Saturday, September 23, 2006

Dunbar High School Facilities Under Par

McKinkley High School, profiled in the last post, is in the far northeast corner of 5C-02. In the far southeastern corner of the district is Dunbar High School.

Dunbar's very successful football team will be highlighted on national television next month, but this morning's Washington Post reports that members of the team
worry that the school in the District's Shaw neighborhood will become a national disgrace should the telecast highlight conditions that athletes confront daily: The running track that encircles the football field has been condemned because of potholes. The carpet in the locker room is tattered and the showers moldy. The secondhand equipment in the weight room is rusty; the floor tiles are cracked and the benches so ripped that nearly as much foam padding as black vinyl cover is showing.
D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey has released a $2.3 billion plan for renovating school buildings and academics, but the help will not arrive at Dunbar until 2011. Naturally, students and parents want the renovations to begin right away.

Not only is the track team dodging potholes (the track has been condemned for meet use, but is still used for practice), but the Post reports that
Kierra Roulhac, 16, co-captain of the girls' track team, said the showers are so nasty that students refuse to use them. After physical education class or an early morning practice, most students opt to go to class without showering.

Last year, she said, 10 of the girls on the track team would shower at the nearby home of a teammate's grandmother. But the girl graduated, and the team is looking for another place to shower. Until then, Roulhac said, "I'll just spray perfume on myself."
Several residents in the neighborhood have stated that they want Dunbar to open the track to residents and local children. In addition to safety concerns, the following may be some reasons why the school has locked the facility:
A chain-link fence surrounding the field has had numerous holes cut through it, allowing trespassers to enter at night. Sometimes, Gordon said, students find dog feces on the field, used condoms in the stands and broken glass on the track. Over the years, thieves made off with parts from the public-address system and several rows of metal bleachers.
By the way, how much is Superintendent Janey earning to combat this dilapidation? From the Washington Times, March 2006:

D.C. schools Superintendent Clifford B. Janey is the highest-paid school official in fiscal 2006, with a base salary of $250,000, not including a performance bonus last year of $25,000.

(Photo Credit: Kevin Clark -- The Washington Post)

Friday, September 22, 2006

Audit Outlines Errors in McKinley High School Renovation Plan

From today's Washington Times:

The $25 million renovation of McKinley Technology High School in Northeast has cost more than $80 million because of questionable contracting and design errors, a D.C. audit reports.

The report by D.C. City Auditor Deborah K. Nichols singles out for criticism the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which served as project manager for the McKinley renovation under a deal with the public school system. The Army Corps issued more than $11.2 million in no-bid contracts for the project, including more than $6 million to D.C.-based McKissack & McKissack, an architectural firm.

The Corps responds:
But Army Corps officials said the project was budgeted at $76.5 million, not $25 million, and that costs have risen about 5.8 percent above original projections.
Read the full story here.

Photo credit: Davis Construction

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Chaos Rules at the ANC Meeting

Chaos ruled at the 5C Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner meeting last night, at least for a while.

Rashidi Christian, an outspoken member of the Edgewood Civic Association, sounded off at least three times against the Fairfield project. Fairfield is a very large (535 unit) proposed residential and commercial complex to be located near Eckington Place and the New York Avenue Metro. The Fairfield representative said that the amentities package was now at $160,000, but Christian was adament that Fairfield had not met with the Edgewood C.A. in good faith.

Christian was particularly concerned that, in his view, Fairfield would be marketing the residences as a "childless community." At some point, Commissioner Tom Fulton (5C-03) stated that "as the only openly gay public official in Ward Five, I find [Christian's] line of questioning offensive." Christian began yelling in response.

Eartha Isaac chimed in: "Will the respresentative from Eckington say anything" about the project? Perhaps she referring to Commissioner Jones, who was silent throughout the meeting, until her brief Treasurer's report.

Commissioner Marshall R. Phillips, Sr. (5C-08) then stated that he was annoyed that Fulton repeatedly brought up the fact that he was openly gay at meetings. Fulton adamently denied this, and said that the record would support him. I believe Mr. Christian was still yelling.

At this point, the meeting descended into chaos. A few minutes later, James D. Berry, Jr. (5C-01) brought the meeting back from the brink with some conciliatory words that brought applause from the audience and both Phillips and Fulton.

Harry Thomas, Jr., the winner of the Democratic primary for the Ward Five City Council seat, spoke for about five minutes at the end of the meeting. He mentioned that he will be hosting a breakfast for all ANC commissioner candidates in the near future to talk about the role of the ANCs. I definitely plan to attend.

