Did Cleopatra Jones File to Be a Candidate?

Take a look at the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics website here.

As you can see, I picked up petitions to get my name on the ballot on the first day the petitions became available, August 9. I filed more than enough signatures on August 30, and then filed additional signatures this past Thursday. As of that Thursday, the day before the very last day to file, Commissioner Jones had not filed her petitions.

Perhaps Jones is rethinking another term as ANC. As for myself, I probably will not serve more than one term. I think it is important to have turnover on the ANC so that both newcomers and longtime residents are represented. Wisdom comes with experience, but fresh perspectives are valuable as well.

If Jones is running, she has waited till the last minute to file her ballot petitions. However, several other candidates are waiting till the last minute as well (you can see other ANC singlemember districts by changing the last number in the link above).

I think it's usually best not to wait till the last minute to accomplish a task so important . . . speaking of which, today is September 9th and this month's ANC meeting has not been announced yet on its website. My job sometimes requires me to travel, but I usually have the flexibility to plan that travel around important engagements. But with short notice this month, that may not be possible, and I might have to miss this month's ANC meeting. Drat.

Update 9/11/06: As expected, Cleopatra filed on Friday, 9/8/2006. She has wished me "good luck," I return the same to her as well.

A Conversation With Joyce Robinson-Paul

On Sunday afternoon, I met Joyce Robinson-Paul. She served our ANC single-member district for several years, until 2004. She lives on N Street NW. When I spoke with other residents in the area, it became clear that there is a lot of respect for her due to all of the things she did for our community.

Currently, Robinson-Paul is running for "Shadow Senator" for the District of Columbia, although she is not fond of the term "shadow." She clearly isn't the type of person who operates in a shadow, particularly when it comes to advocating for statehood for the District.

Robinson-Paul had a lot of things to say about our current ANC commissioners. Notably, she says that ANC 5C has plenty of funds, but no central business office. This strikes her as being ridiculous: "They walk around like nomads with $200,000 in the bank."

She agreed with my assessment that much more must be done to publicize ANC meetings in the community. Robinson-Paul added that at one point local children were paid to deliver the publicity flyers door-to-door, but the ANC discontinued the practice because some people didn't want children to be paid. "You mean they'd rather not teach children the values that result from working for extra spending money?" I asked. "They thought that the children should do it as a part of their civic duty rather than being paid for it," she replied.

Well, it's hard enough to persuade people to show up and vote once every two years, but some people think that children will work for hours every month out of civic duty. There is a gap between what we wish people would do, and what is realistic. What is realistic? The careful use of ANC funds to publicize the meetings to the people the ANC is supposed to serve, while engaging children in activity that teaches work ethic and rewards their efforts. I think we should bring back the flyer distribution program as soon as possible.

(Photo credit: The Common Denominator newspaper)

Sounds of Gunfire on O Street NW

On Saturday in the late afternoon, I chatted with Sarah, who lives on O Street NW, and her friends. She is a teacher at a correctional facility. One of her concerns is that Dunbar High School does not permit local youth to use its playing field, but yet the school rents the field to a local private school.

While we are talking, a rapid series of explosions could be heard, coming from a street north of us. Given that there was only a fraction of a second between each sound, I speculated that we were hearing fireworks. Maybe I'm an optimist. Sarah thought otherwise, because she had just seen some youth who she believes have access to firearms. Then we heard sirens a while later, and Sarah expressed her concern that one of her students might have been shot.

I asked Sarah if she had ever seen police officers walking in the neighborhood, as a regular beat. She replied that the police are definitely not on foot in the area, and that "the only time they're out of their cars is if they're picking picking up shell casings."

I myself have not seen officers on foot where I live on North Capitol Street. Folks on the local listserv have seen officers, but only recently. I asked a neighbor on my street who is continuously sitting on the front porch, and he said officers would never be seen walking on the street until approximately two weeks ago.

Perhaps it's the political attention to this issue or something else, but it appears that walking beats are a very new phenomenon in our neighborhood. So whenever you see an officer walking in our neighborhood, stop him/her and let the officer know how much you appreciate the presence, and let them know your concerns about crime.