I’m going to spill another secret about Petworth: we have the greatest off street parking in the district. I used to live in Cleveland Park and if I found a spot within a 20 block radius of my apartment I was ecstatic. I mean I would be so happy I’d be near tears, jumping, dancing, praying…you get the point. Now, that I’ve been living in Petworth I’ve gotten so, so spoiled. There used to be an unwritten rule that the “spot” in front of your house would be left open for you and more times than not it is. But this morning I had to park two houses away. Two houses away is all of about 30 feet. And I was like damn! This is bullshit, what the hell is going on here… I’ve calmed down now and remember what it is used to be like and now I’m smiling. I’m cold but I’m smiling.
Author: Prince Of Petworth
So, I’m emailing Bill from Petworth News and a revelation occurs: not everyone may realize that there are two very unique and distinct Ms. Bowser’s running for Ward 4 city council. I have interviewed Ms. Renee Bowser and it is posted below. However, this Sunday I am interviewing Ms. Muriel Bowser with the post to follow. Of course there is only one Prince of Petworth so don’t let anyone tell you differently.
Just another reason why I love living in Petworth: So I’m walking to the metro which I do every morning and have done for the past 4 years when I pass a gentleman in front of his rowhouse. Nothing unusual here, he lives a few blocks away so we don’t know each other but we do say hi. He is probably about 70 years old and this morning he says to me “hey, you walking a little stiff, you need to put some glide in your stride.” My God, how beautiful is that? So I’ve been putting some glide in my stride all day and hope you all do the same.
So I went to the “dc bloggers summit” put on by the Washington Post. I wish someone took off their shoe and slammed it on the table because I’m afraid to admit it wasn’t very exciting. However, to inflate my ego a little, I actually sat down at a table with a guy who actually reads Prince of Petworth. But wait more exciting news to come. Mr. Marc Fischer of RawFischer from the Post actually reads the Petworth blogs as well! Jesus, that almost makes up for the fact that there wasn’t any liquor at the bar. I had to settle for sparkling water which was actually quite refreshing.
Like many Petworth residents, I extend the neighborhood all the way down 14th Street to Logan Circle. I often like to walk home so I feel a sense of ownership of the neighborhoods from Logan to Petworth. Now I am very sad to report the closing of 100% Mexico located on 14th Street near HR 57. Side note: HR 57 is fantastic so if you haven’t checked it out in a while you should. Sorry about that, back to Mexico. I often pass 100% Mexico on my walk home from work and have always wondered – how the hell does this store stay in business? I regret ever thinking that and now feel somewhat responsible. This store featured sombreros, lots of mirrors for some reason, and mostly what my people call tshotkes. Note: that is not how you spell tshotkes. But it basically means knick knacks. I’m going to miss 100% Mexico because it was always fun to look in the window and dream of one day buying that beautiful sombrero. Now fortunately further up 14th Street there are some new very fancy clothing stores. Of course I get all my clothes from my Dad so most clothing stores seem fancy to me. At any rate I am hesitant to admit that they have some very good looking manequines. So I got that going for me. So for now I’ll wish a fond farewell to Mexico and wish its owners the best of luck.
According to the Washington Post a green line train derailed at Mt. Vernon Square today. Maybe they weren’t used to the new yellow line trains going through. How the hell does a metro derail anyway? Well, here’s to a really long commute tomorrow. Bring a book!
Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to sit down with Ms. Renee Bowser in her home on 2nd Street in our very own Petworth. As many remember from an earlier post this was our second attempt to meet and this attempt, I am happy to report, resulted in no injuries.
Ms. Bowser is originally from Philadelphia, PA. She left Philly in 1979 to attend Bryn Mawr College after which she attended law school in North Carolina and following that received an LLM from the University of Wisconsin Law School. Ms. Bowser arrived in Washington, DC in 1983 and has lived in Petworth since 1989. Ms. Bowser’s career in DC began as a labor lawyer for the federal government. Currently and for the past 21 years Ms. Bowser has been an attorney for the United Food and Commercial workers International Union (UFCW). Ms. Bowser was proud to note that she is the only labor candidate in the race and is a member of the DC Statehood Green Party.
In her 20s Ms. Bowser volunteered for the first black elected official in Pennsylvania, Hardy Williams. In her capacity as a volunteer she mostly worked on housing issues for him. In her past Ms. Bowser has also been active in anti-apartheid causes and was an early supporter of the African National Congress. Closer to home in Washington, Ms. Bowser has twice served on the DC Commission on Human Rights. Additionally, this is her third term as an ANC 4D02 commisioner of which she was the chair in 2006. Ms. Bowser ran unsuccessfully for City Council against Adrian Fenty in 2000. Although she was proud to have taken 11% of the vote in that November election.
