Shawington

Today, I met with the new principal of Ross Elementary School in Dupont Circle, Amanda Alexander, and principal Melissa Martin of Montgomery Elementary School in Shaw. It’s great to see their enthusiasm for the new school year and the progress that they’ve already made in getting their schools in shape, an attitude they share with Principal Brian Betts of Shaw Middle School at Garnet Patterson.

It was school beautification day across DC today, an effort that I led for Ward 2 in 2007 by visiting each school and delivering tools, mulch, bags, gloves, and flowers. This year, I stayed close to my neighborhood school, Montgomery, where we removed trash, raked leaves, and pulled weeds in the school yard. In a few months, work will begin to provide Montgomery with an exciting new annex. Principal Martin asked me to spread the word that they want parents in the neighborhood to send their children to Montgomery, which has already made major improvements inside and out.

Later in the day, Ross Elementary School held an open house, a chance to talk with the new principal and tour the building. Kids played in the school’s well maintained playground while parents and other neighborhood residents enjoyed a cookout. It was promising to find that some parents came out just because there were considering sending their kids to the DC public schools.

It’s this type of community engagement, enthusiasm, and effort that gives me great hope for the future of our public schools. As councilmember, I’ll make certain that school renovation, rebuilding, and repair stays on track and on budget. I’ll make schools centerpieces of their communities — where we hold community meetings and vote. I’ll make it possible for the high-quality teachers that we are recruiting to actually live in DC, rather than commute from Maryland or Virginia. Together, we’ll make the District’s schools world-class - and we’ll all be proud.

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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Cary meets with the new principal and assistant principal of Shaw Middle School at Garnet Patterson, Brian Betts and Kimberly Douglas.

This is an exciting time for the DC schools and there is rightful optimism for the future of the District’s children. This week, I met with Brian Betts, the new principal of Shaw Middle School at Garnet Patterson, and Kimberly Douglas, the assistant principal. Tonight, Ms. Douglas will introduce the new leadership of the school and its aggressive plan for moving forward at the Mount Vernon Square Neighborhood Association’s monthly meeting. I’m encouraged by their outreach to the community.

I was impressed with the drive of the new leadership, who are on a mission to raise the quality of education at the school. They are in the process of hiring a team of highly qualified teachers from across the country, and a candidate arrived for an interview as our meeting concluded. The staffing at Shaw/Garnet Patterson will almost entirely change.

Mr. Betts knows the neighborhood well. A former resident of French Street just blocks from the school, Betts spent the last several years in the Montgomery County Public Schools. He certainly fits the “Army of Believers” hired as new principals by Chancellor Rhee. Last year, test score significantly increased at the school, but Principal Betts is on a mission to drive them up much more. When asked whether he is concerned with the rise of enrollment of DC’s charter schools, Mr. Betts predicted that the improved scores, new facilities, highly-qualified teachers, and neighborhood outreach would bring students back into neighborhood schools, reversing their declining enrollment.

How can the community help? Principal Betts notes that its school activity fund, which helps fund trips for Shaw Middle School’s famous marching band, is empty. A google search reveals this interesting tidbit about Principal Betts: As a teacher in Germantown, Maryland, Betts took two cream pies in the face and was dropped in a tank of water, all to raise money for the school’s Principal’s Discretionary Fund. Truly, this new principal is one who will get it done. We can help as well, by identifying potential corporate sponsors for school activities.

We’ve also got to keep pressure on the DC Council, as well as the school administration, to move forward. I am concerned that the DC Council has delayed $50 million in funds for school modernization, which will hurt Ward 2 schools such as Francis Junior High, which is being combined as a K-8 with Stevens Elementary. Francis must be redesigned to meet the needs of younger children. While the Council is right to demand that the school administration be more forthcoming in sharing information, there can be no speed bumps as the new school year quickly approaches. The Council must support the new principals and teachers by releasing the funds or our students will pay the price.

Likewise, while we’ve heard political pledges to rebuild Shaw Middle School, which has been combined with Garnet Patterson, my meeting with Principal Betts confirmed that there is no plan and no time line. I’m very concerned that if it takes over seven years to rebuild our libraries, how long will it take to construct a new, state of the art school to serve Ward 2 neighborhoods? Let’s start the design process, with community input, and set a firm schedule for moving forward. I’ll make sure we stay on track past the political promise season.

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Occasionally, I read something in the newspaper that hits a little too close to home. This morning, I learned of the death of Alice Swanson, a 22-year-old woman who was struck and killed by a garbage truck while riding her bike to work just north of Dupont Circle at 20th and R Streets. (Examiner, Washington Post, WTOP, DCist). She was a cautious and safe bicyclist, warning others to wear their helmets. I did not know Alice, but I’d be very surprised if our paths have not crossed or if we didn’t have mutual friends. My heart goes out to her family and friends.

