Stroga: A New Nightclub in Adams Morgan

Every Friday night people are lined up outside the yoga studios of Stroga to get into the party.  Stroga has no ABC license, but the liquor flows regardless.  How do they do it?  It's a story in progress.  The club zone MPD lieutenant knows about it.  So does ABRA.

Part II: The Stakeholders of Unity Park Vendors Market

The second meeting of the so-called stakeholders in the Unity Park Vendor's Market happened on the 20th of September, called to order by Kristen Barden, ExecDirec of the BID.

This is what the meeting room looked like a couple of minutes before the meeting began. It was schmoozing at its best. Jonetta Rose Barras sat back taking in Jose Sueiro's wizened perspective on the market issue. The young man next to Jonetta is Jose's assistant in Jose's race to be an ANC commissioner. The angry white man yelling at the camera is Pap Patrick, a neighborhood busybody who often turns rascaliwag when he doesn't get his way. None of these people live near Unity Park, nor are elected officials, nor have a business near the park, so their stakeholder status in this issue is from the beginning suspect.

Kristen Barden opened the meeting by demanding answers from OLA and Angela Franco of the Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.      The nonstake holders then chimed in in an accusatory and impatient (rude?) manner.  It quickly degenerated into something else.  Jonetta Rose Barras, a so-called reporter/journalist, became a strong advocate for shutting down the vendor's market immediately, aping the demands of the BID proxies.  

The whole process of the stakeholder meetings initiated by the BID to deal with issues presented by the vendors in Unity Park broke down at the September meeting, the 2nd meeting of this process.  Pat Patrick and his supporters, Al Jirikowic and Tony Depass, began yelling at the ANC commissioner whose district covers Unity Park.  They asked her to turn off her camera, but this being a public meeting, to wit, the journalists in the room, they did not have the option not be recorded.  The three of them lost their tempers against the commissioner, which basically ended the meeting.  Those in attendance had to ask what the purpose of coming to these meetings was in the first place, if the BID was just making demands and not negotiating in good faith.   There have been no more Unity Park Stakeholder Meetings since this one on September 20th.

When the meeting ended, Jonetta Barras approached George Escobar of the Office of Latino Affairs and told him that it was nothing against him personally, but she planned to do all she could do to end the alleged travesty of justice that Unity Park represents to its detractors.  She also  rudely yelled at the ANC commissioner.  The BID proxies left grumbling under their breath something about taking over the ANC.

Green Party Runnings at 18th & Columbia Road this afternoon

Alley Cleaning Champs of Adams Morgan

Alley Cleaning Champs of Adams Morgan


represented by Unity Park Vendors Market, Gospel Rescue Mission,
residents of Euclid Street and other parts of Adams Morgan and Adams Morgan businesses.

JOB FAIR on TUESDAY, October 19th, 9AM-2PM

Michael A. Brown

Councilmember, At-Large

Chairperson, Committee on Housing and Workforce Development

Invites you to

The Brown Blueprint for Employment Success

Job Acquisition Fair

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

9:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M.

The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington

1901 Mississippi Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C.

Employers On-Site

Job Counselors

Trade Apprenticeships

Job Training & Readiness Education

Self Employment Opportunities

Health Screenings

(Diabetes, Hypertension, HIV-AIDS, Prostate Cancer)

COME DRESSED FOR SUCCESS

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL: (202) 724-8198

PLEASE VISIT: www.facebook.com search Councilmember At-Large Michael A. Brown

Who's this man with the Ward One incumbent

and why is he smiling so much?

His name is John Cloud, and it looks like he got to the Councilman. That's why he's smiling.

Part II -- Vendors Market in Unity Park--How it became an issue

No sooner had the vendors market opened at the end of August 2008, when Pat Patrick, a neighborhood resident, began to complain. "They've taken over our park." "How did this happen without the businesses input?" Mr. Patrick is known in the community for his assertive and niggling manner, always carping about something someone else is doing. As he stood across the street from Unity Park the Sunday night of its debut weekend, Mr. Patrick made a pronouncement, "There is going to be trouble here on Adams Morgan Day," he stated, hands on hips. "Adams Morgan Day always uses the park, and now they've taken it away from us." Mr. Patrick is a real estate broker and member of the Adams Morgan Business Improvement District (BID). For almost two years, he continued his complaints about the vendors market to anyone who would listen, and to many who did not want to listen.

By the summer of 2010, Patrick succeeded in stirring up some business owners to say they have been losing business due to the vendors market, and the BID took the vendors market on as an issue. The BID, through its director Kristen Barden, began discussion with members of the Adams Morgan ANC about the vendors market and use of Unity Park. It was clear the BID was trying to remove the vendors from selling in Unity Park and were unwilling to compromise. In July, the BID sent a letter* to the Office of Latino Affairs and the Department of Parks and Recreation protesting a new Memorandum of Understanding regarding use of the park.

In July 2010, BID director Barden attended the ANC's Public Services Committee meeting to continue the discussions regarding the use of the park. At the time her arguments were the same specious claims of Mr. Patrick. Yes, it was true that some of the businesses had lost business from the time the market opened, but the economy has been bad, and there was no actual stats and proof of this. She also claimed some businesses had complained, when it turned out that they had never complained. To wit: Old City Jerusalem owner Walid responded to the question if he'd ever complained about the vendors market, "Absolutely not. Why should I? They are not a restaurant." To this day, Ms. Barden still says Old City owner complains about the vendors market.

In August, the BID called a "stakeholders meeting" for people who had a stake in the Unity Park vendors market. This is who came:

Chairing the meeting was Kristen Barden (far right), next to her Pat Patrick, next to him Tony Harvey, writer for the Intowner Newspaper.

