Mount Pleasant DC Forum

[Barbara S. Hayden]

Although only advisory, the 2011 - 2013 session of MtP's Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) will be pivotal in charting the future of Mt. Pleasant. Civic groups have a role in shaping that future, of course, but the ANC is the only truly democratic and open- to- all forum in the neighborhood where we can discuss that future.

We have enthusiastic new candidates running for 5 of the 6 seats, some of them as write in candidates. It's an exciting time, but it's not a time for rookies at the helm of the ANC. We will lose ground with the city and waste months getting them oriented to DC government culture and ANC procedures. I'm relieved that I can re-elect Jack McKay in my district and send an old hand back to the ANC, but I'm spooked this Halloween day by what the rest of you face on your ballots. New names that might appear on your particular ballots are Phil Greiner and Adam Hoey - both on the board of Mt Pleasant Main Street - and John Craig, who has been heard by three people at the Board of Elections and Ethics saying he "wants to get the riff raff and marginals off of Mt. Pleasant St."

All three of these candidates are from the same demographic: they are young upwardly mobile white professional males. A culturally homogenous ANC will not stop the relentless gentrification of Mt. Pleasant. Although Gregg Edwards and Jack McKay are both white guys, they are old, have given up upward mobility, and have more perspective on the causes of gentrification. Ditto for Angelia Scott, who is Black, female, and safeguards the interests of the socially marginalized. Greiner, Hoey, and Craig no doubt want to do good, but their ideas for neighborhood improvement will grease our slide into gentrification.

These chaps have not been attending ANC meetings: how can they know what is in store for them if they don't participate, watch, and learn? Some of their complaints about the ANC reveal their lack of research and preparation. For example, they claim that the ANC is not transparent enough. Have they not noticed the following:
1. Within 24 hours of an ANC meeting, the Secretary posts the proceedings, resolutions, and attendance roster on the ANC1d.org web site and on this forum
2. The Treasurer posts quarterly financial reports on both of those sites
3. Street posters advertise every ANC meeting, enabling neighbors without computers to be invited. List serve invites also go out.
4. Neighbors have one full meeting every month for public comment and the first half of the second meeting to speak to the Commission.
5. Neighbors can sit through the crafting of resolutions as they are projected on a screen in the front of the room.
What other civic group is this transparent?

Hoey and Greiner present their service on the board of Mt. Pleasant Main Street as a qualification for serving on the ANC. But in all respects, the ANC functions differently than MPMS. In brief:
* the ANC commissioners are democratically elected volunteers
* MPMS are self-selected volunteers
* the ANC invites public participation
* MPMS has no apparent method for getting full neighborhood input
* the ANC meetings are public
* MPMS meetings are private
* the ANC web site is open to all, in depth
* MPMS's site requires registration to be searched in depth
* the ANC follows all procedures of the DC home rule charter, files quarterly reports, is closely watched by the DC Auditor.
* MPMS follows by-laws of their own composing, abides by 501 (c) 3 requirements of the city
* the entire neighborhood is represented by 6 seats on the ANC
* volunteers are welcome to MPMS from any demographic but end up being primarily young professionals with an interest in or experience in urban planning and econ development.

What's at stake is this: Can we together forge a vibrant and diverse neighborhood that is an economic engine for the city, but is different than Columbia Heights or Barracks Row? If you vote for Angelia Scott, Gregg Edwards, and Jack McKay - if you send back 3 old hands who can hit the ground running in January - Mt P might achieve this. If you elect Craig, Greiner, and Hoey, we'll get gentrification: the unimaginative and short term solution to urban blight. I encourage this trio of bright, eager change makers to become students of the ANC for the next 2 years: they need to learn how a truly democratic institution runs.

Thanks for your patience in reading this long post!

[Bill]

Ms. Hayden,

Thank you for your unconvincing diatribe and polarizing comments. It is postings like these that remind me to vote against my ANC incumbent (Mr. Edwards).

It took Mr. Edwards' electoral signs to be stolen to finally bring himself to post on this forum, followed by him posting accolades to his incumbent position. It's all about Mr. Edwards to Mr. Edwards and nothing about engaging the community. Both posts--someone stole my signs--but hey see who thinks I'm great are egotistical and shallow..... While Jack will be re-elected, I urge others to take a good hard look at what this ANC has accomplished, or not accomplished and vote accordingly.