Most days, I bike to work and to get around town, and I frequently ride through the area where Alice was hit. It’s sad and disturbing when something like this happens. When I mentioned the article to a friend who lives a few blocks away from the accident, his reaction was “those garbage truck drivers are crazy. They go 40 miles per hour down my block.” I don’t know if that is what occurred here, but I hope there is a full investigation of what occurred, that the police are closely enforcing our traffic laws, and that the city raises awareness of bike safety for both drivers and bicyclists.

Everyone, please be careful and safe.

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I learned this morning that there has been a rash of robberies on the border of the Logan and Dupont Circle neighborhoods where I lived before moving to Mount Vernon Square. The e-mail below is from Officer Mike Smith, passed on to me by a resident for dissemination. Crime this week is up 177% over last week. If you have any questions, please contact your Police Service Area (PSA) officer:

PSA 208 (west of 15th Street): Officer Mike Smith
PSA 307 (east of 15th Street): Officer Richard Parrish

Keep your eyes open… be aware of what is going on around you… be careful getting in and out of your car. Thanks to our officers for being on top of this and keeping us informed.

There have been more robberies in the area since my last email. One in particular was unusually violent in that one victim was possibly pistol-whipped during the robbery. That incident occurred early Sunday morning at approximately 4 am at the corner of 15th and Church Sts NW. The victims had just parked their car when the suspect approached and asked the driver for directions. Suspect # 1, described as a black male approximately 5′7″ with a thin build, short afro hairstyle then punched the driver in the face demanding money. The driver was able to exit the car pursued by Suspect #1 who continued to strike the victim, then he produced a black handgun, striking the victim again. The second suspect was described as a light skinned black male or hispanic male approximately 5′9″ with a stocky build. His hairstyle was described as somewhat unique as it was described as long black hair pulled back into a knot, th en the hair below the knot appeared to be braided. Suspect #2 held the second victim at gunpoint as victim #1 was robbed. Both suspects fled on foot on Church St towards 16th St.

I did arrest one suspect for attempted armed robbery at the corner of 15th St and Q St on Friday night at approximately 10:15 PM. This suspect approached two pedestrians and produced a box cutter and attempted to rob them but they were able to flag down a patrol car and the suspect was immediately arrested.

Robberies are occurring on both the 2D and 3D sides primarily between 14th and 16th Streets, mostly between R and U Streets. I have been working with the 2D detectives office to see if we can identify the suspects. Crime over the last 7 days is up over 170% from the same period last year (18 crimes vs. 6 crimes a year ago).

Ofc M. Smith/2nd District

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On Saturday, Cary for Council campaign team demonstrated its strong support for the LGBT community in the 2008 Capital Pride Parade. We decorate my jeep (which will not soon recover from the sparkles) and joined in the march to show our commitment to marriage equality and civil rights.

The crowd was extremely enthusiastic and it was a great time - the storms could not rain on this parade. The Washington CityPaper named our float as “the most festive vehicle of the parade.” The excitement that the parade brought to Ward 2 is an outstanding example of the value of the diverse community within the ward. As Council Member, I will take a leadership role on issues of concern to the city’s LGBT community.

You can view more photos on our Facebook album.

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Today was an interesting start for many Ward 2 residents. For me, the day began by getting a late start after waking up to find my alarm clock did not go off, a result of the electricity outage in my Mount Vernon Square neighborhood. By that time, I already had an e-mail from an irate Ward 2 resident who observed that although so many of the traffic lights were not functioning at busy intersections, during rush hour no less, he did not see any police or traffic officers directing traffic. I later learned reading the news today, that several pedestrians were in fact hit by cars as a result.

Halfway to work on the metro, I found myself stranded at Chinatown due to the (first) fire at Metro Center. The display screens in the metro station, which seem to always be up to date with the elevator outages around the city, today provided no information other than the expected arrival of the next train. Passengers struggled to make out the muffled announcements in the train and on the platform. Is Dupont Circle open or closed? Is service restored to Metro Center? When is service expected to resume?

As I exited and began my walk to work, fire trucks and other emergency response vehicles began arriving for what was a second fire at the metro. Outside the metro station, I overheard this conversation, “No one knows what is going on. They are not telling us anything…”

In DC’s defense, the emergency/e-mail-cell phone alert system did work today, and I recommend signing up for it. In each case today, however, it confirmed the obvious. It told me there was a power outage when I had no electricity. It told me that there was a fire at Metro Center when I found myself stuck at Chinatown.

