Month: March 2006

Preface: Because I have been asked on two occasions already to amend my narrative regarding previous BACA meetings due to misreadings and potential misinterpretations I’ve decided a long narrative is just not worth the headache of dealing with people who don’t know how to read my blog. If you want the usual InShaw meeting notes you will have to email me at mari at inshaw period com.
2nd update: Part 2 has been added. access: thismeeting. neverhappened.
Update:
I’ve posted my more detailed meeting notes at inshaw.com/meet but it is behind a password. The phrase “this meeting never happened” makes up the user name and the password. The user name is 11 letters. The password is 13 letters. If you can’t figure it out because I’m not exactly being clear, email me.

Representatives from Police 5D spoke
Mary Ann of the Membership committee spoke. 1 new committee member. Flower Power. Garden club. Need more people.
Art of the Land Use, Planning and Development Committee spoke. 2 new members.
The beauty salon proposed for New Jersey Ave will be going before the BZA (#17437) Tuesday.
For Permit Parking 51% of residents have to sign on. Citizens will have to go around to get signatures.
Linda Perkins of Councilman Vincent Orange spoke. We are in the budget season of the council.
Bruce A. Marshall who is running for Ward 5 city council spoke. He has no website yet.
Robert Brannum who is running for city council chairman spoke. Has ties to Ward 5. Pledges not to raise a lot of money.
Michael Brown running for DC mayor spoke. Bio. Ties to DC. Story about his son.
Last speaker was Phil Mendelson. Most interesting thing said (to me, just my opinion) was a mention about his workshop on real property taxes.

BACA MEETING TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!! 7pm

Rest blantently stolen from Truxton Circle Dispatch
From Cleopatra Jones:

FYI: ANC5C02/Community Ward 5

Mark your calendar Effective Wednesday, March 15, 2006, (Eleven days),
parking
enforcement will resume. “Street Cleaning” will be back and you must move
your car to the proper side of the street following street cleaning singage.
Ticketing will be enforced.

***

Councilmember Phil Mendelson invites you to a Public Safety Town Hall Meeting,
March 9, 2006, 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm, at Savoy Elementary School, 2400 Shannon
Place, SE, Washington, DC (across from the Anacostia Metro Section). Stated meeting is on ” Criminal
Investigation to Incarceration and Beyond”. The issue of public safety is a
continuing concern among all District residents, the government has failed to
slow the revolving door of recidivism. Make a difference come out and let your
voices be heard on the District’s Criminal Justice System. See you there!

**************************************************************

From Jim Berry

Neighbors,

Internationally renowned photographer and Q Street, N.W. resident Jason Miccolo
Johnson has a book coming out next month, entitled “Soul Sanctuary.”

According to Jason’s website, “Soul Sanctuary is the first photographic book to
capture the essence and rhythms of the black Christian church. It is a
multidenominational journey into the heart of the black worship experience.
Photographer Jason Miccolo Johnson traveled across the country, visiting small
rural and urban storefront churches and large inner-city and suburban megachurches, taking some 15,000 photographs, 165 of which are included in the book.”

In addition, “Soul Sanctuary captures the spirit of the black church through
arresting images of congregants’ facial expressions and body language, their
uniforms and dress, and the dignity of their worship. Baptisms, weddings,
funerals, annual day celebrations, ecstatic soloists, choir directors, prophetic
preachers, angelic liturgical dancers, and peaceful moments of prayer and praise
are captured in Johnson’s intimate photographs. Evocative essays by church
leaders and noted theologians speak to the pictures and set the stage for a
“visual call and response” reminiscent of turning the pages in a precious family
album. Selected quotes from the Bible and from some of the subjects themselves
add a soulful and personal dimension to the book.”

For more information on Jason as well as his upcoming book, you may visit
www.soulsanctuarybook.com.

Best,

Jim Berry
ANC 5C

***

Neighbors,

Below please find a copy of he flyer that is being circulated in the community regarding the next meeting
of the Bates Area Civic Association, Inc. Please share the contents of this
flyer with your neighbors and encourage them to attend. Hope to see you there!

Best,

Jim Berry
ANC 5C

Bates Area Civic Association, Inc.

MONTHLY MEETING NOTICE

Speakers Include:
Candidates for Locally Elected Offices
and
Ms. Amsale Teku
re: her desire to locate a beauty salon at 1543 New Jersey Avenue, N.W.

Agenda for the evening also includes updates from the following committees:
Membership
Public Safety
Youth Services
Transportation
Environmental Services
Land Use, Planning and Economic Development

Monday, March 6, 2006
Mount Sinai Baptist Church
3rd and Q Streets, N.W.
Rooms 1 and 2
7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

For more information regarding the meeting and/or the Association,
contact J. Berry at (202) 387-8520 or at jamojam@msn.com.

