single member districts My Advisory Neighborhood Commission newsletters

In the fall of 2002, concerned about the domination of our ANC (Advisory Neighborhood Commission) by people attempting to impose changes on our neighborhood, with little respect for long-time residents, lower-income residents, and ethnic minority residents, I ran for the office of commissioner of my district, 1D03. Much to my surprise, every incumbent declined to run for re-election that year, and I found myself elected without opposition to an entirely new ANC, with commissioners who happened to have much more progressive and enlightened views than some of their predecessors.

In 2004, I ran for re-election, this time opposed by a resident who objected strenuously to my positions. I prevailed, pretty handily, with 694 votes, 79% of the total in my single-member district. In 2006, I ran again, this time with no opposition, given 452 votes in this off-year election. I believe that I've earned a reputation for hard work on the behalf of my constituents.

In 2008 I was pleased to share a ballot with Barack Obama. His name was on top, and mine at the very bottom, of course, but that was an honor, nonetheless! And in that active presidential-election year, I was given 792 votes, versus 42 for unknown "write-ins". I suppose the latter were for "anybody but Jack". Well, you can't get things done without encountering opposition, and leaving some residents irritated. Then there were 206 non-votes, perhaps from residents who had no idea what the ANC was.

In 2010 there was a concerted effort to replace several of the sitting ANC commissioners, by residents displeased with the commission's actions. Still, no one filed to oppose me, and the official outcome was 461 votes for Jack, 35 for "write-in".

In 2012, I was again pleased to be sharing a ballot with Barack Obama. The vote in my slightly modified single-member district was 856 votes for me, 58 write-in votes for "somebody else, not Jack".

And in the election of 2014, 675 residents checked off my name for another two years, while 54 took the trouble to write in somebody else. In 2016 there was a very energetic effort to replace me, opposition which I welcomed, because residents should have a choice, and an election victory over no opposition means nothing. Residents again chose me, by a vote of 651 to 493. But I'd trade that win a thousand times over if we could have Hillary for president, and not the malevolent moron, Donald Trump.

In 2018, elected again, 564 votes to 417 for my opponent, 7 for write-in. And, in 2020, 806 votes for Jack, 62 for write-in.

One of my services to this neighborhood is a monthly newsletter, which I distribute personally to over 700 residences. (I accept no ANC funds for this newsletter, paying the entire cost, about $85 an issue, out of my own pocket.) I have long said that no resident should have to attend our tedious monthly meetings to find out what the ANC is doing. The newsletter tells my constituents what their ANC is doing, and incorporates neighborhood news, as well. I try to make this newsletter news about the neighborhood, not your typical elected-official's bragging about what he's done for you lately.

The newsletter encourages residents to call or e-mail me (), too, which I appreciate. The month between meetings is the time for your commissioners to communicate with the neighborhood, learning what's new, what has residents concerned, what residents think of the ANC, and what their commissioner is doing. I like hearing back from my neighbors and constituents.

Here are those newsletters, the most recent first.

2022:

October 2022:  Redistricting of the Mount Pleasant ANC; ending my 20 years on this ANC.

May 2022:  Redistricting of the Mount Pleasant ANC; bus-only lanes on 16th Street, and the left turn from northbound 16th Street to Park Road; stalled work on the park at 19th and Lamont; the Harvard Street gate into the Zoo, closed to traffic forever; stepping away from this ANC work, after 20 years; the ANC, speaking up in defense of Roe v. Wade.

April 2022:  Neglecting my monthly newsletters; left turns off northbound 16th onto Park Road; the decorative balconies on the Renaissance/Kenesaw, and historic preservation; the Harvard Street gate into the National Zoo, closed; Redistricting, changing the boundaries of the Mount Pleasant ANC.