So what can the city do differently? Well, first, the city needs to have a plan for a quick response for this situation. If there is a power outage and traffic signals become nonoperational, the city needs to have people directing traffic at all significant intersections. In addition, the electronic signs in the metro stations need to provide useful information. Metro might also consider some way of improving the sound of its audio system, which is extremely difficult to understand. Finally, how do we avoid this happening again? Were these fires and power outages a result of crumbling infrastructure? Let’s invest our money the right way.

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I’ve found time and time again that those who fight hardest for Ward 2 residents are often members of the Council from other parts of the city or elected at-large. Today, was another perfect example.

First, the Council gutted the noise bill. The original bill would have placed reasonable restrictions on the volume of daytime noncommercial speech (i.e. people shouting into loud speakers) that goes on for prolonged periods, intruding into people’s homes and places of work. DC has absolutely no limit, unlike any other major city, and what was originally proposed was still more lenient than places like New York City. An amendment proposed by Council Member Harry Thomas (D-Ward 5), which was essentially a rewrite of that proposed by Council Member Evans and defeated last month, passed 9-4 this time, after some unions ran radio ads threatening two members up for reelection, Kwame Brown (D-At Large) and Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7). It raises the decibel level limit from 70 to 80 dB, restricts the limit to R-1 through R-4 zones (i.e. there is no limit for areas in which there are large apartment buildings or downtown), and changes the place of measurement to inside the home rather than 50 feet from the noise.

Those fighting for Ward 2 on the noise bill included Council Members Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), David Catania (I-At-Large), and Carol Schwartz (R-At Large). While Ward 2 Council Member Jack Evans represented that he has never received a noise complaint from residents of his Ward that would be protected by the legislation, Catania and Cheh discussed a different reality. Catania, himself a Ward 2 resident, expressed outrage that the children of Stevens Elementary School (located in West End/Foggy Bottom) lost an entire semester of school because of a prolonged protest across the street by hired hands. Cheh suggested that Penn Quarter residents ask why they are being treated differently — why they get no protection in their community and in their homes, noting that, “just because [you] live in a mixed [residential / commercial] area, Penn Quarter residents will have to suffer from noise assaults.” Cheh noted that under the Evans’ supported amendment, the noise can go 7am-9pm every day, all day, no matter how long, how loud, how amplified — “you get no protection whatsoever, none.”
“Penn Quarter, I hope you are listening, you are being written off.”

–Council Member Mary Cheh (Ward 3), quoted in the Washington Post

Council Member Wells, who shares a portion of Penn Quarter with Ward 2, attempted to amend the Thomas amendment to restore some protection for downtown, but failed. In the end, Cheh and Wells, the primary sponsors of the bill, voted against the do-nothing legislation.

Lost in all the noise over the noise bill were two very other important quality of life proposals on the Council’s Tuesday agenda: single sales of alcoholic beverages and vacant property.

The Council passed a ban on the sale of single alcoholic beverages for Wards 4, 7, and 8, with Council Member Wells pledging to add the entirety of Ward 6, which already has a partial ban, at the next meeting. Council Member Evans, spurred by the action of his colleagues, has after 17 years of complaints from neighborhoods residents, committed to proposing a similar ban for Ward 2. But his proposed ban, yet to be introduced, will cover only two Advisory Neighborhood Commission areas, Logan Circle (ANC 2F) and Shaw/Mt. Vernon/Penn/Chinatown Quarter (ANC 2C). Residents of Dupont Circle, Foggy Bottom/West End, Georgetown, and downtown should prepare to see more public intoxication, public urination, aggressive panhandling and trash, as those who cannot get a cheap drink in more than half of the rest of the city (Ward 1 already has a partial ban) find your corner and liquor stores.

Finally, the Council took on long-delayed legislation designed to move owners of vacant property to put their property to productive use. The legislation increases the vacant property tax rate from about 5x the regular occupied rate for residential property to 10x, while eliminating many of the loopholes that allowed derelict owners and speculators to avoid the higher rate for decades. It was Council Member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) who sought to fight off a series of 11th hour amendments that would have placed some of those exemptions back in the law and created a few new ones. That included a complete exemption on properties within the central business district proposed by Council Member Evans. It was withdrawn when it came under fire from Graham and Council Member Barry (D-Ward 8). Council Member Evans also proposed an amendment to increase the period of time before the higher rate sets in from 1 year (existing law) to 2 years and for residential property to 1 year (same as existing law, but the bill would have reduce dit to 8 months). That proposal passed. Another Evans proposal, to restore a loophole providing a 24-month exemption for properties under a deed of trust, was removed after Graham objected.