Community Update

Company Coming: Candidates for Locally Elected Offices to Appear at Upcoming Meeting.
Consistent with our history and tradition of allowing candidates for locally
elected office to introduce themselves and make brief statements at our monthly
meetings, a number of candidates have asked for time to speak to our group this
month: Specifically, Mayoral Candidate Michael Brown, City Council Chairman
Candidate Robert Brannum, At Large City Council Member and a Candidate for
Re-election Phil Mendelson, and Ward Five City Council Candidate Bruce A.
Marshall, are all scheduled to make introductory statements to the BACA
membership at this meeting. By the time of the primary elections, it is our
expectation that all of the certified candidates for these important offices
will have appeared at one of our meetings to tell us why they believe they
should be supported for the respective offices that they are seeking.

A Beauty Salon Proposed for 1543 New Jersey Avenue, N.W.: BZA Application
#17437
Ms. Amsale Teku is scheduled to appear at our meeting on 3/6/2006 to let us know why she is requesting a variance from the
use provisions (DCMR Title 11, Section 2003.1) of the R-4 Zone in order to
locate a “Beauty Salon” at premises 1543 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Square 510E,
Lot(s) 800, First Floor. Of equal Importance, Ms.Teku is scheduled to appear
before the Board of Zoning Adjustment in connection with Application #17437 on
Tuesday, March 7, 2006.

Residential Permit Parking:
One of the goals for this year that has been discussed at the last two meetings
in connection with the Transportation Committee report is the desire of some
residents to participate in the Residential Permit Parking (RPP) program that is
implemented by the DC Department of Transportation (DDOT). Standard hours for
RPP restrictions are from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, except
holidays. In order for a given block to become a part of the RPP, a petition
must be signed by adults representing a majority (51% or more) of the households
on the block requesting the program. The annual fee for participation in the RPP is $15.00. Certain
blocks in the community already participate in RPP and there appears to be
interest in the program by certain residents of adjacent blocks, such as the 100
and 200 blocks of Bates Street, N.W., the 1500 block of First Street, N.W., and
possibly others. At the upcoming BACA meeting, volunteers will be solicited to
go door-to-door to collect signatures for the petition to participate in the
program by interested blocks. In those blocks where a majority of residents
support the effort, a formal application will be filed to participate in the
program with the DDOT.

Public Safety Town Hall Meeting: March 9, 2006, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., at Savoy
Elementary School
Please be advised that Council Member Phil Mendelson, Chairman of the Committee
on the Judiciary, will be holding a town hall meeting on 3/9/2006. Invited to
participate in the town hall meeting are important public safety officials
including Police Chief Charles Ramsey, U.S. Attorney Ken Wainstein, Chief Judge Rufus G. King, Department of
Correction Director Devon Brown, DC Attorney General Bob Spagnoletti, and CSOSA
Director Paul Quander. The meeting will be held at Savoy Elementary School,
2400 Shannon Place, S.E. (across from the Anacostia Metro Station). According
to C/M Mendelson, these officials will make brief statements, but he wants to
reserve the greatest possible time for residents’ questions and discussion.

Ward Five Constituent Services Summit – Saturday, March 11, 2006:
Council Member Vincent Orange is sponsoring his final Constituent Services
Summit on 3/11/2006, from 8:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., at Trinity College, 125
Michigan Avenue, N.E. This is an opportunity for Ward Five residents to submit
their community concerns to relevant government agencies via Mr. Orange’s
office, as well as to pose questions about one’s specific concerns directly to
representatives from the Metropolitan Police Department, the Department of Parks
and Recreation, the Department of Public Works, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of
Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. If you have questions about the upcoming
summit or desire more information concerning it, you may call (202) 724-8028.

I don’t think, at least I don’t remember, anyone yelling at me and calling me the N word. I’ve been called a bitch, of which I’m totally desensitized to now that I don’t care. When the woman in question yelled at me and called me a Virginia n***** it really didn’t come as any surprise but when I thought about it, it is a bit disturbing. It was not surprising because the woman doing the yelling is white, nuts and homeless, but more importantly, nuts. That and she was yelling complete nonsense at three Black women loading their car up in front of Filene’s Basement in Friendship Heights calling them the “N” word too. A lot. So when I spotted her again as I walked back to the metro, I figured she’d yell at me too. Normally, when I’m in the area she’s just babbling to herself and I generally ignore her. She could have been calling me names then, but this time she was a little hard to ignore.
On a more positive note, my church does some work with the homeless, doing soup kitchen work and such. I figured I would volunteer working the soup kitchen for Lent but never expected that it would be such a thrill. Of course, I think I showed up after most of the hardest cooking was done. It wasn’t the chore I thought it would be and I had a great time fixing sandwiches, chopping cheese, pouring soup, packing bags and distributing them. I can’t wait to do it again.

