DC Government

Dear PoP – lack of sidewalk recycling bins?

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

“Dear PoP,

Walking around DC, I am often pretty frustrated by the lack (or total absence) of recycling bins. Is there any reason why they are not all over town? Carrying a glass or plastic bottle all day can be pretty annoying and usually ends with me just throwing it out in a regular trash can versus holding onto it until I get home. But obviously, it doesn’t have to be this way. Why can’t the DC government put out recycling bins alongside public trash cans? At least in areas with heavy foot traffic…

With all the new bike lanes, the bag tax, and revitalization projects, it seems like DC is pretty committed to “going green.” Are there any efforts to make recycling more pedestrian-friendly? I think it is much needed and would be a great addition to the rapidly improving city.”

I hadn’t thought too much about this but now that the question has been raised, I think it’s a very good point. Searching my memory I only think I’ve seen recycling cans by the Mall (like in the photo above) and a few spots downtown. Have you guys seen recycling cans around town? Do you think it will be difficult to get more of them, in more neighborhoods?

Friday Question of the Day (Serious Edition) – Should DC Attorney General be an Elected Position?

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Faucetini

“Dear PoP,

Proposed Charter Amendment IV – The Elected Attorney General Charter Amendment. It’s on the ballot…one should one vote? Can’t seem to find a lot of pro/con analysis. I turn to you PoP.”

And I, of course, turn to PoPville. I’m actually glad this question was asked because I think it’s really important but I haven’t really given it much consideration. So what do you guys say? I know a Post editorial advised against it but I haven’t been following the issue to closely. For those who support electing an attorney general – what are the arguments in favor?

How serious of an issue do you think this is? I’m guessing a lot of minds have not yet been made up on this issue so I look forward to hearing both pro and con arguments.

Department of Health Bed Bug Summit 2011 Coming on Jan. 13

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user ewilfong

Read Tony’s battle with bed bugs here.

From DOH:

“The DC Department of Health is organizing a summit titled “Bed Bugs Are Changing Our World” on January 13, 2011 at 9:00 AM to 4 PM at 441 4th Street NW, Room 1107. The summit will include a discussion about the District’s latest campaign efforts to end bed bugs in our City. Additionally, we will share new information and ideas on collaborative approaches to dealing with the pests with multi-agency involvement. At the summit we will aim to leave participants with new opportunities for action, and to start the dialogue on creative and effective approaches to dealing with bed bugs.

Keynote speaker Larry Pinto, Entomologist with over 25 years as a pest control consultant, technical writer, and publisher of pest control materials including Techletter for Pest Control Technicians and the Bed Bug Handbook.

Speakers and RSVP info after the jump. (more…)

‘Weekly Residential Street Sweeping Ends Friday, Oct. 29; Leaf Collection to Begin Nov. 8’

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Wayan Vota

From DPW:

Weekly (signed), residential mechanical street cleaning will end for the season on Friday, October 29, 2010. “No parking/street cleaning” restrictions will be lifted and motorists may park along posted, alternate-side, daytime street sweeping routes without being required to move their cars on street-cleaning days.

Residential street sweeping is suspended for public safety concerns during the winter. Trucks used to clean the streets are designed to release a fine spray of water to control the dust as they sweep. When the temperature drops to freezing or below, sweeping is discontinued to prevent freezing and accidents to vehicles and pedestrians.

Overnight sweeping scheduled for the District’s major roadways, which include Pennsylvania, Georgia, Constitution, and Independence avenues, will take place as usual all winter, as the weather permits. Motorists are urged not to park in these areas during the posted overnight sweeping hours. Residents and business owners will be notified when street sweeping resumes again in the spring of 2011.

By suspending the street sweeping program, DPW personnel can focus on leaf collection, which will begin November 8, as well as the upcoming snow removal season. The 2010-2011 leaf season will run November 8, 2010, through January 15, 2011. During this time, leaves will be vacuumed from each street at least twice.

New brochures announcing the fall/winter leaf collection season will be mailed to residents beginning this weekend.”

I’ll update the leaf collection schedule when it is released.

An MPD Officer’s response to, “What Questions Should Be Asked of MPD Chief Cathy Lanier and Others”

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user AWard Tour

A couple of weeks ago we discussed what questions should be asked of Chief Lanier and other MPD leaders at a crime meeting. Ed. Note: Many police officers and firefighters read PoP and from time to time contact me directly. This one was kind enough to give his/her opinion from the ground level. The following is her/his opinion alone and does not represent an official response from MPD.

It is a bit lengthy but I think well worth the read:

“How come in my over 13 years in DC I’ve only seen cops on foot a handful of times? Simply, why don’t we see regular patrols on foot?