Graham also attempted to fight off, with some success, amendments proposed to allow the Mayor to single handedly exempt properties (passed subject to renewal by Mayor every 24 months), to exempt newly constructed buildings (passed limited to 4 years), and to require government inspectors evaluating whether a property is indeed vacant to consider the owner’s alleged “intent” to return.

It’s time we had a Ward 2 Council Member who places his constituents before developers, unions, and other special interests. By the way, what happened to the idea of creating a livable downtown? With the carving out of downtown from the noise bill and an attempt to take the central business district out of the vacant property protections, residents should be very concerned.

What people are saying about the noise bill’s silencing (no one is happy):
Quest for Quiet blog
PQ Living blog
Greater Greater Washington blog
DCist
DC Wire blog
The Express
Washington Post

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

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About 2 weeks ago, I noted that the Council Members for Wards 4, 7, and 8 had introduced legislation to ban the sale of single containers of alcoholic beverages, which Ward 1 Council Member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) has consolidated into a single bill, B17-532. Notably absent from coverage of the bill, despite its high concentration of liquor licenses - Ward 2. I pledged support for a citywide ban, or, if not politically feasible, a Ward 2 ban, when elected to the DC Council.

“The problem here is blighted neighborhoods, litter, vagrancy, public urination, public intoxication, and other anti-social behavior, and, of course, crime.”
-Ward 1 Council Member Jim Graham

Well, someone got the message. At the May 6 Council meeting, Mr. Evans raised the possibility of including a part of Ward 2 or a hypothetical “Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2G” within the bill, if so desired by the residents, when the bill again comes before the Council on second reading.

Folks, this is getting a bit ridiculous. First, it’s odd to begin with that the Council is legislating on a ward-by-ward basis. (Mayor Fenty did it for Ward 4 as a Ward Council Member only after he tried for a citywide ban and could not obtain sufficient support-now we are talking about roughly half the city.) Now, Mr. Evans suggests legislating on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis. Would the Council ban single sales in Logan Circle sending the alcoholism, public drunkenness, trash, panhandlers, and public urination to Dupont Circle and Shaw? What kind of way is that to govern? In addition, a neighborhood ban places stores in that area at a competitive disadvantage with those that may be a block or two away.

True, residents and Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners can seek bans on single sales applicable to an individual store by either protesting its license and seeking a voluntary agreement, or it can request a moratorium for a particular area from the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. If you’ve been through those processes, you know neither is ideal. The first pits residents against businesses, requiring both to go through lengthy hearings, and possibly lawyers. Historically, the ABC Board has not been receptive. The second option requires a rulemaking proceeding, which then must be approved by the Council.

The best option is a citywide ban on the practice. If that is not politically feasible for some reason, then a full Ward 2-wide ban is the next best thing.

You can view the DC Council’s debate here at minute 3:53.

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Click furry guy for article in The Express on Dupont Circle rats.

Congratulations to the DC Tenants’ Advocacy Coalition (TENAC) and neighborhood activists for their success in getting the National Park Service and DC Department of Health to work together to address rats in the Dupont Circle Park. Read TENAC’s press release and my involvement on this issue.

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A few weeks ago, a resident who lives just a few blocks from DC’s flagship Martin Luther King, Jr. Library commented to me that people in her area don’t go to libraries, they go to bookstores… which got me thinking. In the age of mega-bookstores and internet cafes, the success of public libraries in the 21st Century seems to depend on whether they successfully adapt to the new environment and provide residents with the amenities and services they expect and can find elsewhere, or remain stuck in the past.

The promise of public libraries remains true today — they make knowledge accessible to all people and they provide a quiet place for individuals of all ages and backgrounds to learn and study. Achieving those goals today also means making computers, printers, and the internet available. It also means completing with private books stores, many of which offer the ability to grab coffee or food. And libraries can do more — by providing programming for children and career services for job seekers.

“We’re not going to be cutting edge because we have a lot of catching up to do,” says Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper in the Washington Times. Mrs. Cooper says the library system won’t be complete until “a hundred years from now.”

Here’s a letter I sent to Chief Librarian Ginnie Cooper today regarding the quickly developing plans for the new Watha T. Daniel Library, which has been without a full-service library for four years. You can view the proposed design and resident reaction on ANC Commissioner Kevin Chapple’s blog and Life in Mount Vernon Square. You can also view a video of Chief Librarian Cooper’s response to a question I asked about why the new design does not incorporate a cafe.

Libraries are a big issue for Ward 2 — with the future of the District’s central MLK library uncertain, the building of a new library for Shaw, restoration of the Georgetown library after the fire, and the renovation of the West End library, which was almost sold off to developers without public notice and comment. It is important that we get it right, as these libraries will be with us for the next generation.

What do you think? How can we best design libraries for the 21st Century?

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