From Jim:
Neighbors,
Below please find a copy of the flyer that is being passed out in the community regarding the upcoming BACA meeting. Please share its contents with your neighbors and bring them with you to the meeting!
Best,
Jim Berry
Bates Area Civic Association, Inc.
MONTHLY MEETING NOTICE
Featured Speaker:
Captain Melvin Scott
Fifth District, MPD
re. The Formulation of a Public Safety Plan for Our Community
Agenda will also include status reports from the following:
Membership Committee
Program Committee
Land Use, Planning and Economic Development Committee
Transportation Committee
Environmental Services Committee
Monday, May 7, 2007
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, email him at jamojam@msn.com, or visit our website at www.dcbaca.org
Highlights from the April 2, 2007
BACA Meeting
Special Guest: Honorable Adrian M. Fenty, Mayor of the District of Columbia, was the featured speaker for the evening. Mr. Fenty made about 10 minutes worth of opening remarks, essentially, assuring those present that he wants to do everything within his power to make certain that the residents of all neighborhoods in the District of Columbia enjoy a decent quality of life and that he will work closely and cooperatively with us to assure that this is the case in our area during the Fenty administration. The bulk of the time that Mayor Fenty spent with members of the BACA involved a question and answer session that dealt with the high concentration of blatant and illegal drug sales and use by the criminal element in our community, as well as our need for more frequent and reliable services from the DC Department of Public Works, the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, and from the DC Department of Transportation. Throughout the night, a number of neighbors cited specific circumstances around which we could use help from the MPD and other government agencies. And, importantly, Mr. Fenty made a commitment to help!
For the most part, the expression of public safety concerns by residents dominated the discussion. The concerns cited by residents involved illegal drug activity, what seems to be the constant sound of gunfire at night time, and what neighbors felt to be a limited or inadequate presence of the Metropolitan Police Department in the community. In reaction to what he was hearing, Mr. Fenty tasked the Fifth District Police with the responsibility for developing a plan to help us to eventually eradicate this activity. Mr. Fenty said that the approach he utilized to resolve similar problems that were being experienced by the residents of Ward Four when he was their Council Member needed to be implemented in our community. Specifically, he said that the Fifth District MPD needed to develop a concrete and measurable plan to address our crime problems – a plan that we could review in 90 day increments and, in cooperation with the MPD, modify where necessary and appropriate. It is our expectation that the Fifth District will present a summary of such a plan for our area at the 5/7/2007 BACA meeting. Importantly, Mr. Fenty made a commitment to come back to a BACA meeting in 90 days to find out what kind of progress is being made. And, as a sign of the seriousness of his commitment to us, the mayor said that he would return every 90 days, if need be, to assure that our crime and other problems will eventually be resolved.
Remarks: Ward Five Council Member Harry Thomas, Jr. echoed Mayor Fenty’s pledge to see to it that more reliable and a higher quality of government services be directed to our area by District of Columbia Government agencies than might have been the case in the past. And, as the chairperson of the Council Committee on Libraries, Parks and Recreation, Mr. Thomas pledged that he would use his authority and influence to strengthen the resources that are currently available to us in these three critical areas. Mr. Thomas also informed the body that he was hosting a workshop on economic development in Ward Five on Saturday, April 14, 2007, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. an 11:00 a.m. at The Catholic University and, later on that afternoon, Mr. Thomas said that he was sponsoring an Emancipation Day program at the Old Soldier’s Home. In addition, Mr. Thomas informed us that the featured entertainment at the Emancipation Day event would be the legendary Chuck Brown. Finally, Mr. Thomas strongly encouraged those in attendance to participate in the DC Emancipation Day rally and voting rights march to Capitol Hill on Monday, April 16, 2007.
Additional Commitments Made:
(a) Mayor Fenty pledged to follow-through on a campaign promise to residents of the area to pave Richardson Place, N.W. as well as to have other long needed streetscape improvements made to this street.
(b) Council Member Thomas pledged to support the BACA’s plans to organize a Public Safety Task Force that would meet on a regular basis with the government officials and the community to address problems of crime and disorder in our community. It is expected that the first public meeting of the Task Force will take place in late May or June 2007.
Program Committee Report: Chairperson Geovani Bonilla gave a status report on the work of his committee. Indeed, he indicated that Tuesday, May 8, 2007 had been selected as the start date for the “Walk for Your Health Program.” The group will assemble at the corner of 3rd and Q Streets, N.W., in front of Mount Sinai Baptist Church , at 6:30 p.m. on this date. A professional trainer from CURVES will warm the group up and get them started on the walk around the community.