Thanks to a reader for sending: “Walked by Brooks Brothers today at 31st and M St. NW and the store was empty; the sign was removed as well. Front door was open and you could see all the mannequins had been left.” (more…)
Amazing!! Thanks to Sean for sending from Petworth:
“Day 15…. There are 2 random chickens in our front yard… in DC…”
If you spot a hawk or any interesting wildlife around town, lunching or otherwise, and get a good photo please send where you spotted it to [email protected] and I’ll add it to the queue. Hawks around Town is made possible by a generous grant from the Ben and Sylvia Gardner foundation.
Thanks to Sara for sending:
“I work for Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit that works to repair homes for low income residents to create safe home and communities for all. (more…)
The reality
You’ve probably never read your building’s property management contract all the way through. Most board members haven’t either. If you did, you’d find a carefully defined scope of work — vendors coordinated, maintenance dispatched, assessments collected, reports generated.
What you wouldn’t find: anything about fiduciary duties. Reserve funding strategy. Compliance tracking. Case documentation. Institutional memory. The legal obligations that make your board personally accountable to unit owners.
That’s not an oversight in the contract. It’s the contract. Property management was never designed to cover governance. And yet most boards — paying $10,000 to $18,000 a year for the service — assume it does.
Operations and governance are different jobs. One has a contract. The other has a fiduciary duty.
What your building is paying — and what it’s getting.
What the contract covers. What it doesn’t.
The markup problem most boards don’t know about.
Beyond the management fee, most property management companies mark up vendor invoices — the plumber, the landscaper, the elevator contractor — by 10 to 15 percent before passing the bill to the association. It’s legal. It’s common. And boards have almost no visibility into it. (more…)
To complete the dystopian picture, this ambulance coming down 14th St in DC has got an air raid siren on. pic.twitter.com/zkRvxoiPPh
— Inez Stepman (@InezFeltscher) March 31, 2020
Got tons of messages about this – apparently it’s a new type of siren on an ambulance – thanks to Inez for sharing just how unusual it sounded.
Photo by PoPville flickr user Olaf Zerbock
You can talk about whatever is on your mind – quality of life issues, a beautiful tree you spotted, scuttlebutt, or any random questions/thoughts you may have. But please no personal attacks and no need to correct people’s grammar. This is a place to vent and/or celebrate things about daily life in D.C.
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Profs and Pints DC presents: “Artemis II and Beyond,” on how the recent space mission fits into long-term plans for the Moon, with Michael J. Neufeld, retired senior curator for the Space History Department of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.
NASA’s recent, spectacular Artemis II mission is a sign that the United States is serious about sending humans to the Moon again.
Photo by PoPville flickr user small craft
From the Mayor’s Office:
“As of 7:00 p.m. on Monday, March 30, the District’s coronavirus (COVID-19) data includes 94 new positive cases, bringing the District’s overall positive case total to 495 individuals.
- 9-year-old male
- 11-year-old male
- 19-year-old (gender unknown)
- 20-year-old female
- 20-year-old female
- 23-year-old (gender unknown)
- 24-year-old female
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- 26-year-old female
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- 26-year-old female
- 27-year-old female
- 28-year-old male
- 28-year-old female
- 28-year-old female
- 30-year-old male
- 30-year-old female
- 30-year-old male
- 31-year-old female
- 31-year-old female
- 31-year-old female
- 31-year-old male
- 32-year-old male
- 33-year-old female
- 33-year-old male
- 33-year-old male
- 33-year-old female
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- 34-year-old female
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Update: “VII. EFFECTIVE DATE
This Order shall become effective at 12:01 a.m. on April 1, 2020 and will continue to be in effect through April 24, 2020, or until it is extended, rescinded, superseded, or amended in writing by a subsequent Order.”
From the Mayor’s Office:
“Today, due to an increasing number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Washington, DC and across the region and the nation, Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a stay-at-home order for the District of Columbia. This order reinforces the Mayor’s direction to residents to stay at home except to perform essential activities.
“Our message remains the same: stay home,” said Mayor Bowser. “Staying at home is the best way to flatten the curve and protect yourself, your family, and our entire community from COVID-19. Many people want to know how they can help right now, and for most people this is how – by staying home.”
The Mayor’s Order specifies that residents may only leave their residences to: (more…)
Thanks to Sarah for sending the above from K Street, NE. And thanks to Kristen for sending from Mount Pleasant: (more…)
Photo by Rocky
A few folks have written asking about D.C. doing a cheer either at 7 or 8pm every night:
“I would love your help in starting DCs own 8PM cheer (out our windows) for healthcare workers like they’re doing in Paris and other places.”
On twitter we tried to do a cheer a couple of Sundays ago at 9pm but it didn’t really work. Should we try this again? If so, what time?
Thanks to all who’ve messaged us. Jamie writes: “A vulture just swooped down on 19th St, killed a rat, and is eating it on top of a streetlight…
People walking by “I wonder what it means?”
And Taheerah sends this awesome close up: (more…)