackhead about smoking in a backyard. Some deal with trees, planting and trimming, things that with the patience of Job, one could wait for the city to do. Some help with enforcement by gently reminding neighbors of infractions. In winter, B. and I shovel, salt and sand the sidewalks.

Now we don’t take on large tasks by ourselves. Just small ones, that add to the livability of the block. So when I hear complaints from folks in other parts of Shaw complaining that the city should do this, or the city should do that when this and that are things a civicly minded citizen could tackle. Citizens should empower themselves, even if they just limit themselves to caring for their little section of the block, they have done a lot.

So if you can, maybe this weekend or next….
Clean out your treebox
Pick up some of the sidewalk litter
Tidy up the front yard
Secure your property
Talk to a neighbor
Check on the elderly down the block
Engage a conversation with some of the neighborhood youths
Try to find the owner of the vacant house on the block

Not the whole list. Pick one. And do it.

DM

Well DM is back from an extended vacation and sitting in the front yard. She introduced me to her relatives out there with her and asked about some of the flowers growing in the yard. So I headed home dumped my stuff in the living room and placed some of the flowers I got growing in the back in a empty jar in water, grabbed some fruit growing in the yard as well and headed back.

She was talking, and talking and so I sat out there with her a bit longer and listened. The mosquitos were biting too. I decided to excuse myself for dinner and she offered some food. I took her up on her offer but it was something frozen to take with me. If I had thought it was something for me to take home and cook, I would not have taken it, but I couldn’t get a word in to refuse. Damn.

I returned later after chatting with some other neighbors, trying to figure out how on earth I’m going to return this stuff to her & save face. Bugs were biting. A white neighbor was called over and DM talked and talked and talked, seeing that this was never going to end I excused myself again on account of the bugs and the neighbor also departed on this pretense as well.

Came back, because I said I would when I left to sit with the small group. DM was talking about her drinking and another neighbor took a 40 in a bag and poured it in a cup. Me I’m trying to avoid the smoke knowing I’m going to have to shower to get the ciggy smell off me.

I’m sitting there wondering. I am so out of my element.

I attend, sort of, so you won’t be bored

BATES CIVIC ASSOC. MEETING- August 1, 2004 7PM

7PM

Jim, my ANC, started the meeting and passed out the Agenda. Well Council member Harold Brazil was listed first but was to appear around 8pm.

5th Police District cops were in attendance but not on the agenda. They spoke first as they were still cleaning up from a shooting that had occurred 2 hours earlier at 111? Q Street. Apparently the gangs on the unit block of O and the unit block of Q, have no love. There was one shooting victim. If you know anything, call the police.

Also in attendance was the peanut gallery, ready to ‘harrumph’ and make disrespectful noises while speakers speak. Well there were two in the gallery, one being the usual Ms. K. As usual she complained about calls she made to the police about the drug dealing outside her door and she commented twice during the meeting that she was going to bring the matter to John Ascroft. Okay you are now certifiably nuts. John A don’t give a ____ about this area of DC unless the drug dealers are funneling the money to foreign terrorists. She also complained about what DCRA wasn’t doing. DCRA is not a police department or function.

Other complaints were on police response times. 2 hours in one case. Mainly the problem was over on Bates where there was an altercation that REALLY needed police intervention and the police failed. On the other side, some folks mentioned how they were pleased with the police response of 10-15 minutes. Different experiences for different people.

There was one incident of note that is on going. There is a suspected arsonist on 3rd St. who is squatting on vacant property. A house somewhere on 3rd caught on fire recently. Neighbors have called in the suspected arsonist but apparently the problem is that the police cannot arrest him. The issue is trying to pen the issue of trespassing on the fellow. Neighbors cannot claim trespassing, only the owner, and the owner has not been there in person to say, “this person is trespassing.” Then there is the issue of squatters rights. This topic went on for a while and I am still slightly confused.

Then a fellow, long time resident of Bates, spoke up about all the complaining and wondered about what happened to ‘community’ and how he didn’t know anyone at this community meeting. Well this brought out the good. A white couple mentioned how after an incident (fire?), how neighbors they didn’t even know came out to offer support and how the response of the community made them feel very welcomed. Another attendee mentioned how she knew the gentlemen starting this thread of converation, since he was this high. Ms. M mentioned neighborhood gatherings she and others have organized for neighborhood improvement. I mentioned the work individuals are doing on my block for improvement. Jim mentioned how the neighborhood is stabilizing.

Moving on…..

Art of the 5th District Police Citizen’s Advisory Council talked about the need for citizen participation and block captains.

Mr. Dugger fo the North Capitol Collective, Inc. a family services group was talking about a future program focusing on fathers when I stepped out.

At 8:10 Harold Brazil had not shown up.

As of this morning John Ascroft has not addressed the needs of our area. Methinks it will be the same way next month as well.

Bates St Meeting Tonight

For some odd reason I can’t seem to post my announcements for the Bates meeting on the announcements.

From Jim:

Invited guests include -Harold BrazilAt-Large Council Member, D.C. City Council and representatives from the:Fifth District MPD Citizens’ Advisory CouncilPerry School Community Service CenterMonday, August 2, 2004Mount Sinai Baptist Church3rd and Q Streets, N.W.Rooms 1 and 27:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.For more information regarding the meeting and/or the Association, contact J. Berry at (202) 387-8520

Bates St (Eastern Shaw, lower Eckington) Meeting Tonight

Come listen to testy woman complain on about drug dealers and no goodniks hangins about and how she constantly call the police….. If it were not a meeting I would make a drinking game out of the meeting.

The rest from our lovely ANC Jim:

Invited guests include -Harold BrazilAt-Large Council Member, D.C. City Council and representatives from the:Fifth District MPD Citizens’ Advisory CouncilPerry School Community Service CenterMonday, August 2, 2004Mount Sinai Baptist Church3rd and Q Streets, N.W.Rooms 1 and 27:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.For more information regarding the meeting and/or the Association, contact J. Berry at (202) 387-8520