Thomas is hoping to develop a plan to make the ANCs, police, and civic associations work together better. He added that "We must treat our police officers like human beings," particularly in light of the heavy schedules the officers have been enduring lately.

After Thomas finished his speech, Commissioner Robert V. Brannum (5C-04) demanded that Thomas's remarks be stricken from the minutes, because the remarks were political. I think Brannum may be confusing his role as commissioner to be nonpartisan. The ANC meetings are a public forum for the exchange of ideas, including political ideas. Thomas's speech certainly wasn't partisan, but it wouldn't have been a problem if it had been partisan, so long as his opponent (nonexistent at this point on the Republican side of the aisle) is given the opportunity to speak as well.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Eckington Civic Association Meeting

I attended the Eckington Civic Association (ECA) monthly meeting tonight as I often have in the past. The ECA meetings are held at McKinley Technology High School.

My election opponent was not present. Perhaps that is because the Bloomingdale Civic Association (BCA) meetings are the same night as the ECA. Bloomingdale is essentially outside our ANC single-member district, but Commissioner Jones is a former (?) resident of Bloomingdale and former president of the BCA.

The Joe Mamo condo project at Florida Avenue and North Capitol Street came up first. For those of you not familar with "amenities packages," those buzz words refer to what some might call bribery of the community by developers who want to grease the regulatory machinery. Most people view it as a way for developers to compensate the community for some of the externalities (costs) imposed by their projects on the community.

ECA President Eartha Isaac noted that the first Mamo proposal (as suggested by someone at the Planning Commission) was to build an $80,000 statue as a community amenity (that was quickly shot down). Instead, Mamo will donate $110,000 to a list of 16 organizations and schools, with money going "to schools I've never heard of," Isaac said.

Notably,
Emery Elementary School is not on the amenities recipients list.

Isaac asserted that there is no written ANC policy on amenities packages, and that the policy is a "moving target" that "depends on the development." Beginning with the Mamo project, the amenities benefits are suppose to be spread throughout ANC 5-c rather than just within a close radius of a project. But Isaac pointed out that there is nothing to stop the new ANC in January from changing the new policy yet again
, when the current "policy" would otherwise benefit the North Capitol Street cooridor.

Joe Lilavois spoke about the fact that the D.C. Preservation League is holding a September 28 hearing on the application to grant historical status to the St. Martin's Convent and City Lights School (possibly against the will of the owner, St. Martins Catholic Church). Lilavois may have ulterior motives here... namely, his secret affection for nuns (just kidding you, Joe).

Stacie Birenbach raised awareness about a traffic calming study she had reviewed. She is particularly concerned about traffic traveling up Eckington Place, then onto R Street N.E. The intersection of Eckington, Florida and New York Avenue is a mess, definitely not "calm" during rush hour. But none of three proposals in the study looked satisfying.

One thing looks to be a good bet: the employees at the Wendy's located on Florida Avenue should have an exit strategy for when the city decides to raze "our only local sitdown restaurant" in favor of a traffic circle.

Finally, Charlene McCullers is organizing a community clean-up project for October 28.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Worthy Charitable Organizations in ANC 5C-02

If I wanted to donate money to support a charitable organization in the neighborhood, who should I support? I had thought about So Others Might Eat (SOME), located on O Street NW, but they've got some issues. The closest Boys & Girls Club is located on M Street, just outside the ANC.

Any suggestions? Comments and/or emails, please!

Metropolitan Wesley A.M.E. Zion Church

This morning, I attended the Metropolitan Wesley A.M.E. Zion Church (1712 North Capitol Street, N.W.), located about a block from my house. The architecture of this church building is impressive, my photos don't do it justice. Check out the close-up of the entrance, with the stained glass windows.

Before the service, I spoke with a gentleman named Washington who graduated from McKinnley High School in 1962. He said that back in the early 1960s, North Capitol Street was a quiet street, if you can believe that. Washington added that one could drive straight down to the Capitol building and then straight on to South Capitol Street, but that all changed due to security concerns. He concluded with the statement "God is our security." That's what the man said.

Service began around 11:15 a.m. The instrumentalist was absent this Sunday, but the congregation clapped and sang enthusiastically to songs it apparently knew by heart. The pastor began his sermon around 12:30. By that time, the congregation had grown from 75 to more than 110. I plan to visit this church again . . .