Month: July 2006

Twice while biking around Sunday, back and forth from the Dupont Circle Farmer’s Market, I had to deal with two (on separate occasions) other cyclists in the bike lane against traffic. R Street is one way going west. I use that street for going west. But had to avoid a person coming at me heading east on R. On the way back from the market, another cyclist heading west on Q Street. It is bad enough that cars love to have one tire in the bike lane or use it for temporary parking. It’s enough to be concerned about being swiped by some idiot in an SUV who can’t stay in one lane or watch out for an opening car door. I don’t need other cyclists barreling at me head on.
If this keeps up I’m going to take up bike jousting. That bike lane is not that wide.
And while I’m at it. People, wear helmets. Against certain object like cars, or sidewalk curbs your head can bust open like a ripe melon. And with the people I see just biking against the lights and traffic on Rhode Island, I am amazed that there aren’t more bike accidents.

Neighbors,

Below please find a copy of the flyer that is being circulated in the community re. 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 Monday!

Best,

Jim Berry
ANC 5C

MONTHLY MEETING NOTICE
Featured Speakers Include:
Tiffany Simms
National Capital Revitalization Corporation
re. the Economic Development of the McMillan Reservoir Site

Kent Amos
President & CEO, Community Academy Public Charter Schools
re. a Status Report on Plans to Develop the Former Armstrong School Building

Cynthia W. Simms
Community Resource Officer, Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration
Re. the Nuts and Bolts of the ABC License Protest Process

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, July 10, 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,

please contact Jim Berry at (202) 387-8520.

Community Update
Liquor Stores in Our Neighborhood:

The ABC licenses of several liquor stores in our community are currently up for renewal. Specifically, the affected stores are Moon Liquors, 322 Florida Avenue, N.W.; Sunset Liquors, 1627 First Street, N.W.; and Walter Johnson Liquor Store, 1542 North Capitol Street, N.W. Advisory Neighborhood Commission 5C is protesting the renewal of the license of each of these establishments. Community Resource Officer Cynthia W. Simms has been invited to our upcoming meeting to explain the protest process that the Alcoholic Beverage Control Administration has designed to respond to community concerns about ABC licensing. If you are interested in this subject, you ought to come to the meeting to hear the knowledge that Ms. Simms is coming to share with us.

Company Coming: Candidates for Locally Elected Offices to Appear at Upcoming Meeting!

Ward Five City Council Candidates Vera Winfield, Debbie Smith and Joe Harris are next in line to make introductory statements to the BACA membership and, thus, will be invited to this meeting. By the time of the September 2006 primary elections, it is our expectation that all of the certified candidates for these important offices will have appeared before community residents to tell us why they believe they should be supported for the respective offices that they are seeking.

COalition for Voter Empowerment –

BACA to Sponsor Door-to-Door Voter Registration Drive:

As an extension of its collaboration with the Coalition for Voter Empowerment (COVE), the BACA will conduct a door-to door voter registration campaign commencing on Saturday, July 15, 2006 and every weekend between that date and August 12, 2006. That is, a group of members from the civic association will knock on every door within our service area to make certain that every eligible person in each household is registered to vote. Therefore, if you are not registered to vote in the District of Columbia or if you are new to the area and haven’t changed your address with the DC Board of Elections and Ethics since you relocated to our community, we will have voter registration forms for you to complete in order to do so. If you would like for someone to bring a registration form to your home before the registration teams reach your house, please call (202) 387-8520 (leaving your name, address and telephone number) and we will make arrangements for a form to be delivered to your home.

COVE Mayoral Interviews:

The last of the interviews of mayoral candidates was held with City Council Chairperson Linda Cropp on Wednesday, June 28, 2006. As promised before the series began, the COVE is in the process of compiling the responses of all five major candidates for this office, i.e., Vincent B. Orange, Marie Johns, Michael Brown, Adrian Fenty and Linda Cropp, in order that we can circulate them to residents of our community. On the basis of their respective responses, we will consider the promises made to us by the ultimate winner to be a “covenant” by which we will measure his/her success as the Executive of the District of Columbia and by which we will hold them accountable for commitments made in these mayoral sessions to our community. In this regard, please look for the complete COVE report after August 1, 2006.

Storm Drains: We Must Do A Better Job of Keeping the Free of Litter, If We Expect to Avoid Flooding.

In consideration of the frequency with which it has rain in our community lately, it is essential that we avoid placing litter into the storm drains and, when possible, that we take a few minutes to rake any apparent debris that we can see, out of the entrances to these drains. The fact that so many folks deposit trash and other debris in these drains, accounts for the fact that they become “backed up” when there is a driving rain and the predictable result from this situation is flooding in our homes. There is the much larger problem that our area faces in connection with the “combined sewer system” to which our homes are connected, but we can’t have as immediate an impact upon the problem with our sewer system, as we can have upon the tremendous one that stems from those who carelessly throw trash, bottles and other debris in the storm drains, clogging them up. Given the climatic conditions on our planet nowadays, we are told that we can only expect more turbulent weather of the kind that we have been experiencing lately, so let’s do as much as we can to help ourselves by (1) not throwing trash and other debris in the storm drains and (2) by helping to clear as much of this debris as you can see away from the entrance to the drain that is closest to your house. In the end, we will all benefit greatly by taking these two relatively small actions.