Vegetate has wine on the weekends (Fridays and Saturdays) for the month of March. Got the email from Vegetate that they have hired chefs from Viridian, also I think I’ve noticed something new on the menu. Minor thing, they open at 6pm. So anyone (Toby, Jimbo, Nora, anybody) want to join me for dinner tonight? Email me. Also don’t forget to mail Jack Evans about the liquor license.
Also on the topic of eateries, Taw’s Thai X-ing is in the March 2006 Washingtonian Magazine. “Lofty Curries From a Basement Kitchen” (find here) is the short piece. I have to say that the waits have gotten much better. Of course, I tend to order early, like when he first opens. So far my waits for the Panaag Tofu has been 15-20 minutes. I just order, go home, drop stuff off, and come back and pick up my tofu. So far so good.

Just a little reminder.
There is more to this city than NW. There are these other quadrants, NE, SE & SW. I’m not just talking Capitol Hill, I mean past Capitol Hill, past Brookland, past all those places that cater to the hipster transitional mover-shaker set. And believe it or not….. people live there. People live on the other side of the river. And not all parts of Anacostia, or Ward 8 are horrid. There might not be anything there that would attract a certain demographic, but from reports of some acquaintances, there are pockets where responsible adults live, set out for work, and come back to Wards 7 & 8 unscathed.
I’m writing this because, well I and others can get a little too NW-centric. As if the whole city revolves around what’s happening here. I tend to be NW-centric only because this is where I live, and sometimes work, and where I go shopping. Yet, I need to, as we all need to, acknowledge there is the rest of the city.
Some of it is affordable too. For the past couple of years I’d purposely not talk much about NE DC because I really wanted some of my friends to check it out as affordable places to buy. There is a part of NE I would go through often, biking from work in MD. I think it is called Avondale, and I would bike from Avondale, bits of Woodridge, through Brookland and right on into NW. Now I’m going to call affordable anything under $300K, and there are affordable 2-3 bedroom, detached, semi-detached bungalow-type houses with brown lawns and chain link fences. Below $200K there are some SFH and condos and a co-op, but not a lot of amenities, I’ve noticed.

OpinionJournal – Cross Country has an interesting piece on Minneapolis African American families voting with their feet. How does it relate to Shaw? The black middle class is no different than the white middle class when it comes to their kids’ education. Just not willing to sacrifice their/our children’s future for the sake of [black unity, supporting public education, giving the city a chance, pick one]. Some old timers may want the neighborhood to stay black, but I’ve noticed, for many of the old timers, their kids are grown and have already gone through DCPS. Seems that middle class African American parents, like the Minneapolis parents, may choose not to move in traditionally black neighborhoods, or just the city in general, because of the schools.

After getting tired of trash strewn through my front yard and street, I’ve come up with diversions to make picking it up more interesting. For instance, I try to identify where it comes from. The napkins covered in ketchup are usually a clear match for one the local carryouts. That’s easy. Chicken bones are the same. Brown bags? Local liquor store. Broken crack pipe? Empy dime bags? That’s easy to figure out too.

What I find more fun is trying to figure out where the trash further away from the sources comes from. So the brown bags that are a couple of blocks away from the closest liquor store… which store did they come from? Same game with the carryout trash, etc.

Occasionally, I find gems. Like the other day I found a shredded personal ad for “Bustylicious11”. I couldn’t read all of it, unfortunately, but I do know that if you’re reading this, Bustylicious11, that there is someone that is/was interested enough in you to print out your personal ad before leaving it on the streets of Shaw.

I guess the whole reason for doing this is to make cleaning up more interesting and less tiresome. I really have enjoyed it more when I try to match the trash with locations and people around the neighborhood. I guess these are the little games we play to make life more interesting?

When I had a cousin from Laurel, MD visiting me she remarked how close things were together around here. Well during our stay in London, my travel companion Nora noted how close things were together. This was a very important factor when we got sick and debated the pros and cons of paying exhorbant hotel prices for internet connections, minibar cokes, and restaurant food. When those things were available within 3 blocks.
Nora said that it would take her longer to get out of her Alexandria condo building then it would take her to get out of her hotel room and over to Fortnum & Mason (across the street) or the supermarket Tescos (1.5 blocks away) or to the Burger King where there was an Internet cafe in the basement (3 blocks). The city center is very packed with all sorts of services and business within a short walk of each other.
A bit further out in the residential areas there is usually a pub or a minimarket within a 10 minute walk of one’s house. I think I can almost say the same for some parts of “urban” East Anglia. London is pedestrian friendly. Handicap hostile, but if your two legs work and you can do stairs, it is very pedistrian friendly.
DC on the other hand, more handicap friendly and more car centric.