Public Education
“We don’t need to get rid of the school board to improve the schools.” said Ms. Bowser. “We have to make sure that the money is going to the right places.” explained Ms. Bowser. At this point Ms. Bowser rattled off a series of numbers and statistics which seemed pretty impressive to me but then again I am a simple person. Ms. Bowser was adamant that the current “per pupil formula” needed to change and currently acts as a drain on the public schools. “Children are not widgets” said Ms. Bowser. I don’t really understand what the means but it seemed like a great quote. However Ms. Bowser did recount a story she had heard on one of her many walks in the neighborhood. She recounted the story of a parent of a student at Shepherd Elementary School, who said that each parent has to pay $500 a year and pay for the school’s librarian and books. Ed note: as I am not working for the Washington Post, I haven’t confirmed that fact. Nevertheless, Bowser explained that it was ridiculous for parents to be paying for these things while the city continues to add more schools. Ms. Bowser would work with the current school board to try and correct these problems. She prefers working with the current school board to Mayor Fenty’s plan of taking over the schools. Ms. Bowser explained that the system set up in NYC which Fenty hopes to mirror has not even worked all that well. She noted that test scores had actually gone down in NYC. Ms. Bowser believes it is essential to prioritize the improvements needed to the DC public school system to put the money where it is most needed.
Crime
“You are not going to police your way out of these problems.” said Ms. Bowser. She explained the role that DCRA plays in not addressing the litter issue. She believes the DCRA needs to be completely overhauled. She believes that the city puts its allegiance to the developers rather than to the individual residents. While Ms. Bowser does support community policing she believes the overall problems need to be tackled “Ward wide”. She explained how many of the issues are interconnected. She suggests tackling transportation issues, alley issues, and others together. She believes with better organization it will put more pressure for positive change. She then went off on a bit of a tangent explaining that a lack of organization resulted in the loss of DC general and is “why we have a baseball stadium.” She also explained the problems of the formula racetrack in North East near the RFK stadium which took place a few years ago.
Economic Development
“The comprehensive plan is so vague to me that we don’t know where they are in the process.” said Ms. Bowser. She believes that this development must improve the city. She believes that we “don’t have to give anything away” because the developers want to be in the city. She feels that the community was prosper as well and that there is no reason to give away this valuable property. She believes we have to be in on the ground floor with regards to the Old Soldier’s home development. Again she stressed the importance of unity here. She argues that there will be more power and influence if those who are interested in affordable housing, green space and safety all stick together and use one voice. This will result in more muscle to influence the development.
Potential Homeless Shelter move to Georgia Avenue
Ms. Bowser is not against the move to Georgia Avenue but does feel that it needs to be strictly monitored and policed to make sure that there isn’t public loitering.
She would however like to see a moratorium on group homes in Ward 4. They need to be monitored as well to make sure that they adhere to regulations.
Gentrification
Ms. Bowser does believe that gentrification is a problem due to its affect on affordable housing. She feels that we need to make sure that the housing crisis doesn’t become more severe as a result of gentrification. But she concluded that “people want people who are good neighbors.
For Fun
Ms. Bowser is reading the Great American Job Scam by Greg Leroy and recently read a book about Ella Baker.
She listens to a lot of world music, African music and blues.
The last great film she saw was Hotel Rwanda although she enjoyed the Constant Gardner as well.
In Sum
Ms. Bowser is clearly a passionate person who is willing to fight for residents of Ward 4, particularly those who are less advantaged. Meeting her was like running into a tornado. She speaks very quickly on a diverse area of topics. She was running up and down the stairs and answering telephone calls throughout our meeting. I was a little disturbed to see how much time she focused on issues that were not directly related to Ward 4 ie the baseball stadium and DC general hospital. But back to the brass tax, Ms. Bowser is smart, experienced and full of ideas.
If you are interested in learning more you can visit her website at www.RENEEbowser.org.
According to the Post, Stanislav Shpigelman ( a beautiful name by the by) has been “sentenced to 3 1/2 years and one month in prison.” What the hell is that? Why not say 3 1/4 years and four months in prison? Or 3 years and 7 months. I guess they are having fun with fractions. What about 3 7/12 years in prison? Are they jackasses or is it me? What a second…don’t answer that.
|
However, Billy Bragg is fantastic.
A very reliable source from the Metropolitan Police Department has enlightened me to the new initiatives from Police Chief Lanier. The below is from a memo being distributed to police officers. Let me know if you feel safer. I believe these are positive initiatives although I don’t know how revolutionary they are. First reader to spot “an official on foot” patrol gets a free beer from me. Happy hunting.
Primary goals:
1) Increase engagement of officers with the community
2) Increase visibility within community
Initiatives:
1) “Adopt a block/park” – full court press effort for officers to become familiar with every resident on a block or area, to include distribution of officer contact information, working with them on issues with their block (to include issues like trash and abandoned car removal, street light repairs, etc.), and encouraging community invovlement in PSA meetings
2) Increase in focus mission units to prosecute warrants, and increase jump outs and other drug enforcement-related activities like buy-busts, etcl.
3) Officials on foot (Sgts and above)
4) Youth iniatives and a youth court
5) Increased use of reserve officres