Month: November 2006

Okay folks you gotta couple more hours to vote. Unless you’re B. and have decided not to vote because you don’t like any of the candidates and you want to complain about living in a 1 party city.
Just so you know there is a small legion of people desperate for your vote (or desperate to get rid of all that time sensitive election paper) ready to pounce on you with their campaign literature. When you get near to the school make a mad dash for the red door with the white sign, duck and weave if you need to.

I got a $10 Ben’s Chili Bowl gift certificate that’s going to expire in January so I gotta give it away, so I’m going to have a contest. Here are the rules:
1. Look at the 2C race.
2. Predict the winners.
3. Do the same with at least one 5C contested seat(this is the tie breaker in case I have multiple winners).
4. Email me at mari at inshaw period com before 3pm with your selections.
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Didn’t feel like creating a new post so I’m taping this to it. On the Mt. Vernon Listserv, how the ANC elections relate to your pooch:

Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 9:14 PM
To: dogsofgreatershaw@ yahoogroups. com
Subject: [dogsofgreatershaw] An Election That Affects You and Your Dog

The D.C. mayoral election may be a foregone conclusion, but on Tuesday, November 7, there is one contest that might affect us even more — the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2C race.

The current chair of ANC 2C, Leroy Thorpe, has proven to be a divisive voice in the community — and has flatly stated to one of our group members that no dog park will ever be established in our neighborhood as long as he is chairman. Opposing him is Kevin Chapple, an African-American attorney and civic activist, who supports the notion of a dog park, and has actively sought our support.

Two of Thorpe’s allies on the ANC are also seeking reelection — Doris Brooks and Barbara Curtis. John Tinpe and Richard Rogers are running against them. Tinpe is the co-owner of the Chinatown restaurant Burma and chair of Mayor Williams’ Commission on Asian & Pacific Islander Affairs. Rogers is an interior design consultant and community activist.

The one Commissioner deserving reelection is Alex Padro (who also happens to be a member of our Yahoo group). Alex has and continues to do so much for our community — too much to describe in this short note (but check out his campaign literature). And importantly for us, he has encouraged our efforts to establish a dog park. He is being opposed by Mary Sutherland, a Thorpe supporter.

I encourage you to vote, and I encourage you to get your neighbors and friends to vote. It could easily come down to a handful that makes the difference.

Cheers,
George

Over on the sidebar there should be a link for a podcast that I regularly listen to called “Smart City“. The last episode on making healthy cities I listened to had me agreeing and saying yes. One part was on a type of pavement that lets rainwater seep through to the ground so that it isn’t all going into the city gutters and to the waste treatment plant. Another section was about kids and parenting and the importance of the community in child rearing. There have been other shows that talk about retaining educated professionals, making cities attractive, and other positive urban issues. So if you listen to this sort of thing check it out.

Okay it is all leading up to Tuesday, so vote. I have my preferences, but the important thing is that you get out and do your job as citizens of one of the greatest democracies in the world (200 years and counting). If new blood does not reign and seize the day, then we must accept that our fellow citizens have other things in minds for their own private reason and we can later look at the data and try to figure out what the community as a whole is saying. If new blood does come in and revive the body politic (is that the word I want?) it will be an exciting day that hopefully usher in the businesses and services desired.
Whomever you decide to vote for, Nov 7th, vote.

This is the day I have waited for, the day when my commute would be more bearable. I dreamed that I would walk to work. But it is chilly. I have a terrible head cold. And I can’t find my other glove. When I do find that other glove I’m Metroing into work, instead of walking.
But I walked back home!
Well I walked home, mainly because I missed the bus and didn’t see another one down the pike and around about the Convention Center…. not worth it, I’m halfway home.

Editorial: OK re-reading this I should have known better and should have waited till my head was clearer. My head is a tad bit less stuffy. And with that here is the point I was trying to make, we get the city we got. When we arrived on the scene as renters or owners or long term couch crashers we got a DC that is what it is because of its history and people. Yet, we don’t have to leave it as is. As renters, owners, & couch crashers we change the city by being here and we do have some rights as others who have come before us have had in changing the city.

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If I go off and sound weird, it’s the DayQuil talking.

Around 1870something someone decided to build a row of houses, where my house stands. This someone or someones, chose who would build it, chose the Federal style, and chose how cheaply they’d acquire materials and labor. The person who wound up owning the row rented the units out, the rental market possibly impacted who he would rent the units out to, which then determined the demographics of the street. Expand this to many builders and landlords and homebuyers over many, many decades. Then you have the various citizens & Congress who in one way or another over the years impacted what laws got on the books, what laws were scratched off, and how much money and effort actually went into their enforcement or implementation.
Fast forward to now. Through purchase I now own the unit some guy back in 1870something built. I own the design that is the result of previous owners and tenants maintenance and improvements or lack thereof. Laws and culture limit what changes I can make. There are building codes that are the result of centuries of gawd knows what, that need to be followed. Also living in a community I have to balance my wants with my neighbors. But I do have the right to change the windows, the paint, the landscaping, gut the insides, change the fencing, and put my personal fingerprint on the lot.
By virtue of being a citizen, I’m allowed to vote. Which means if there are enough like minded folks we can get laws changed, put new ones on the books, fight for the enforcement of some of those laws and the implementation of others. Just as previous citizens have done in years past.
While I acknowledge those who came before me and the world they have created, I do recognize that I have certain rights, freedoms, and responsibilities to change that world. The previous generation needs to nurture its core values if they want those values to continue into the future, be they laws, aesthetics, or an environment. Nurturing, by demonstrating the value to the new people, not just guilt tripping, because guilt trips only take you so far.

I’m sick. Its basically a change of temperature cold, but a cold none the less, where things smell & taste funny. I’m wondering if I can just shuffle over to G & Gs in my PJ’s and housecoat for tissues and OJ.

Ok, we all know they’re coming in seven days and it’s pretty clear where a lot of regular readers/posters fall with their preferences…. BUT. What are the odds in these local ANC races? Anyone want to venture, with one week before the election, who’s going to be winning and what the vote split is going to look like?

The two races I’m personally most intrigued by are Kevin Chapple vs Leroy Thorpe (that’s the only website @ Thorpe I’m aware of. He definitely should have launched his own) and Kris Hammond vs Cleopatra Jones (the ANC Comish is in no way affiliated with that movie, to my knowledge). It’s clear that the incumbents are being challenged by individuals with new approaches, abundant energy and a different perspective on things.

I think the results of the election will be interesting because if Leroy and Cleo are defeated, it may have signaled this part of Shaw has already moved past a tipping point, of sorts. If Kris and Kevin can’t quite do it this time, what does that mean for the ‘hood? Well, obviously it means more of the same from the same ANC Commissioners. Which isn’t great. And it probably means that the vocal newcomers’ bark is less than their bite for the time being. Or it might mean that the “old timers” fears about gentrification may have been exaggerated. Or it could mean that the incumbents are the better candidates. Which I personally do not believe.

So, what are your best guesses for any of the local races? Who’s going to win and what is the vote split going to look like?