Final Ward 4 candidates forum before the primary, Thursday 3/29 in Brightwood Park

This is the last Ward 4 candidates forum (that I know of...please email me if you know something I don't) before the April 3 primary election.

Ward 4 Candidates Forum
When: Thursday, March 29, 7:00 pm
Where: Brightwood Park United Methodist Church, 744 Jefferson Street NW

Presented by ANC4D01 Commissioner Monica Green and Pastor Gerald Elston of Brightwood Park United Methodist Church. Moderated by Mark Seagraves of WTOP.

In advance of the event, your questions can be tweeted to @SeagravesWTOP with the hashtag #AskMark, or emailed to him. For further details, email 4D01 commissioner Monica Green.

Upcoming At-Large and Ward 4 candidates forums

We're getting closer to the April 3 primary. Mark your calendars for the following opportunities to hear the candidates discuss the issues that are facing us.

Washington City Paper/WPFW At-Large Forum
When: Tuesday, March 20, 8:00 pm (that's tonight!)
Where: The Black Cat, 1811 14 Street NW
Moderated by Loose Lips columnist Alan Suderman, WPFW DC Politics host Chuck Thies, and NBC4's Tom Sherwood.

Featuring candidates:
Sekou Biddle
E. Gail Anderson Holness
Vincent Orange
Peter Shapiro


Ward 4 Democrats At-Large Forum
When: Wednesday, March 21, 7:00 pm
Where: Emery Recreation Center, 5701 Georgia Avenue NW
This is a candidates forum only and will not include a vote to endorse a specific candidate. Moderated by Mark Seagraves of WTOP.


ANC4D Ward 4 Candidates Forum
When: Thursday, March 29, 7:00 pm
Where: Brightwood Park United Methodist Church, 744 Jefferson Street NW
Presented by ANC4D01 Commissioner Monica Green and Pastor Gerald Elston of Brightwood Park United Methodist Church. Moderated by Mark Seagraves of WTOP. In advance of the event, your questions can be tweeted to @SeagravesWTOP with the hashtag #AskMark, or emailed to him. For further details, email Monica Green.

What happens when politicians delay their snow shoveling duties

This morning, Ward 4 Council candidate Max Skolnik and a team of volunteers set out to do the good civic duty of clearing snow and ice off of our sidewalks. Around 11:30 am, they came across the unshoveled sidewalk on the west side of the 4300 block of Georgia Avenue...which happens to be right in front of incumbent Muriel Bowser's campaign office. A golden political photo opportunity ensued. These are the photos sent by Skolnik and his campaign manager Johnny Mathias via Twitter, along with a few other astute comments:

Muriel Bowser calls for Harry Thomas Jr.'s resignation

Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser has released the following statement in response to the felony charges that have been filed against Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr.:

“With sadness for what this means for our City and the people of Ward 5, I call on Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. to resign. The Council must return its focus to the business of governing our City: creating jobs, accelerating education reform, and delivering high quality services to our residents."

HTJ Resignation

Everything you need to know about DC's new rules for displaying campaign signs

This post was written by 4A06 resident Kenny Peskin, who works with sign code issues nationwide for the International Sign Association. Neither Mr. Peskin nor ISA had involvement in the development of DC’s political sign regulations.

A neighbor recently asked about the rules for political signs that have been appearing at roadsides around the area. As we are a long time out from any upcoming political elections, he was wondering if those signs are allowed to be up now in their current location.

As of October 6, signs advertising candidates for the April 2012 primary election may be placed in the right-of-way. That’s not to say that the rules changed on October 6, but that the new rules took effect.

What are the rules?
In August (and again on September 30), DDOT published a notice of emergency and proposed rulemaking that changed the previous rules for placement of non-commercial signs on structures in the public space. Signs now can be displayed for a total period of 180 days and must be removed within 30 days following the event to which it is related. (October 6, 2011 is 180 days before the April 3, 2012 primary election.)

The previous rules allowed noncommercial signs related to a specific event to be placed anytime before the event (and removed within 30 days after the event). Signs not related to a specific event could be placed for up to 60 days.

