Election Madness

Over here at 14thandyou, we're big believers in fulfilling your civic duty by voting, even if our Democratic process can seem a little crazy at times.

Unless you've been living in a cave (or perhaps spending too much time hanging out in a local basement), you know that this coming Tuesday you have an opportunity to vote in DC's primary elections, which means a chance to elect DC's next mayor, city council members, ANC commissioners.

The DC Board of Elections has a lot of really helpful information on their website, including a list of polling places, information on early voting (which started last week) and sample Ward 1 and 2 ballots for the Democratic, Republican and Green parties.

But what of the actual races, you ask? Rumor has it that some mayoral race or something is going on, but I haven't heard much about that. There's also an at-large DC Council seat (a battle between Phil Mendolson, Clark Ray, and Michael D. Brown--no not THAT Michael Brown, the other one) and Council Chairmanship (where you have a choice between two colors--Brown or Orange) up-for-grabs. In Ward 1, longtime incumbent Jim Graham is up for reelection, with City Paper-endorsed challenger Brian Weaver nipping at his heals.

At the local level, all of the local ANC seats are will be up for grabs in the general election in November, but only five are contested. Two of the most interesting include Peter Raia's seat on ANC!B and Ramon Estrada's in ANC2B. Borderstan has a great recap of the contested ANC races. In addition to all of the other press, the City Paper has also put together complete endorsements and an interesting 2010 elections poll (sample: How many Vincent Gray supporters are Redskins fans?).

The only people who can't vote in the primary elections on Tuesday? Those who aren't registered members of the Democratic, Republican or Green parties. No worries, though: you can register at the polls if you haven't already.

See you on Tuesday!

O Street Market to Break Ground Wednesday

Holy mixed-use developments, Batman. One of the city's most long-awaited projects is set to break ground tomorrow.



Via DC Mud, "Citymarket at O" developer Roadside Development will officially break ground on the project, located at O and 9th streets NW in Shaw, tomorrow afternoon. This being election season and all, it seems that a number of city politicos--including mayor Adrian Fenty and mayoral candidate Vincent Gray will be in attendance, along with other neighborhood and community leaders. (Over-under that Fenty and Gray get in a shoving match over the rights to overturn the first spade of dirt?)

We've written in depth about this project before, but here's the quick recap:

Back in 2007, Roadside sought--and received--HPRB approval for their nearly 1 million sf project bounded by 7th, 9th, O and P streets. The project will feature a new 71,000 sf Giant store, over 600 residences, senior housing, a boutique hotel, and other commercial space.

The Giant store is scheduled to close in January 2011, and will reopen in early 2013.

In short, this project is immense and has the potential to be the single greatest catalyst for change in Shaw to date. In the meantime, expect to see a substantial amount of construction going on at the site for the forseeable future.

TONIGHT: Mayoral Straw Poll for Ward 2 Democrats

For our readers in the Logan/Shaw/Dupont area (which is probably most of you), there is an opportunity to participate in the Ward 2 Democrats mayoral straw poll this evening at the Washington Plaza Hotel in Thomas Circle.

Both Vincent Gray and Adrian Fenty have been invited to attend, but neither have been confirmed. The event runs from 7 PM - 9:15PM. Full details are included below. For more information, visit the Ward 2 Democrats website.

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TONIGHT: Ward 2 Mayoral Candidates Forum & Straw Poll!

July 21, 2010 7:30pm - Wash. Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Cir. NW)

The Logan Circle Community Association (LCCA) and the Ward 2 Democrats are hosting a Mayoral straw poll Wednesday, July 21st at the Washington Plaza Hotel, 10 Thomas Circle. All of the candidates who filed papers to run have been invited, including current Mayor Adrian Fenty and current Council Chair Vincent Gray.

Everyone is invited to attend, but only registered Democrats will be able to participate in the straw poll. Registration begins at 7pm, and guests will have the opportunity to talk to any candidates who are present at that time. The presentations will begin at 7:30, and voting will close by 9:15. (Times subject to change if needed.)