2021:

October-November 2021:  Historic preservation issues: a garage-roof deck and perimeter fence on Hobart; renovation of 3118 Mt Pleasant Street (formerly Logan's Antiques); balconies on the Kenesaw/Renaissance building; the Mayor's Agent; 2020 census numbers for Mount Pleasant, and the decline in the Black population; redistricting; the left turn from northbound 16th Street to Park Road; pedestrian and bicyclist enhancements for 17th Street north of Park Road; work on the park at 19th and Lamont to begin.

September 2021:  Visitor parking permits; parking permits for contractors; expansion of Elle restaurant; cut-through commuter traffic, and an ugly scene at Bancroft Elementary due to an aggressive cut-through driver; improvements at the 19th and Lamont park; the 2020 census, and an increase in the number of 1D ANC commissioners to six; my decision not to run for reelection in 2022; participation in ANC meetings from home, via the internet, now and after the covid pandemic is over; a rash of burglaries in Mount Pleasant.

June 2021:  Objecting to the Pine Street/Sacred Heart way roundabout for left turns from northbound 16th onto Park Road; excessive fines imposed on some Mount Plesaant restaurants; recommendations by the Near Northwest Safety and Mobility Study for four Mount Pleasant intersections; Flexiposts; our decision, 49 years ago, to make Mount Pleasant our home in DC.

May 2021:  Balconies on the Renaissance; the 1900 Lamont park; dog park on Park Road; menacing dogs; ANC meetings via Zoom; Visitor Parking Passes; my front-steps handrails; the ANC1D position on minimizing traffic on Pine Street/Sacred Heart Way.

April 2021:  Aging in place, and getting a permit for front-steps handrails;a couple of historic preservation issues; the Combined Sewer System, and overflows; the covid plague in DC; rats; please fold those side mirrors in when parking on our narrow streets; the park at 19th and Lamont.

March 2021:  The loading zone for Newton Street; the covid-19 plague continues; bike-lane study for Columbia Road; my public space application for front-steps handrails; assault on a woman in the Hobart/Harvard alley; balconies on the Renaissance apartment building, and historic preservation.

February 2021:   The Newton Street truck loading zone; covid-19 rates in DC; Newton as a "Slow Street"; trash dumping in my alley; a dog park on Park Road?; frustration in a public space permit application;

January 2021:   New commissioners; 16th Street bus lane project; the presidential election, and troublesome Trump followers renting houses in Mount Pleasant; what an ANC is, and does (it's not the neighborhood government!); Park Road examples of successful ANC "advice"; the 19th and Lamont park, and its District management; a loading zone on Newton Street, at the Stoddard Baptist Home; the coronavirus state of emergency; the Big Brown Bat, official mammal of DC.

2020:

December 2020:   Covid-19 in the District; Newton Street as a "slow street"; Chancellor Ferrebee, and the reopening of DC public school; a homicide in Mount Pleasant; parking, RPP and VPP; 18 years of Jack's newsletters.

November 2020:   The 2020 election results; the laundromat at 3215 Mount Pleasant Street becoming a residential-plus-retail building; roll-up steel vehicle gates and historic preservation; making Newton Street a "slow street"; the coronavirus in DC; public-space "parkings" in Mount Pleasant; fall leaf collection.

October 2020:   Dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic; right turns from Klingle Road onto Adams Mill Road; a "special exception" for 3215 Mount Pleasant Street; Daylight Saving Time ending; drop box at the Library for ballots; an awful crash on 18th Street and Newton, with injuries; broken window and theft at the PanAmFresh Supermarket; the trend of the coronavirus pandemic in DC; permit applications for roll-up steel garage doors; fall leaf collection.

September 2020:   ANC meetings via Zoom, due to the Covid-19 emergency; what to do about troubled people at your home; responsibility for the care of treebox spaces; an apparent case of MPD collaboration with ICE; no end in sight to the Covid-19 state of emergency; ANC funds to help residents in ndeed due to the emergency; the ANC seats up for election in November.

July 2020:   Resuming hand delivery of my newsletter; ANC grant to the Spanish Catholic Center for food donations; support for Black Lives Matter; a woman assaulted, injured adjacent to the 7-11; a "streatery" on Mount Pleasant Street; the park at 19th and Lamont; petitions for getting my name on the 2020 ballot for ANC; Lamont as a "slow street"?; Covid-19 test positives increasing in DC.

