DC Government

Open house and presentation of the draft recommendations for the Mid City East planning area

By Prince Of Petworth

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Map courtesy Mid City East

From an email:

“Please join the DC Office of Planning and the District Department of Transportation on September 26, 6:30-8:30 pm at the McKinley Technology Educational Campus Auditorium, for an open house and presentation of the draft recommendations for the Mid City East planning area. The draft recommendations to be presented, are informed by extensive research, analysis and community feedback that has taken place over the past few months. We look forward to your continued participation and hope to see you there!

Location: McKinley Technology Educational Campus Auditorium at 151 T Street, NE

The Mid City East communities of Bates-Hanover, Bloomingdale, Eckington, (portions of) Edgewood, LeDroit Park, Sursum Corda, and Truxton Circle lie almost exactly one mile north of the U.S. Capitol. These architecturally interesting and culturally vibrant urban neighborhoods are rich with community, but wrestling with concerns – heavy traffic volumes, aging sewer systems, and increasing needs for diverse, affordable and convenient housing, retail and transportation options. The Mid City East Initiative will strive to improve mobility, enhance commercial corridors, promote safety, preserve historic resources, green infrastructure, and cultivate development opportunities.”

Dear PoPville – How Much Notice is Required before posting an Emergency No Parking sign?

By Prince Of Petworth

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“Dear PoPville,

Last night I luckily walked by my car parked on 15th St NW and saw that an Emergency No Parking sign that had been posted requiring me to move my car today. My car is in a non-street sweeping zone, so I planned to leave it there for weeks and check periodically for no parking signs (about weekly) since it’s a few blocks from where I live. I had just walked by on Saturday night and there were no signs.

But this sign showed up at most 3 days before (with one day being a sunday). I know there have been posts about these signs before, but is there a requirement for how far in advance No Parking signs must be posted? Are people really required to check their car’s location every 2-3 days for such signs? And thus never allowed to leave it on the street if out of town for a few days for personal or business reasons, home sick, godforbid in the hospital, or a range of other reasons? In this case it’s the city doing work on 15th street putting up the sign with very little notice.”

From DDOT:

“District law requires that signs be posted 24 hours in advance at metered spaces and 72 hours in advance at non-metered spaces.”

Do you think that’s a reasonable amount of time?

Mayor Gray Introduces Phoenix CFO Jeffrey DeWitt as Nominee to Become District’s New Chief Financial Officer

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo courtesy @mayorvincegray

From a press release:

“Today, Mayor Vincent C. Gray announced that he was nominating Jeffrey S. DeWitt, who has served since 2009 as the Chief Financial Officer for the City of Phoenix, Ariz., as the District’s next Chief Financial Officer. If confirmed by the Council, DeWitt would head up the independent Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO), which works with the Mayor and the Council to manage the District’s finances.

“After an exhaustive nationwide search, I believe we have found in Jeff DeWitt everything I’m looking for in a new Chief Financial Officer for the District,” said Mayor Gray. “He has a sterling track record in municipal finance. He has extensive experience in working with the Wall Street credit-rating agencies to maintain and improve a large city’s bond ratings. He is a skilled manager and leader. And he has proven experience working collaboratively with the executive and legislative branches of government to ensure that residents are served well and served fairly.”

DeWitt was one of several candidates recommended to the Mayor by a search committee he appointed earlier this year, naming former Mayor Anthony Williams and former U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Dr. Alice Rivlin as its leaders. Other search committee members included affordable-housing advocate and Manna, Inc. Founder and Board Chair the Rev. Jim Dickerson; AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust Executive Vice President and former Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Eric Price; FedEx Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and former D.C. Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Gina Adams; PNC Bank Regional President Mike Harreld; and BET Networks Chairman and CEO Debra Lee.

DeWitt will replace Dr. Natwar M. Gandhi, who is stepping down after more than a decade as the District’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). (more…)

Update on Visitor Parking Pass Program – Current Pass Will Remain Valid Through December

By Prince Of Petworth

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From DDOT:

“The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) announced the following updates regarding the Visitor Parking Pass (VPP) Program:

· The current 2012/2013 VPP will remain valid through December 2013.

· Residents that do not have a VPP may obtain a parking pass at a police station or substation in the ward in which they reside.

The 2013/2014 VPP will be made available free of charge and only one pass will be provided per household.

About the Parking Pass Program

The VPP program is designed to allow guests of District residents to park for more than two hours on RPP zoned blocks. A VPP is only valid during the hours of RPP enforcement and in the same RPP zone and ANC boundary as the residence.

Please Note:

District residents cannot use a VPP in lieu of registering their vehicles with the District Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). If residents who receive a pass have guests that stay overnight frequently, then the visitor should register their vehicle through the Registration of Out of State Automobile (ROSA) program once a Warning Citation is issued by DPW parking enforcement personnel.”

Mayor Gray Explains His Decision to Declare All District Government Operations Essential during Federal Shutdown

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user philliefan99

From a press release:

“Today, Mayor Vincent C. Gray explained his decision to declare all District government operations as essential during a potential shutdown of the federal government.

“I have determined that everything the District government does – protecting the health, safety and welfare of our residents and visitors – is essential,” said Mayor Gray. “It is ridiculous that a city of 632,000 people – a city where we have balanced our budget for 18 consecutive years and have a rainy-day fund of well over a billion dollars – cannot spend its residents’ own local tax dollars to provide them the services they’ve paid for without Congressional approval. Congress can’t even get its own fiscal house in order; they should be taking lessons from us rather than imposing needless suffering on us. I will not allow the safety and well-being of District residents to be compromised by Congress’s dysfunction.”