* It depends on the district and the PSA Lieuntenant. Some districts or PSAs aren’t conducive to having a footbeat officer. Foot or bike beats are more logical for business areas than residential ones, which is why you don’t see them in heavy residential neighborhoods.

* The advent of statistics-driven policing has put a lot of pressure on supervisors. One of the metrics that officials look at come from the Office of Unified Communications (OUC). They look at things like the number of calls for service, response time, etc. A lot more calls get answered in a shorter amount of time when Officers are in vehicles. When you take a fixed pool of manpower and reassign some to fixed, limited-geography beats, the response time for everything is going to drop into the toilet unless you augment the foot officers with additional officers in vehicles.

* Given a choice between walking and pushing a scout car, most officers won’t willingly volunteer for a foot or mountain bike beat. Assigned foot beats are usually pretty small and get repetitive fast. Walking or biking eight and half hours a day can take a toll on your body.

Continues after the jump. (more…)

Trash, Recycling, Bulk Services to be Suspended Thursday, October 21, 2010

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user ewilfong

Many people wrote in about this very sad incident last week. From the reports I’ve seen it’s not clear if they have a suspect. All I can say is that it is one more case of senseless violence in our city.

But I did want to share the news that services have been suspended for tomorrow.

From a DDOT press release:

The DC Department of Public Works will suspend trash, recycling and bulk collection on Thursday, October 21, to allow sanitation staff to attend funeral services for Larry Hutchins, a 24-year DPW employee who was shot and killed while preparing for duty on Wednesday, October 13, 2010.

All Thursday trash and recycling collections, including once-a-week collections, will slide to Friday and Friday’s collection will be picked up on Saturday. Any bulk collections scheduled for Thursday will be rescheduled and those residents will be notified accordingly.

“DPW is mourning the loss of a cherished employee,” said DPW Director William O. Howland, Jr. “Our solid waste employees will join the rest of the DPW family to pay their respects to Mr. Hutchins and his family on Thursday. I want to thank everyone—Mayor Adrian Fenty, the Council of the District of Columbia, the residents we serve, the media and our fellow colleagues—for their support during this time and patience during the brief interruption of these services.”

DDOT Presents Updated DC Streetcar Plan

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

DDOT released a fairly large report on Tuesday about DC’s Streetcar Plan. There is not a whole lot of mention beyond H St, NE, Benning Road and the Anacostia Lines. So my question to you guys is – do you think a streetcar will ever be built on Georgia Ave and 14th St, NW like we’ve heard mentioned in the past? If so what in what time frame? Do you think operations starting in 2012 sounds realistic for H St, NE? If not what year do you really think it’ll start? Do you think this system will face debt problems like WMATA is currently facing? What do you think would be a good price for a one way fare? Do you think the construction of the streetcar project is a good use of city/federal funds?

Ed. Note: Sorry for the million questions – they were all just banging around in my head. Obviously feel free to pick and choose which questions are of interest to you.

Personally I’m excited to see how the H St, NE line turns out. I think if it is successful it could go a long way towards encouraging expansion in other parts of the city as well.

After the jump you can see the summary of DDOT’s plan as well as a link to the full report. (more…)

Heads Up – MPD Announces New Red Light Camera Locations

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user ianseanlivingston

It should probably be assumed that they are on every corner but this release came out late last week:

The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced today the deployment of three new photo enforced Red Light Cameras locations beginning Monday, October 11, 2010.

Red Light cameras deployed throughout the city act as a force multiplier to allow MPD to monitor and enforce traffic safety compliance.

In selecting locations for the Red Light Cameras, MPD considers calls for police service, crash data, speed feasibility studies, as well as recommendations or requests from the Department of Transportation, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions and civic or citizen associations.

The thirty day educational phase will commence on October 11, 2010 where as violators will receive warning citations. On November 12, 2010, MPD will begin issuing live citations to violating motorists.

The new red light camera locations are as follows:

1. Connecticut Avenue southbound at Porter Street NW

2. 14th Street northbound at K Street NW

3. 3rd Street southbound at New York Ave NW

For more information about automated speed enforcement in the District of Columbia, log onto http://mpdc.dc.gov/automatedenforcement

Dear PoP – Unclogging a Sewer Line Follow Up, Props to DC Water

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

I wanted to provide an update on my clogged main line sewer pipe.

The highlight of the story is that DC Water said three weeks ago that they would be back in about a month to replace my sewer line. Well here we are about a month later and the crew was at my house early this morning. Everyone was very nice and they are replacing the entire line up to my house. I’ve included some pictures of the work to show what a big job this is for them. I am so relieved to have this issue dealt with and I’m so thankful to have a DC utility acting promptly and fulfilling their promise.”

Important to give props when props are due!

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