Nathan over at DC Education Blog gave his opinion of a Washington Post piece:

DCPS [District of Columbia Public Schools] doesn’t need charity, it needs a swift kick in the ass. It needs a major overhaul. It needs a Board of Education, a DC Council, a Mayor’s office, a union and a management core that actually gives a damn about education instead of feigning interest whenever its is politically or financially expedient, or when they’re trying to cover their ass.

Unfortunately I doubt any of this will happen any time soon. Oh, just as it has been for the last couple of decades people will bitch and moan, editorials will be written, campaign promises will be made, but at the end of the day nothing changes. Superintendents come and (quickly) go. The District’s Office of the Inspector General will continue to chronicle malfeasance and ineptitude. The District’s elected officials will continue to squander any opportunity for progress with their grandstanding, power grabs and squabbling. And people like Courtland Milloy will continue to write twaddle, dreaming about some deus ex Buffett moment where some capitalist swine arrives in the third act and solves all of the District’s problems by writing a check.

Heck I’m not even a parent and this touched me. Maybe because this type of corruption (ineptitude, & apathy towards agency goals are forms of corruption to me) is not just limited to DCPS.

There is a delay so I’m listening to podcasts that are several weeks old, but I was listening to Smart City Radio, all on urban planning, and their piece on what attracts young college educated people to cities. They were talking about a report put out by TSC for CEOs for Cities here PDF1 and herePDF2. Things were going fine until they started talking about cities young people did not want to live in, DC was one. Along with cities in AK and SD. Okay…… Yeah, it’s hot and the electricity goes out occasionally when it rains, but you do not have to fight polar bears and our Summers are real.

The sidewalk, I notice, wasn’t as littered with firework casings as last year. Despite seeing some pretty big displays from various windows in the house. I was on the phone with Bc, who lives in the exciting burb of Beltsville, MD (home of Behnke’s) describing all that was going on inside and outside the house. Inside, I was making sure I was going to go to sleep by making a lamb with thyme dish, on a bed of brown rice with a side of Swiss Chard. That and a couple of glasses of $2 buck Chuck were sure to knock me out despite the rockets and the bombs going off outside. Outside, one family was setting off the fireworks in front of their home. That ’caused a lot of smoke. In a nearby empty lot I could see that folks were setting off all sorts of fireworks and sparklers.
From my living room window I could catch a glimpse of streaks of red rockets and big round balls going off east of me. In the reflection of the windows across the street I could see bright lights coming from the west. From my kitchen window, which faces the alley and not much else, just over the top of the other houses I could see things going off. So I enjoyed the local firework shows from the comfort of my home.

Ah, 4th of July.
I have come to accept that on the 4th, people are going to set off fireworks. I noticed such localized ‘shows’ in Capitol Hill, when visiting friends there, and in College Park, with a friend’s roommate putting on a display. I will be happy if people limit their fireworks to their own front yard or sidewalk (because some folks too over the whole sidewalk), and clean up their mess. The day after, the sidewalk and yards are littered with half burnt paper and plastic if there is no clean up.
Also it has been raining this past week, I’m a little less worried about things or houses setting on fire.

From DCRA’s Communications Team

DC’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs
Reminds Residents of Requirements for Fireworks Sales

Washington, DC – July 4 and fireworks go hand-in-hand for many people. While beautiful to behold, fireworks can be very dangerous.

The District of Columbia regulates fireworks sales and two agencies have primary responsibility for making sure fireworks are sold and enjoyed in a safe and legal manner – the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs(DCRA) and the D.C. Fire/EMS Department.
All businesses that store or sell fireworks – in a temporary or permanent structure – must have posted a valid Basic Business License and Certificate of Occupancy – both issued by DCRA. Consumers can report a business or individual that is selling fireworks without this license by calling 202-442-4400.
The agency requires any temporary structure that stores or retails fireworks to be inspected by DCRA and that structure be taken down by midnight, July 5.
It is illegal for a business or individual to sell fireworks on public property.

In addition to DCRA regulations, in order to sell any legal fireworks in the District of Columbia a business must get a permit from the D.C. Fire/EMS Department’s Fire Prevention Division. This Web site also has information about fireworks safety. You may also contact the DC Fire/EMS Department Fire Prevention Division at 202 -727-1600 or 202-727-1614.

For more information about DCRA fireworks requirements visit the Basic
Business License section at www.dcra.dc.gov or call 202-442-4400.