Are We Prepared?

Yesterday's news reports that the U.K. and United States thwarted an almost-imminent terrorist attack designed to destory as many as ten international airline flights dramatically reaffirmed the simple truth that a future major terrorist on the District continues to be a possibility. Is our neighborhood prepared?

In January 2002, the Department of Justice funded a National Crime Prevention Council report titled "United for a Stronger America: Citizens’ Preparedness Guide." The purpose of the guide is to "help Americans learn how to make preparedness a part of their daily lives and improve their neighborhoods and communities in the process." Some of the suggestions include:

● "Make a neighborhood directory and plan. Identify neighbors who need additional help, such as young children, seniors, and those with disabilities, and develop a plan to assist them in an emergency."

● "Organize an emergency preparedness kit." We are expected to "Check batteries, change the stored water, and rotate the food supplies every six months." (Do the battery-powered fire alarms in your home chirp for days before you get around to changing the batteries?) Consider the magnitude of the supermarket raids when an inch of snow falls in this city and multiply that by a factor of 10 in the event of a terrorist attack that knocks out the food and energy supply for days.... that image may provide some motivation.

Your home preparedness kit should contain the following supplies:

- A three-to-five-day supply of water (one gallon per person per day)
- Food that will not spoil and requires no cooking (consult your local college student for details)
- A first-aid kit and needed medicines
- Emergency tools like a battery-powered radio, cell phones, flashlight, and extra batteries
- Toilet paper and plastic garbage bags
- A portable emergency generator if possible.

● "Be prepared to help others. Take a CPR and first-aid training course or get your neighborhood group to take it together."

● "Find out if your area has a Neighborhood Watch group or community association. If not, work with neighbors to start one. "

● "Be alert. Get to know your neighbors."

These are all good suggestions, most of which would be beneficial to the community even without the threat of a terrorism. Remember Katrina. We cannot assume that the government will swiftly restore order in the event of a paralyzing catastrophe.

If we don't know each other, distrust will inhibit our ability to quickly do what is necessary. Even if we don't know each other, mutual knowledge of a common community plan will help build trust quickly.... so what's the plan?

You can find the plan for our neighborhood developed by the D.C. Emergency Management Agency here. As suggested on page 20 of the plan, does anyone know of whether a Neighborhood Corps registered with D.C. Citizen Corps exists in the Eckington-Bloomingdale-Edgewood area?

Why I am running for Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner

First of all, thank you for visiting my blog. If you live in ANC 5C-02, this simple act says something about you. It demonstrates that you are concerned about your neighborhood and that you want to elect the right person to represent you on the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC). I hope that over the course of the next three months, I will win your confidence in my ability to do the job.

I am running because I want our neighborhood to have the best representation possible on the ANC. The best person for the job might not be the candidate who has lived in the neighborhood the longest. He or she might not be a carbon-copy of the demographics of the area. You might disagree with that person on some political issues.

The question you should ask about an ANC candidate is, first and foremost, will this person listen to my concerns about commercial development, parking, crime, and other issues important to me? Will they act on my concerns? The Commissioner is not going to do your personal business for you, but he/she should help point you in the right direction and take action when doing so will benefit several other neighbors.

In order to listen to your concerns, the Commissioner must make him or herself available to you. How else will the Commissioner know what your concerns (or praises) are? Our current Commissioner has not done this. She has not held meetings with her constituents. If elected, I will hold at least one in-person townhall-style meeting with all constituents every three months (perhaps more often if there are pressing issues).

Secondly, once the Commissioner knows where you stand, he or she must be an effective advocate for your interests. When a commercial developer comes to the meeting seeking ANC endorsement, the Commissioner must be careful to make sure that the often-competing interests of the neighborhood are covered. Neighbors are going to disagree about all sorts of things, so it's important to try to balance everyone's interests.

Last year, when a local church decided to build a very large low-income-housing apartment complex in our neighborhood, our current Commissioner thought that this was such a noble idea that no real discussion with her neighbors was needed. This was a mistake that the Commissioner has yet to resolve.

The intentions of the church appear to have been noble and the availability of affordable housing is a great concern. A more effective Commissioner would have brought both sides together to talk early on; instead, the ANC voted on the issue before most of the constituents even knew about the proposal. Today, the church's proposal is worse off than it would have been if the community had been informed from the beginning.

Your ANC representative should also effectively advocate your concerns to the City Council and the Mayor. We sometimes wonder whether our neighborhood is being treated differently than other parts of the city. Should a homeless shelter with clients that include sex offenders be located next to an elementary school? This issue is now on the road to resolution largely due to the hard work of an unelected citizen and her civic association.

I also believe that we can improve the Commission itself. Anyone who has ever been to an ANC meeting knows that the meetings run a bit long and that few voters know when the ANC meetings are taking place. This must change. We must reach out to all citizens, not just those people who are connected to either the Internet or the right people. Most of the Commissioners do a decent job, but there is never a bad time for new ideas and strategies.

When I picked up petitions earlier today to begin the process of securing a place on the ballot in November, I had to fill out a total of four forms. All of the forms were essential, but it reminded me that much of the time we find ourselves confronted by bureaucratic government machinery.

We neighbors want some aspects of our neighborhood to change (crime!) and other aspects we cherish to be preserved. Yet so often we feel alienated from our government, wondering whether we will ever see our vision for our neighborhood come to pass. Only by working together, all people of all backgrounds and perspectives, can we hope to achieve our goals. I look forward to working with you to make our mutual vision a reality.

Kris Hammond
ANC 5C-02 candidate