When she opened the meeting, Ms. Barden admonished, "I know there are some strong opinions about the market. Please do not let this escalate. That will not be productive if that happens. Let's have a civil discussion. There are some strong emotions about this."

The meeting opened with a quick overview of how the market started and what need it was serving, given by George Escobar and Mercedes Lemp from the Office of Latino Affairs. The management of the market was just switched to the Greater Washington Chamber of Commerce, but they are using the same market manager who was there under the previous regime.

Ms. Barden then opened it to everyone for discussion. Driving the agenda and opening the discussion

with a lot of hyperbole was Pat Patrick, "I'm stunned . . . " "Who in God's name is this for . . ." "What about health issues? I'm stunned someone has not been attacked by ecoli." He spoke for ten minutes of what was supposed to be an hour meeting.

L to R: Juan, owner of Pollo Granjero; Ernesto, owner of Churreria Madrid; George Escobar, assistant director of Office of Latino Affairs; Mercedes Lemp, Director of OLA; Wilson Reynolds, Chairman of ANC 1C; and Tony Harvey, reporter for the Intowner.

The business owners then got to speak. They told of how hard it is to keep up with their costs these days, and lunch is especially bad on the days the market is open. One complained about the parking issue.

Angela Franco, Director of the Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, was there because the GWHCC will be the interim organization managing the market.

L to R: Tony DePass, a community resident; representative from the Department of Health; Alfonso, an independent Hispanic journalist; and Wilson Reynolds, chairman of ANC1C.

Mr. DePass said he was there to have his friend Pat Patrick's back, "And besides", he added, "I wrote the vending rules for Marion Barry." The Department of Health representative was there because he was invited by Pat Patrick. Alfonso was there "to defend the market." Wilson Reynolds was there to help represent the ANC. The author was there also represent the ANC.

The meeting was riddled with interruptions** by Messrs. DePass and Patrick, so much that it got out of hand occasionally. Trash and parking were discussed and plans of action were agreed on to ameliorate these problems. At the end of the meeting, Ms. Barden raised the possibility of moving the market to other locations outside of Adams Morgan for 3/4ths of the weekends/month. The business owners did not think that would help their businesses. The OLA representatives didn't think that was possible. ANC reps did not like that possibility. The only ones pushing for it were Ms. Barden and Mr. Patrick. Mr. DePass was yelling, "Move it to Walter Pierce Park." A second "Stakeholders Meeting" was scheduled for the following month.

Following this meeting, ANC 1C met on September 1st to discuss and pass a resolution in support of the vendors market in Unity Park. That'll be part III.

*

BID Letter to DPR and OLA:

√Dear Ms. Lemp and Mr. Aguirre,

We are writing today to protest the renewal of the MOU for use of

Unity Park (at Columbia/Euclid/Champlain Streets) in Adams Morgan

for the Latino Entrepreneurship Program weekend market in the park.

This weekend market has become a growing concern for the "brick and

mortar" businesses in Adams Morgan that we represent. They are

concerned about the direct competition these vendors cause as well as

the food handling and preparation sanitation.

The brick and mortar businesses each pay the BID taxes, property

taxes, rent, utilities, etc ... none of which the market vendors pay. If you

are a cupcake bakery and someone selling cupcakes from a truck sets

up on the sidewalk in front of your store, you stop selling cupcakes.

That is what has happened in Adams Morgan on the weekends. Adding

to this is the slump in the economy, further compounding a difficult

environment for our businesses.

Now, the biggest issue is that the vendors are in the park every

weekend. We have suggested, to the various stakeholders, that this

should be a "movable feast" for a number of reasons. Our proposal was

that there be 4 locations for the market and each weekend it is in a

different location in the city. The first weekend of every month it is in

Adams Morgan, second weekend in Columbia Heights, third down by

the waterfront, etc ... This would enable the vendors to have a broader

reach and establish clientele all over the city such that that brings them

closer to being able to establish a "brick and mortar" business and drawpeople from all over the city who know and like their food. Also being at the same location once

a month people in a specific neighborhood would come to rely on when they could visit them

and look forward to it. With this arrangement, the 'movable feast', the vendors do not place

undue burden on a single neighborhood each weekend.

The brick and mortar businesses in Adams Morgan are really upset that these vendors have been

allowed to be in Unity Park every weekend for the last couple of years. The Adams Morgan

Partnership BID will continue to protest the use of the park if the market continues to operate

there every weekend.

We have additional suggestions that we believe must be included in the FY 2011 RFP for

continued market operations. 1) Vendors or entrepreneurs MUST be DC residents. Most of the

vehicles used to unload items each weekend have Maryland and Virginia license plates on them.

This sends the message that the vendors are NOT DC residents and that DC government money

is being used to support VA and MD residents. There needs to be a strict mechanism installed to

ensure that all vendors are DC residents and paying DC income taxes and sales taxes. 2) The

market organizers need to pay to have a food inspector on site every weekend. As with any open

air food market or annual festival throughout the city, the organizers pay to have a food inspector

onsite. The weekend market should not be treated differently. 3) The locations for the movable

feast should not be in front of existing food businesses. It creates an unfair market advantage.

The DC vending regulations say that vendors can't park their trucks within 60 feet of a restaurant

selling similar food. The law should be applied equally here.

Thank you for your serious consideration of our concerns. We hope this can be worked out

amicably and that these safeguards can be installed.

~}~

Kristen Barden

Executive Director

cc: Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham

Lee Smith, Director of DSLBD

Linda Argo, Director, DCRA

Wilson Reynolds, ANC 1C

** emotional interruptions by Patrick:

. . . amazed to hear you use the word 'inclusion'. You haven't gone around to the businesses.

. . . as President of the Business Association . . .

. . . Nitza lied to the community. These people who run Unity Park ought to be ashamed . . .

. . . I want to see a verification of where this money went to.