[Barbara S. Hayden]

Bills point is valid: "let's take a good hard look at what this ANC has accomplished." What has this ANC produced? But then, how much can any ANC produce? The ANC is only advisory: city agencies are supposed to listen to - and respond to - the ANC's arguments and evidence. When city agencies fail to do this, it's not the ANC's fault. It is the fault of city agencies who ignore the home rule charter apropos ANCs.

Go to visit ANC1d.org and read the resolutions that come out of every meeting, and the arguments for the resolutions, which are well supported with research and neighborhood input. Look at how many issues this ANC addresses at each meeting. I think it has worked very hard to meet the needs of the neighborhood - pressing needs as well as planning needs.

Bill criticizes Gregg Edwards for not posting on this forum. Many people do not post on this forum - it takes a lot of time and is not always rational discourse that is valuable to the reader. This forum can be a swirl of opinions, exaggeration, and gossip, some of it very damaging, hurtful, and untrue. We could, if we stuck to facts we were sure of, fulfill the forum's potential to help us communicate constructively with one another.

Bill also finds fault with Gregg Edwards for posting his endorsements on the forum this weekend. The "accolades" Gregg Edwards posted for voters to see were endorsements by city officials with whom he has worked with over the last few years: do you think voters should not see these endorsements? I think voters need to know which candidate is endorsed by Jim Graham., the most effective council member Ward 1 has ever had, and that administrators in city agencies, the target of most ANC resolutions, have found Gregg's work on the ANC helpful. This is evidence, this is the proof you urged we look for.

I accept Bill's opinion that my posting was an unconvincing diatribe. My posting certainly was an opinion but it did contain some facts for voters to chew over, such as how does the ANC function in contrast to how civics like MPMS function. I don't want my neighborhood run by civics organizations because they are not transparent or democratically elected, yet the city has given civics a lot of power and money.

We are all still learning and evolving.

Bill, see you at the next ANC meeting, regardless of who wins!

[ilana-mtp]

Please vote them out!!

We don't all have the choice to vote the incumbents out or to vote for truly independent voices but this ANC has been nothing but polarizing in their way of doing business.
They all act as if they were elected dictators of the neighborhood and they have nothing but contempt for all of us (except for one or two restaurant owners...).

And my suggestion to those with a candidate you don't like who is the only name on the ballot (and no write-in advertised): leave the field blank.
With less than 200 votes, it will be hard(er) to claim representing "all of DC"...

Ilana

[jack]

Thanks to Barbara Hayden for her endorsement of my candidacy. This is what keeps me going at this unpaid job: expressions of support from my constituents. Tomorrow we'll find out how many think I should continue for a fifth ANC term.

As for the criticisms of this particular set of six commissioners, and the notion that it is "divisive", well, just for example, let's consider the actions taken at the most recent monthly meeting.

(1) Endorsed the DDOT design for rebuilding the Adams Mill/Kenyon/Irving intersection so that, among other things, people can make the left turn from westbound Kenyon onto southbound Adams Mill, a maneuver that is currently prohibited (but done anyway).

(2) Called for a pedestrian crosswalk and traffic light on 16th Street at the Woodner, where people cross the street in large numbers, many going to and from the bus stop/shelter in front of the Woodner.

(3) Called on the MPD to find out why its robbery clearance rate remains well below national averages, to improve the ability of the MPD to identify and arrest people committing street robberies.

Well, which of the above is "divisive"? What objections do people have concerning these actions? What would the people challenging the ANC incumbents do about these issues? Do they disagree with any of the above?

Of course, there's virtually no discussion of these things, nor of the great majority of the 80-plus resolutions passed by this ANC during the 2009-2010 term. There's just a lot of talk about a very few, for example, the endorsement of the night club liquor license application by Haydee's. Very well -- I ask, what would the challenging candidates have done about that application? How would Adam Hoey, Phil Greiner, John Craig have voted on that resolution? I haven't heard anything about their positions on this hot-button issue.

Mount Pleasant Main Street, by the way, punted on the night-club license issue, declining to take a position, for or against.

-- Jack

[kelly5612]

Ms. Hayden states, "When city agencies fail to do this, it's not the ANC's fault. It is the fault of city agencies who ignore the home rule charter apropos ANCs."

