Communication Is Key

As a commissioner, it will be my foremost duty to communicate with all residents and pass on those concerns to public officials, police, city planners, and commercial developers.

My opponent, incumbent commissioner Cleopatra Jones, recently posted the following message on the Eckington listserv:

Dear Constituents/ Neighbors: Smile you are on camera! Hard work has benefitted the community. Surveillance cameras to deter crime are up on the corner of Lincoln Road & R. Street, NE. The community will be getting more cameras installed, I will give you an up-date as cameras pop -up.

I have mixed feelings about the cameras and hope that they will deter crime rather than move it from R Street to my street. The problem is that Jones did not ask anyone in a public forum about whether we wanted these cameras in the neighborhood. One anonymous resident responded via another listserv:

Hey Cleopatra, instead of putting up surveillance cameras and calling it "hard work that has benefited the community", how about some real hard work by enabling our police officers to do their jobs? We have 100s that are off the street because of bogus allegations by criminals . . . Next time I'm getting mugged I'll be sure to look at the camera and smile.

That statement is a bit unfair, but that resident believes that the cameras are not the answer, and that community policing would be more helpful. (For that matter, police representatives claim that there are police officers walking the streets, but I don't ever see them.)

Incidentally, on her official website, Jones states: "Having been a commissioner the last two terms (four years) in SMD 5C03 . . ." Actually, she is a former commissioner of 5C-03, then she moved to our ANC (5C-02) in 2003 and won the race in 2004.

As for the ANC's News page, it has not been updated since the September 1, 2004 posting of a press release announcing "ANC 5C to Sponsor City-Wide Town Hall Meeting on Housing Affordability." Two years later, that issue is still a frequent topic of discussion. More on that later.

A Visit to Catania Bakery

Did you realize that there is a bakery operating in our neighborhood? Most people do not, even though it has been in operation since 1932. Catania Bakery (1404 North Capitol Street N.W. at O Street N.W.) is open only on Wednesdays (from 7 a.m.) and Saturdays (from 7:30 a.m.), and it is easy to overlook given that many of the stores in the area are vacant or just recently opened.

But it is definitely worth a look. I stopped by the bakery for the first time this morning around 10 a.m. I was greeted by a friendly woman with a delicious assortment of pastries, cakes, French/Italian breads, and biscotti (click on any of these photos for a bigger view).

Best of all, the price is right. I bought eight pastries (6 of the raspberry, blueberry, and strawberry items that you see to the left and two croissants) for $7.40. You do the math-- these prices are about half of what you'd pay at Au Bon Pain. I plan to make a regular Wednesday morning stop here on my way to work. The store hours may expand once other businesses begin operating in the area.

Speaking of which, while I was taking pictures, in walked Brian Brown. Earlier this year, Brian and his business partner successfully bid on the old D.C. Firehouse located at North Capitol & R Street N.W., which they plan to turn into a restaurant.
This business endeavor will renew a blighted area in our neighborhood and make productive use of neglected city property badly in need of historic restoration. It also has the potential to be an incredible cultural magnet where individuals of all backgrounds can share live music. Brian told me that he had received the contract from the City and was in the process of reviewing it. I'm looking forward to hearing about further progress.

MPD Emergency Crime Meeting

This past Monday, I attended the "emergency community meeting" called by ANC Commissioner Robert V. Brannum, held at Saint George's Episcopal Church (2nd and U Streets, NW, not far from my house).

Brannum called the meeting in response to "a surge in home burglaries in recent weeks." Officials of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (Fifth District) led the meeting. About two commissioners, nine residents, and four police officers attended. Dee from Councilman Vincent Orange's office also attended.

Lt. Purnell spoke most of the meeting. He suggested that residents vary their schedules slightly so that criminals cannot gauge expected arrival/departure times. He emphasized that residents should consider purchasing an alarm system with a monitoring service that calls police. The next best thing is a dog and motion-triggered outdoor lights, he said.

Furthermore, Lt. Purnell noted that when walking home, it is important to be aware of one's surroundings. Before exiting one's vehicle, see if someone is standing nearby. "If it doesn't feel right, call the police," Lt. Purnell said, adding, "Don't be tunnel-visioned [when walking to] your door."

The officers took several questions from residents in attendance. I asked whether officers were walking the beat in our neighborhood, because I had never seen any officers doing so. Purnell said that foot patrols do indeed work the neighborhood from the afternoon through the evening (please post a comment if you have witnessed these foot patrols).

Lt. Purnell finished with a discussion of how to make identification of suspects easier for the police. He noted that the most popular description was "male, in white t-shirt and jeans," which identifies half of the neighborhood. Instead, residents should consider working with police officers by giving the dispatcher a call-back number so that officers can ask additional details. Lt. Purnell shared a police technique that requires the continued bravery and cooperation of residents. Whenever reporting criminal activity, residents should take a good look at the persons involved so as to later be able to "paint that picture for us."