Each candidate will be asked to speak on several topics. Following the presentation, registered Democrats will have the opportunity to vote. For more information, please contact Ward 2 Democrats President Pat Allen at 202-296-0720 or LCCA President Bob Maffin 202-301-2125.

UPDATE: Please stay tuned this summer for additional candidate fora - including a forum for Council Chair candidates in collaboration with the Dupont Circle ANC!

What are the key issues you'd like to discuss in 2010?

Let us know your hot-button Ward 2 & District issues!

The 2010 elections offer lots of exciting opportunities for Ward 2 Democrats to discuss and weigh in on the candidates and issues that affect our streets, homes, work, families, schools, and neighborhoods here in the District.

The Ward 2 Democrats officers would like to hear from you about what key issues and topics you'd like to debate, discuss, learn about, and weigh in on as Ward 2 Democrats. Affordable housing ... city services ... public safety... parking ... development ... others?

Please contact Chairman Patrick Allen (pallen39@verizon.net) with your ideas.

Even TV Hosts Aren't Immune From DC Street Crime

Normally, something like this involving a semi-celebrity that took place well outside the bounds of our hood would go unnoticed here, but considering the recent spike in murders/stabbings/general street chaos I found this to be interesting.

Seems that Fox MSNBC morning show co-host Mika Brzezinski was mugged this morning outside of the DC hotel where she has been staying. In terms of muggings, this one was pretty tame: a man approached her from across the street and asked her for $20, adding that if she gave him money nothing bad would happen to her. She managed to come up with $6, and the mugger apparently decided that the other $14 could wait and took off. Brzezinski was unharmed.

Now, there is a couple of things worth pointing out here. First, this mugger reminds me a lot of some of the panhandlers I have run into in Baltimore who ask for exact change (sample request: "Hey man, you got 84¢?"). I wonder what this gentleman was planning to purchase with his newly acquired wealth--and I wonder if he would have refused additional cash had Brzezinski had, say, $40 in her wallet? Why not just ask for everything she had on her?

Secondly, this happened on a day when our esteemed mayor was making an appearance on the "Morning Joe" show. At the very least, Fenty could have offered to drive Mika around in his SmartCar to look for the man who took her $6. To further his role as ambassador for the District, the mayor could have also pointed out how friendly some of our muggers can actually be. The mugger stereotype is of someone who behaves callously towards others and is willing to commit acts of violence in order to achieve his goal; this one clearly bucks that stereotype, although he did vaguely threaten violence if Brzezinski didn't comply.

Finally, if a TV personality was going to get mugged in DC, why couldn't it have been O'Reilly? Just askin'.

Get What You Ask For

If you have lived in DC for any appreciable amount of time, you have probably heard or made derogatory comments about DC city services. In fact, Jerome Sikorski, the recently elected ANC 2F-05 commissioner, included improved delivery of city services to ANC 2F in his platform. So why don't we all ask city agencies and the office of the Mayor's directly for the services we want? No, seriously. If you've never made use of the Citywide Call Center, you really should use it. I will put my reputation at stake and promise you that making service request really does lead to action and is not a frustrating process — as well all know it used to be.

Use the online Service Request Center here or the Citywide Call Center by phoning 311 to ask for what you need. The DC government must respond within a reasonable time period, and city employees are being held accountable. The list of city services that you can request includes:

• Filling potholes
• Street and sidewalk repair
• Sanitation issues such as removal of dead animals, street sweeping, and missing garbage bins
• Parking enforcement
• Graffiti removal

A full list of services is available once you log in to the Online Service Request Center.

Starting with Mayor Fenty's administration, requests have not been going into the ether. Every request receives a tracking number and is assigned planned dates for inspection and subsequent resolution. You can track both phone and online service requests yourself by setting up a log-in at the above link. If the response isn't satisfactory, resubmit it easily including the prior request # (easy to find if you use a Service Request Center account) in your new submission.