Why did the rules change?
Litigation – or the threat of litigation. (This is DC after all…) One of the basic principles of municipal sign regulation is that signs contain speech protected by the Constitution. Groups of speakers must be treated fairly and equally. DC was the subject of a preliminary judicial finding that certain types of non-commercial speech in the public space were treated unequally by the existing regulations. Therefore, DC government could either change their regulations or face a situation where a court could invalidate the current rules.

Beware: new speed cameras on Military Road and Missouri Avenue

MPD installed 19 new speed cameras at various points in the city at the beginning of September. Four are in our area:

• Military Road .2 miles west of the 16th Street ramp NW, southwest bound – speed limit 35 mph
  
• Military Road .1 miles prior to 17th Street NW, northeast bound – speed limit 35 mph
  
• 600 block of Missouri Avenue NW, northwest bound – speed limit 30 mph
  
• 600 block of Missouri Avenue NW, southeast bound – speed limit 30 mph

Georgia Avenue Great Streets project in danger of funding reallocation...again

Michael Neibauer of the Washington Business Journal first reported this:

• The Metropolitan Police Department's overhaul of 2850 New York Ave. NE, where several divisions will soon move, requires $3.5 million. Gray has proposed reprogramming that money from 13 separate funds, including $1.1 million from "Penn Ave. SE properties" (unclear as to what that is), $46,225 from vacant property inspection and abatement, $215,566 from IT system modernization, and $1.44 million from the Georgia Avenue Great Streets project. The latter has not gone over well with D.C. Council members Jim Graham, D-Ward 1, and Muriel Bowser, D-Ward 4, who have issued a joint disapproval, delaying the funding move until after the council's summer recess. The District's Great Streets initiative is a joint effort of numerous agencies to transform nine struggling corridors, including Seventh Street-Georgia Avenue. "We still need it for the Georgia Avenue Great Streets," Bowser told me. "If the administration has a way to replenish it, then we can talk about it."

This isn't the first time funds meant for the Georgia Avenue Great Streets project have been threatened with reallocation.

The Lower Georgia Avenue Community Development Task Force is circulating a petition demanding that funds be kept in place. The Task Force only focuses on the portion of Georgia Avenue south of New Hampshire Avenue though, and I think residents, businesses and stakeholders along Upper Georgia Avenue (Brightwood/Takoma/Shepherd Park) ought to be working to ensure that the funding for Upper Georgia Avenue's Great Streets is not lost.

Office of Planning releases Large Tract Review for proposed Georgia Avenue Walmart location

Final Large Tract Review Square 2986

ANC4B's resolution on proposed Walmart development submitted to Office of Planning, along with subcommittee reports

This is ANC4B's finalized resolution on the proposed Walmart development at Georgia and Missouri Avenues. It, along with ANC4B's Commmittee on Square 2086's reports, has been submitted to the Office of Planning for review.

WalmartResolution6-27-11Adopted (3)

DDOT: Walmart has satisfied the Large Tract Review requirements for the Curtis Chevrolet site

DDOT, the agency that had denied Walmart's initial traffic plan, now says that the company has submitted sufficient data and analysis to meet the Large Tract Review requirements. In a letter to the Office of Planning, DDOT said that "the Applicant has identified mitigation measures in order to reduce the transportation impact of their proposed development to include increased roadway capacity and safety, which will require the loss of curbside parking." See the full letter below.

DDOT and the Office of Planning have yet to respond to the report submitted by ANC4B's Large Tract Review Committee.

Final Walmart Georgia Ave Lg Tract Review Jun 23

(Ink blot) & Councilmember Graham welcome us to Bruce Monroe Park

Former Mayor Fenty's name was blotted off of the Bruce Monroe Park sign. I'm not sure how long it's been since this happened; I just noticed it yesterday. (Any regular park-goers or Park View residents know how long Fenty's name has been inked over?)

DDOT says traffic study for proposed Ward 4 Walmart site is seriously flawed, recommends putting Large Tract Review on hold

This post has been updated.

Summary from ANC Sara Green: "Bottom Line: Walmart did not provide traffic/transportation data for 7 out of 10 categories DDoT asked for (during December 2010 meetings). Therefore the city cannot approve the project at this time."

What follows is a memo from Office of Planning director Harriet Tregoning outlining the details of DDOT's concerns.

OP Walmart Document