Month: September 2006

From Alex
Meeting on Neighborhood Tax Increment Financing for Shaw, 09/21/06

A public meeting on using Tax Increment Financing to assist in the
revitalization of Shaw’s commercial district and Georgia Avenue will be held on
Thursday, September 21, 2006, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the DC Housing Finance
Agency, 815 Florida Avenue, NW. Community residents concerned about ensuring
funding for key initiatives like parking, commercial rent subsidies, clean and
green programs, new sidewalks and street lighting, etc., should attend this
meeting and advocate for their priorities.
The Great Streets Initiative within the Office of the Deputy Mayor for
Planning and Economic Development is convening this meeting, one of a series of
four, to discuss the potential for four Neighborhood Tax Increment Financing
(TIF) sub-districts along the designated Great Streets corridors, one of which
is 7th Street/Georgia Avenue. TIF involves earmarking certain real property
and sales taxes within an area to pay for public and private investments. This
public/private partnership tool allows the District to pledge future tax
revenues–revenues not already committed to meeting citywide operational needs
or debt service–to support private investment in key redevelopment projects
in addition to supplemental infrastructure and public space improvements.
An overview of TIF and how it works as well as technical analysis about the
estimated potential revenue streams for each respective proposed TIF
sub-district will be presented to the audience. Residents, property and business
owners, developers, and neighborhood and business associations are encouraged to
attend and provide input on how the District might prioritize spending
within their sub-districts.
The proposed 7th Street/Georgia Avenue Neighborhood TIF district is roughly
bounded by O Street at the south, 5th Street at the east, Howard Place at the
north, and 11th Street at the west, and could generate approximately $3
million per year. These boundaries leave out critical portions of Shaw’s
commercial district, which extends south to K Street on the south side of Mount
Vernon Square. This will result in a failure to capture new taxes generated from
the proposed Convention Center Hotel for the benefit of the community
surrounding that major project, and ignores properties along 7th and 9th Street
that could house businesses that would benefit from amenities and services, such
as the new Green Team, that could be funded via the Neighborhood TIF. Be
sure to come to the meeting to advocate for extending the proposed Neighborhood
TIF to the south.
For more information on the Neighborhood TIF proposal and a map showing the
boundaries of the proposed Neighborhood TIF district, go to
http://dcbiz. dc.gov/dmped/ frames.asp? doc=/dmped/ lib/dmped/ pdf/G-S_Nhood_ TIF_Flyer- Shaw-081106.pdf.
For more information on the Great Streets Initiative, visit
www.greatstreets. dc.gov. For more information in DC’s TIF program, go to www.dcbiz.dc. gov.
Alex

Alexander M. Padro
Commissioner, ANC 2C01
1519 8th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001-3205
Voice: 202-518-3794
Email: PadroANC2C at aol. com
Website: www.members. aol.com/PadroANC 2C

(I could write about about the shooting in my alley or another shooting, that according to an email I got, occurred between 6th and Marion, but I’m not in the mood for that kind of negativity right now.)

Walking to the Post Office, I saw a familiar face standing at New Jersey and S St NW heading in the direction of the Shaw station, Metro General Manager Dan Tangherlini. I wanted to say something. Something like, why the blankity-blank did my blanking bus not bother showing up Friday and what ditch digger school did Metro find the driver who showed up 1/2 an hour late on Monday. But I said nothing, I just looked in his eyes and smiled.
Once I finished my business at the Post Office I ran into a neighbor who was trying to remember where he parked his car. We exchanged pleasantries and I got on him about driving and not walking.
Going about half a block I ran into another neighbor, L’s mother. She was pushing her little ‘old lady cart’. We exchanged smiles as we continued to our separate destinations.
This is the thing I like the neighborhood. Yes, there is the crime that pokes its head up in various forms. But between the bad there is the good everyday where you run into familiar faces and good will is exchanged.

Neighbors,

More on the School Board forum on Tuesday, September 26, 2006. See below!

Best,

Jim Berry
ANC 5C

Premier Community Development Corporation
1309 Rhode Island Ave, NE, Suite B
Washington, DC 20018

(202) 832-2209 Fax (202) 832-3448
Premier1309@yahoo.com www.Premier1309.com

For Immediate Release Contact: Hazel Thomas

September 14, 2006 (202) 491-9245

Premier Community Development Corporation (CDC)
and the Ward 5 Council on Education will sponsor
A District III School Board Candidates’ Forum

On Tuesday, September 26, at 7:00 p.m., Premier CDC and the Ward 5 Council on Education will sponsor the second in a series of Forums to introduce the platforms of the candidates running for District III representative on the School Board. The District III winner will represent Wards 5 and 6.
Nikole Killion, WJLA/News Channel 8 Reporter and Anchor, will be the Guest Moderator once again for the School Board Candidates’ Forum. Parents, Community Activist and Residents of Wards 5 & 6 and the general public are invited to attend the Town Meeting and Forum at 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 26, at the Isle of Patmos Baptist Church at 12th & Rhode Island Avenue, NE. (Isle of Patmos is handicap accessible.)