True, but when a commissioner acts in such a manner as to call into question his professionalism and/or sanity, thereby reducing the reputation and priority of Mt. Pleasant in the eyes of city agency officials, the fault lies with the commissioner. Mr. Edwards' grandiose plans and alienating discourse have done much harm in branding our neighborhood as little more than an urban bowl of granola: full of fruits, nuts and flakes. CM Graham has even stated privately that his plans for MtP are to leave it alone "and let the market take care of it."

So that's where this ANC has gotten us among city agencies: the subject of disdain, snickering and/or outright dismissal.

[jack]

[jack]

This is an opportune time to mention some of the operational changes made by this ANC in recent years. With at least half the Commission changing, there's no certainty that these changes will be continued. These things weren't done before 2003, when I was first elected to the ANC.

* All meeting minutes, and all resolutions passed, are posted on neighborhood Web sites, namely here on this Forum, and on the Mount Pleasant Yahoo! site.

* Agendas, such as they exist, are posted on my own Web site, with links posted here. http://dcjack.org/anc1d/next_meeting_notes.html

* Audio recordings of our meetings are made, and are posted on my own site, with links from other sites, including the Forum. http://dcjack.org/ancaudio.html

* Spanish interpretation of our meetings is provided, with simultaneous-interpretation headsets for Spanish speakers.

* Resolutions under discussion are displayed on a screen, so that the audience at our meetings can see what we're working on. Editing of text is done live, on-screen, for all to see. The computer and projector apparatus also allows display of photos and drawings of things under discussion, e.g., of houses whose owners are seeking historic-district alteration permits.

* In addition to the monthly business meeting, this ANC holds monthly "informal" meetings, for free and open dialog with residents.

These things weren't done in earlier years, nor does any other ANC in the city do so much to make its proceedings accessible to all. And Gregg was the one responsible for most of these changes, e.g., the computer-projector apparatus, and the monthly informal meetings.

-- Jack

[Old Timer]

14,000 residents in Mt Pleasant and less than 10% will vote for ANC Commissioners.

This ANC has attacked community organizations and it will not stop until we have voted them off and set term limits.

People do not vote because we really do not have a choice when people run un-opposed.

If you want to lift the ban on single sales of alcohol and restore public drinking in Mt. Pleasant or you support the rerouting of the 42 busline or if you enjoy hours and hours of drinking with no food requirements by all means vote for Mr. McKay and Mr. Edwards.

The record is pathetic

[dc76er]

@ilana-mtp
your very own contemptuous posting is hardly convincing. how about some real facts instead of just noise.

@Bill
thanks so much from sparing us from your own diatribe. Your short paragraph was more than enough. Based on your small flame i figure that you couldn't come up with anything as thoughtful as Barbara's post.

[kelly5612]

[Bill]

@dc76er: speaking of flames, here's hoping that Mr. Edwards re-election bid goes down in flames.

[tyc1980]

I wonder if Mr. Edwards' and Mr. McKay's support for selling single cans of beer is part of their agenda for improving Mt. Pleasant. I would love for someone to provide a convincing argument as to how selling single cans of beer could possibly improve Mt. Pleasant. Does it benefit anyone in our neighborhood when an intoxicated, obnoxious jerk is vomiting and urinating on himself in Lamont Park while families are trying to enjoy it? The ban on single sales obviously doesn't end the problem, but removing the ban will do nothing but make the problem worse.

[ilana-mtp]

@dc76er (good choice of team BTW):
Some data points:

1) Arguing for a red-light district and a nightclub in Mt Pleasant -- Trying to get this issue back on the table after it was turned DOWN by the board.

2) Defense of the cutting down a tree on Mt Pleasant street and paving over it -- It's cold and still no tree back there...

3) Rerouting bus 42 (ludicrous does not even cover it-- I thought first it was a joke...)

Is this enough or do you want some more?

I am not so much arguing that their position was/is wrong. What was really irritating reading the discussions on all the subjects above was the complete unwillingness to "LISTEN" to the people in the neighborhood. The most common defense "we don't function by polling" or "we were elected, so by definition we represent the people (of DC!) and we can do whatever we think is good for them.. ".

Don't get me started -- Maybe you have not noticed, but it is this kind of attitude ("let's shove this law down people's throat, they'll forget after a while") that is getting people really upset those days.

[jack]