Improving customer service operations is a stated goal of the new mayoral administration. Mayor Fenty's office is tracking customer satisfaction through surveys sent after service requests are closed. Survey results are included in the CapStat presentations to the Mayor during his weekly performance evaluations of city agencies. Review some of the CapStat reports yourself here. Service requests are also now released to the public by RSS, providing a level of transparency and accountability.

If you feel like DC agencies have failed to meet your needs, contact the Mayor's Office directly through this online form. You can also contact Mark Bjorge or Joesph Martin, Neighborhood Services Coordinators for Ward 2, at mark.bjorge@dc.gov or joseph.martin@dc.gov respectively.
Another option: speak to Mark personally at the ANC meetings. (However, it's best to use 311 or the online Service Request Center to resolve your issue before you contact Mark or Joe directly.)

Meters!

Rates and effective dates have yet to be declared, but I am so excited for the impending installation of meters in DC taxis. Though I have myself not been gouged by a DC cabbie nor am I particularly confused by the zone system, Fenty's decision appeals to my basic sense of fairness.

Most importantly, I'm hoping for less expensive fares. Mr. 14th & You and I might be able to travel the 0.9 miles from our home to the Dupont Metro for less than the $9 plus tip that we now pay during rush hour. That same trip in NYC would only cost $4.30 ($2.50 initial fare + $0.40 per each 0.2 miles + $0 for additional passengers). I'll also be pleased when the 5.7 mile trip to National Airport does not cost me $6.10 more than the 4.7 mile trip to my parents' home on Capitol Hill.

Drivers might even make out ok in this transition. As demand is a function of price, I think that many folks traveling within one or two zones will take cabs more often if the fare is lower. Now if only we could get taxis with working seat belts and credit card readers . . .

Neighborhood Update

It has been a bad week for news about Northwest. A fight at 14th and U Streets between three boys and another group of young men may have lead to a subsequent shooting of the boys at a bus stop. Then there was the awful fire in a condo building in Adams Morgan. The Washington Post reported that firefighters ran 3000 feet of fire hose to one distant hydrant and 4000 feet to another hydrant in order to achieve suficient water pressure to battle the blaze. An antiquated narrow water main was the source of the hydrant problem. In city-wide news, Council member Carol Schwartz is investigating large bonuses that former mayor Anthony Williams paid out to appointees before he left office.

To be fair, there has also been some encouraging news about our city recently: Marc Fisher reports that our population is not as transient as we like to think; the destructive fire in Adams Morgan has focused Fenty's attention on long neglected infrastructure improvements; the murders over the weekend are compelling police to increase foot patrols; and Allen Yew in his first day on the job axed contractors who have botched school improvements.

There are a lot of signs that the quality of life in DC is improving; our population is rising, the murder rate has dramatically decreased since its late 1980's/early 1990's high, and our city officials are far more credible and hard working than they used to be. I feel also that there is a culture of activism and involvement in many neighborhoods such as ours. Yet the negative aspects are still obvious. Some things that I have been concerned about lately include continued prostitution in Logan Circle, vacant properties, Metro's funding problems, and insufficient mental health and substance abuse assistance for lower income residents.

I flip-flop all the time on whether I think that staying in the city is worthwhile. I have a strong loyalty to DC and I really have enjoyed the past four years living in Logan Circle. The cultural opportunities can not be beat either. Sometimes I get really overwhelmed by the bad news though. I particularly dislike hearing about the holes in public safety from continued violent crime to firefighting issues and slow EMS response times. I wonder if it's possible that I could have a better quality of life in the 'burbs (and less expensive/larger housing ), but still enjoy some of the arts, entertainment, and dining in the city.

The local blogging community and commenters on this blog seem to have a fairly positive view of DC. I also see folks moving into Anacostia and H Street as a sign of strong optimism. I would be interested to see your thoughts on the tension between the good and the bad aspects of life here. Do you ever wonder if it's worthwhile to continue living where you do? Do you think that your involvement in neighborhood events has an effect — positive or negative — on how you view DC? Send some comments our way and let us know what you think.

By the way, don't forget than the ANC 2F meeting is tomorrow evening. You can see the agenda on the Logan listserv or in our blog post from last week.