City Paper Forum for At Large Candidates

City Paper had one threshold each candidate had to pass.  They all had to raise over ten thousand dollars in campaign contributions.

Candidates were treated to questions from Chuck Thies, Alan Suderman and Tom Sherwood.

Acting-Councilman Sekou Biddle. 

 Former Commissioner Bryan Weaver is the darling of the philosophically liberal

 ANC Commissioner Josh Lopez has the eyes and ears of the Latino community, which is the fastest growing minority community in DC.

Patrick Mara  is the only Republican in the race.  Riding high from his latest victory as the Ward I School Board representative, he wants to leave that job after 3 months to move into a more high profile position on the Council.  I'd like to see Mara on the front lines getting arrested for the sake of democracy at home. 

 Biddle, Lopez and Mara.

 Thies, Suderman and Sherwood.

Vincent Orange would be the At Large corporate Councilmember.  As former VP of PEPCO, the corporate utilities are sure to have their voice on the Council.  

The 5 candidates who met the contributions threshold.

Permanent Supportive Housing for the Homeless in Columbia Heights

 The footprint of the old Calvary United Methodist Church at 1459 Columbia Road Northwest covers a large space.  The first of two sanctuaries and the tower are pictured here, gated off and vacant.

The second sanctuary is pictured below with the famous stained glass windows still in tact.  

  Over the years, Calvary served many purposes in the Columbia Heights, Mt. Pleasant and Adams Morgan communities.  The basement held a youth boxing club run by a sparring partner to Sugar Ray Leonard.  CCNV used the original sanctuary to distribute free produce and bread to the needy.  BB Otero began a daycare service in the basement, which evolved into Centro Nia up the street.  The Central American community found in Calvary a place to have meetings and events supporting  countrymen in struggle in their homelands.  

The building has been vacant for a couple of years.

On Sunday Architect Gregory Powe met with a handful of people of the Washington Inner Faith Network (WIN) at the All Soul's Church to discuss the plans of the Methodist Conference for future use of the church and property.

The Methodist Conference is planning to turn the building into permanent supportive housing for the homeless.  

There will be 80 studio apartment units.  Not all will be for the homeless.  Some will be affordable units for people who can afford them.  There will be one unit for the manager.  The architect said that they plan to keep the original stanctuary space to be turned into a community room for the residents first and also for the community to hold meetings in.  The church tower will also remain as it is.  The housing units will be build over the space where the second sanctuary was built.  The plans he presented included the two images herein.

The building will be built as a matter of right, so there will be no need for a zoning variance.  The height accomodates four floors above ground and one English basement floor.  

SWOT holds another meeting

Before the meeting it's time to socialize.  Patrick Mara talks with Bill O'Field.

 Patrick Mara addressed the assembly of Ward One nonprofits about what he's doing in his office of the Ward One School Representative.  He's not doing much but working on testing.

 The big group broke down into five breakout groups to talk about education, what we can do to improve the dropout rate.  This group thought truancy and its lack of accountability are the two most serious problems facing DC Public School.

Open House at Joseph's House, Saturday, January 22nd

Joseph's House is where homeless people with terminal illness go to rest & be treated well.

Community residents listened to the director Patricia Wudel of Joseph's House, located on Lanier Place NW at the corner of Ontario Road.   Residents sit around the table in the dining room where the 6 residents and 2 or more staff eat together.  

This mural wall-hanging adorns one dining room wall, where the story of Joseph's house is told in a visual expression/explosion.

The kitchen has a gallery of spices and photos  looking over the meal preparation.

 More photos adorn the dining room.

Joseph's House has a Needs/Wish List for in-kind donations:

-     board games

-     boomboxes with radio/CD player

-     Children's books & toys for visitors

-     lotions; toiletries

-     pillowcases

-     toothpaste/toothbrush

-     washcloths

They can be delivered to Joseph's House, 1730 Lanier Place, NW, telephone 202-265-7174.

Update on 18th Street Club Zone on New Years

Taking a look at what's happening on 18th Street right after the bewitching hour of midnight on New Year, it's the usual.  Women in spaghetti strapped dresses in freezing temperatures line the 18th Street club strip.  Must be the alcohol warms them up enough not to notice how cold it is.  

Club zone police, otherwise known as RDOs -- reimbursible detailed officers -- do the usual when assigned to the club zone detail.  Checking email and standing around keep these MPD officers busy.

 Officer Kurtz appears to enjoy his job patting down young African Americans.  This time he had 'em because they were violating curfew.

 While African-American non-patrons of the clubs appear to be the focus of MPD enforcement, a young blond woman is allowed to loiter and flash her wares with no intervention or interference from the police.

Adams Morgan--Ward One--Year In Review

 January 2010

Ayo Handy, Sister MaryAnn Lubie, Timothea Howard attend the first meeting of the SWOT -- Support Ward One Together organization.  SWOT was created to help Ward One profits weather the recession and find help from each other.    By the end of the year, Sister MaryAnn had passed.  Her work was with homeless people.  She will be missed by many.

February 2010

Casa Lebrato owner Sue  helps clean out after the blizzard.  Lebrato stayed open throughout both blizzards.

                                                                                              

                                                                           March 2010

Chris Otten and Anne Hargrove at the demonstration for the Mt. Pleasant Library.  The struggle for the library and to get the administration of DCPL to change the plans to be more in accordance with the community's needs.

 April 2010

There was a very special  tree planting at the HD Cooke Elementary School in early April.    The Cherry Blossom Foundation donated   three cherry trees.  Left to right, Councilmember Jim Graham, Janet Arrevalo, Anna Ngyuen, Ms. McDaniel, Jeff Wilkes, Ms. Black (school principal), and representative of Cherry Blossom Foundation.  

                                                                                                                May 2010

The first of  many candidates debates took place at the Kalorama Citizen's Association in midMay.  Incumbent Jim Graham got a little hot under the collar at some of the accusations from his two opponents.

ANC Commissioner Bryan Weaver stood on the left side of the incumbent, at least ideologically.  His primo issue was accountability, which he hit home to the council member who introduced more emergency legislation than any other city council member.

                
 The second contender against the incumbent was Jeff Smith, former school board member who resigned before his term was finished because Cith Council voted to turn over control of the school system to the mayor.  Jeff started  an organization called DC Voice, to fight for DC Schools and their accountability.  
                                                              

June 2010

The first HD Cooke Elementary School graduating class in the newly renovated school was Mr. Bacak's 5th grade class.  Two students, Destiny Jackson and Daniela Shia-Sevilla shared the principal's award and gave a speech.  Here Daniela gives hers.

July 2010

Advisory Neighborhood Commission candidate Raymond Moseley threw his hat into the ring in July and was the first to get his petitions in by early August.  He ran for the seat of ANC1c06, which was being vacated by Commissioner Nancy Shia.

September 2010

By early September it became clear who the star of the Adams Morgan Advisory Neighborhood Commission elections would be.  Olivier Kamanda's signs first appeared on the kiosk at 18th and Columbia.  By Adams Morgan Day, he had a booth and an army of friends who were out campaigning for him.  

October 2010

Steve Lanning, candidate for ANC1c06, spoke well at the forum for ANC candidates at the Kalorama Citizens Association.  

November 2010

Donnie at the Potters House, where Thanksgiving was held for everyone in the neighborhood who wanted to be there.

December 2010

Chief Ike's Mambo Room had the best bouncers in the neighborhood.