The candidates (Ward listed in parenthesis) who have been invited are:
Sunday Abraham (5) Stephane Baldi (6)
Robert Brannum (5) Marc Borbely (6)
Mary Currie (5) Lisa Raymond (6)
Terrance McMichael(5) Marvin Tucker (5)

Each candidate will be given 3-minutes to make an introductory statement followed by twenty minutes of questions and answers led by the Moderator, Nikole Killion. Premier CDC Advisory Board Member Idriys Adullah, will lead the 30-minute Q and A session with the general public. To conclude, each candidate will give a 1 ½ minute closeout statement. For questions or additional information, contact Stephanie Rones at (202) 832-3442 or Hazel Thomas (202) 491-9245.
************************
PCDC is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit, open membership organization. Our mission is to promote and improve housing, economic and community development for residents of Ward 5. Our objective is to enhance the overall quality of life throughout the Ward.

On the Mt. Vernon listserv there are the names and addresses of people arrested recently. Normally, I just read the arrests posts and move on to the next message, but it seems this time around there was prostitution theme, and that caught my eye.
The other thing that caught my eye was the arrested folks’ addresses. What, are there no ho’s in SE? The arrests occurred around the Convention Center area and there is one fellow from Elvans Road SE, and another from Bernie Place SE. Others from NE DC and the rest have no fixed address so maybe they are local or maybe not.
This runs close to the theories some of us have about drugs. Many of the people involved don’t even live around here, but we get the bad rep.

My 7AM bus did not show up till 7:30AM, just in time to meet up with the 7:30 bus that I’m going to guess was on time. The driver, had no clue of where to go. At one point the 7:30 bus got ahead and we told the driver to just follow the bus in front of him. At least it showed up, Friday the 7AM bus was a complete no-show.
We were all going to work. Luckily we have flexable shedules, but there are errands that need running, and other transportation connections that depend on arriving at work at a certain time. I’m going to have to dip into my annual leave so I can leave at my regular time. Showing up late, or not at all makes many question the logic of a metro based commute. I would hate to guess what would be the fate for people who actually have to show up to work on time or at a specific time.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:ERIK LINDEN

SEPTEMBER 18, 2006 202-671-2004

WORK ON FLORIDA AVENUE SET TO BEGIN IN NORTHWEST

( Washington , DC ) The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is set to launch rehabilitation work on Florida Avenue from Ninth Street to North Capitol Street, NW on September 25, 2006.

Wok will include the repair and replacement of sidewalks, milling and overlaying the street, upgrading drainage systems, streetlight upgrades and installation of ADA-compliant wheelchair ramps. The $4.8 million project makes use of federal and local funds.

One lane of traffic will be maintained in each direction at all times. Curbside parking will be restricted on Florida Avenue during some phases of the project. Proper notice will be posted at those points of construction alerting residents, visitors and local businesses.

Work hours are Monday through Friday 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 3 a.m.. The duration of the project is 15 months, weather permitting. Motorists should expect minor delays during work hours and should use caution when traveling through the work zone.

A short thread on the members only Eckington listserv and the discussion of the ANC meeting for 2C are making me think, performance art. I will admit that I’ve only been to one 5C meeting and that had a little bit of theatre. It seems, according to regulars, that there are colorful elected characters who act out.
The 5C meeting is this Tuesday. I think they are held at St. George’s Episcopal Church in the basement. Show starts at 7pm?
Understandably some commissioners in DC who are playing to a certain audience. It probably helpful that the audience being catered to are the loyal voters, while others are too small in number or don’t bother voting for ANCs. So antics can be very, very colorful, provided it is tolerated or even promoted by the voters.
Elections for ANC commissioners are going to be held in November and they are reasonably important. Your ANC, with others, give approval or disapproval for development projects, support or fight ABC licenses, and sometimes works as a contact person and leader for community activities that involves/require city services/approval. That’s off the top of my head.

Just noticed that in the corner, near the R St exit at the Shaw-Howard U station, there is a bus map. It must be new. I’m very happy to see that metro is sl ow ly, putting these things in.
Hopefully when all stations have bus maps, I can figure out how to get to destination X without having to rifle through the remaining bus schedules at the kiosk hoping to find the bus I need before it drives off.

Hi folks, this is Truxtonian, not Mari. Mari was on my case for not posting in a long time, so I feel compelled. Anyways, this is probably going to raise the webmistress’s ire. But, Mari, it’s a post– so remember that.

Well, the primaries came and went. Comments are flowing on previous posts about ANC elections. Very interesting. Very interesting, indeed. All I have to say now is that I got a message from the Eckington listserv, which reposts from the Bloomingdale listserv (yes, this is 3rd or 4th-hand), about ANC Commissioner Robert Brannum being endorsed by Senator John Kerry for the DC Board of Education. To that I say an emphatic, WHAT?!?

Ok folks, look forward to the “real” election on November 7th. Maybe the mayor has been more or less decided, but there are a lot more more interesting elections that will greatly impact us DC folk forthcoming.

From what I’ve been hearing about what’s going on over on the other side of New Jersey Avenue, it appears that people have been behaving badly. I might have a naive vision of what democracy is in America, but there are things that come across to me as just plain wrong and dangerous to the concept of American democracy.
For one, even if you are in the pocket of one candidate or party, at least pretend to recognize the opposition. The stories of Mr. Chapple, who is running for a seat in 2C, being outright snubbed by the old guard, is disappointing. No one says you have to actively support him, but rather be fair and practice the golden rule. The rule being do unto others as you’d have them do to you.
What I’ve been told about the 2C meeting and the ECCA meeting, where Mr. Chapple has tried to introduce himself to the voters, comes across as wrong in so many ways. Are these civic meetings or some odd kind of performance art with theatrics and wacky hi-jinx?
Anyway, November you get to vote again. Then you will get to decide about who will be your ANC councilman.