A copy of the letter that Mayor Gray sent to the head of the federal Office of Management and Budget making his determination is attached.”

9-25-13 Gray Ltr to OMB re 2013 shutdown

“The District concludes that it is necessary and in both the federal and local interest to make reasonable modifications to the Height Act to allow increased height in the DC”

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user mosley.brian

From a press release:

“The Office of Planning released the District’s report proposing draft recommendations for reasonable Congressional modifications to the federal Height of Buildings Act of 1910 (Height Act). The District has partnered with National Capital Planning Commission since fall 2012 on a joint Height Master Plan requested by Congress to determine the extent to which the federal Height of Buildings Act of 1910 (The Height Act) continues to serve both the federal and District government interests. The Height Act is a federal law which provides uniform restrictions on the height of all buildings within the District of Columbia boundaries.

The District concludes that it is necessary and in both the federal and local interest to make reasonable modifications to the Height Act to allow increased height in the District of Columbia. The District believes that the federal interests would be protected and that both federal and local interests would be enhanced with its recommendations, which maintain the horizontality of the iconic L’Enfant City skyline, ensure the prominence of federal monuments and landmarks by preserving their views and setting, and minimize negative impacts to nationally significant historic resources—the three core principles of the study.

The District proposes the following recommendations to modify the Height Act (more…)

Mayor Notes Progress on Key Flooding Mitigation Efforts in Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park

By Prince Of Petworth

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From a press release:

“A year ago this month the Mayor’s Task Force on the Prevention of Flooding in Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park announced a series of short-term relief measures to lessen the impacts of flooding in these neighborhoods. Since then, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and DC Water have aggressively implemented several of these immediate efforts to mitigate the flooding as part of the District’s approximately $3 billion infrastructure improvement program.

This past spring DDOT installed catch basins (i.e., storm drains) on the 500 and 600 blocks of Florida Avenue NW and the unit block of T Street NW to help divert water from area roadways and alleviate flooding. DDOT also installed a new sewer line and double catch basin at the intersection of 2nd Street and Rhode Island Avenue NW to add capacity to the sewer system.

In early July DDOT also completed a major step in an ongoing project — the installation of a five-foot-wide storm sewer line under the median of the 100 block of Rhode Island Avenue NW to help remove stormwater from the roadway and store it before slowly releasing it into the sewer system. The storm sewer was originally slated to be completed by Labor Day, but was completed in early July — two months ahead of schedule.

“Mother Nature wasn’t going to wait around for us to get the job done, so we made great strides to complete this ahead of schedule and prepare the community for potentially damaging summer storms,” Mayor Gray said. (more…)

Mayor’s Assistance Center open today for Navy Yard Shootings victims

By Prince Of Petworth

From an email:

“The Mayor’s Assistance Center will be open today, 9.17.13 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm at the King Greenleaf Recreation Center ( 201 N Street, SW) for anyone affected by the Navy Yard shootings. Crisis counselors and advocates will be on hand to assist with any needs, including mental health assistance, compensation assistance, and assistance with return of property left in the buildings at the Navy Yard. Crime Victim Compensation will be on hand at both sites.

The FBI has established a Family Assistance Center for the families of the deceased and seriously injured at the Residence Inn-Pentagon. Their hours of operation are unknown, but family members of missing, deceased, or seriously injured victims may go to either location for assistance.

People who are seeking emergency mental health treatment can contact the DMH Access Helpline, which is available 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Friends, family and survivors who are in need of follow-up or longer term care should contact the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing (202) 624-0010 or the Network for Victim Recovery of DC (202) 727-1727.”

Dear PoPville – What’s Going on with the Visitor Parking Program Renewals

By Prince Of Petworth

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“Dear PoPville,

Do you have any further info on the new procedures for getting a visitor parking permit for the upcoming year?

I’ve done a bit of searching online and haven’t come up with anything…but Sept 30 is rapidly approaching.”

DDOT says they’ll soon be releasing lots more info soon but that they “will NOT be ticketed during the application phase of the program through October 30th.”

“

It Just Got Easier to Have a Civil Marriage Ceremony in DC

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Eric Spiegel

From a press release:

“The DC Superior Court is pleased to announce that due to the recent significant increase in marriage license applications and requests for civil marriage ceremonies at the courthouse, the Marriage Bureau has added a dedicated marriage license application center, additional staff, and a second marriage ceremony room. The second ceremony room will open Monday, September 16, potentially doubling the number of courthouse marriage ceremonies each day.

“We recently experienced a significant increase in our workload, it seems as a result of the US Supreme Court’s decision in US v. Windsor. The last two months we have seen a doubling in the usual number of marriage license applications, with more than 100 customers served each day. When we realized that our current staffing and space did not accommodate the recent demand for our services, we added staff and converted space to meet the need,” said Duane Delaney, Clerk of the Superior Court.

DC Superior Court issues marriage licenses to couples who intend to be married within the District of Columbia, regardless of where they reside. The DC Code requires a three-day waiting period from the date an application is received before the Marriage Bureau may issue a license. Couples may elect to have a proxy apply on their behalf. The cost is $35 for the license, plus $10 for the certificate. For additional information, and links to the required forms, see www.dccourts.gov/marriage.”

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