Report from the ANC Meeting

I attended the Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting tonight. It was far tamer than the last meeting. I have secured video footage of the meeting last month, filmed from a vantage point outside the Harry Thomas Recreational Center. You can view that footage here (it should start playing automatically).

The 7 p.m. meeting tonight was more of the standard fare that those of us who have attended several meetings in the past have come to expect. Nature abhors a vacuum, so although the meeting easily could have ended by 8 p.m., it lasted until nearly 9 p.m.

A police officer from PSA 501 gave a report. He said that manpower is increasing, and therefore there are opportunities for neighborhood policing. "The foot beat is a strange concept to a lot of officers," he said. I will do my best to normalize this "strange" concept, because it is what the residents want from their police department.

Edgewood Civic Assocation member Rashidi Christian questioned the usefulness of the new police cameras. He argued that although his law-abiding movements are filmed every day, the criminals simply take their businesses around the corner. He has a good point, although I was able to verify that the cameras are not monitored in real time, so police officers are not taken off the street to monitor the cameras.

A while later, Rashida engaged in an extended, heated exchange with all of the council members concerning whether the ANC received or will receive cash payments from developers. I think he is concerned about the ANC being "bribed" to provide its approval to various development projects. ANC members assured Rashidi that the ANC had not received any payments.

A representative from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Developement gave a brief presentation on the Neighborhood Investment Fund (NIF). I think this is a concept that could do wonders for our neighborhood with strong leadership. Currently, $15,000 is available for small projects (completion within 6 months) and $75,000 for large projects. ANC 5C-02 is wholly within the NIF's target areas.

After 8 p.m., Commissioner Cleopatra Jones robotically read various announcements in a monotone voice for twenty minutes straight. She read the Fall leaf pickup flyer that she acknowledge that everyone was supposed to already have received in the mail. She read an extended portion of a bureaucratic announcement stating that translations of something are available for nonEnglish-speaking folks.

I began to wonder whether violations of the Geneva Convention were occurring when Jones read a listing of every single matter set to come before the Historical Preservation Board at its October 26 meeting. Very few people here are interested in a variance to install new windows in a historical townhouse on the other side of town. It's about prioritizing, and I will streamline meetings to the extent possible.

ANC announcements should be distributed via flyers or by providing the details on overheads, so that people can read as much as they wish to comprehend while the highlights are given orally. Here are the critical announcements in my view: two liquor store applications (stores located at 322 Florida Avenue NW and 1522 North Capitol Street N.W.) are up for review on October 25th at 9:30 a.m. at 941 North Capitol Street NW, 7th floor.