June 2020:   ANC purchases of face masks and hand sanitizer for Mount Pleasant residents; ANC funds for free meal support; ANC meetings to continue to be via internat; ANC elections; improvements for the 19th and Lamont park; the Oakwood Terrce development; delivery of my newsletter; 20 mph speed limits on some streets.

May 2020:   The Covid state of emergency, and public meetings; my newsletter delivery; the Park/Klingle/Walbridge intersection; the park at 19th and Lamont; development at 3215 Mount Pleasant Street; proposed construction at 17th Street and Oakwood Terrace; mosquitoes are coming, prepare your traps; waste-food composting at the Mount Pleasant Farmers' Market.

April 2020:   Coronavirus state of emergency; the April ANC1D meeting, via Zoom; when will the emergency end?; the park at 19th and Lamont; the primary election June 2; the 17th and Oakwood project; the 3215 Mount Pleasant Street proposal; Mount Pleasant Neighbors Helping Neighbors.

March 2020:   Losing the 25-foot parking law; Oakwood Terrace development proposed; 3215 Mount Pleasant Street development proposed; traffic light at the Park Road/Klingle Road/Walbridge Place intersection; 1900 Lamont park.

February 2020:   ANC1D officers for 2020; food waste collection for recycling; precinct 40 voting returns to Bancroft; live music at the Purple Patch' plans for new construction at the laundromat at 3215 Mount Pleasant Street; Stop Work order at 3224 19th; the Brown Street Market; the lot at 1900 Lamont; minimum distance of parking from an intersection, my battle continued.

January 2020:   Extended hours and live entertainment for the Addis Paris Cafe; a proposed change to Mount Pleasant's Comprehensive Plan; speed humps in Mount Pleasant; four-way stops for the intersection of 17th Street and Kilbourne Place; development plans for 3215 Mount Pleasant Street (now a laundromat); the ANC does not govern, but merely advises; bright lights at the Stoddard Baptist Home parking lot; burglaries in Mount Pleasant.

2019:

December 2019:   Liquor license renewals for Elle, the odd term "parking", and the area next to the 7-11; District maintenance of public parks (not good); parking (for cars) removed in Capitol Hill for a bike track; thefts from auto increasing in Mount Pleasant; bright parking-lot lights at the Stoddard Baptist Home; Taquitos Nacional opens on Mount Pleasant Street; solar panels, and historic preservation restrictions; NextDoor.com, and returning property to a victim of a robbery on Adams Mill Road.

November 2019:   Tavern liquor license renewals; minimum distance to intersection parking; gunshots, and homicide, in a 16th Street apartment; "violence interrupters"; robbery statistics; city program to subsidize replacement of lead water pipes; ANC support for La Fiesta del Barrio; historic preservation restrictions on solar panels slightly loosened.

October 2019:   Lead levels at the Bancroft Elementary playground; DDOT nullification of the law allowing residential parking at 25 feet from an intersection; Mount Pleasant tavern liquor licenses; "special exception" permit for a garage-rooftop deck; tavern license for the Addis Paris Cafe; Daylight Saving Time, and pedestrian deaths associated with early darkness; the small park at 19th and Lamont.

September 2019:   Tavern license for the Addis Paris Cafe; protected bike lane for Harvard Street; assaults in Rock Creek Park; DDOT termination of the 25-foot parking provision for residential blocks; preserving curbside parking, vs. discouraging car ownership.

July 2019:   Summary of the June meeting; a bike track for Harvard Street?; rainwater-collecting parking pad at 1842-44 Monroe; Oakwood Terrace, and the ever-slipping HPRB review schedule; the HPO objects to imitation slate on a house on Park Road; a remarkable decline in the number of burglaries in our neighborhood; RPP posted on Park Road, and petitions for Pierce Mill Road and Rosemount Avenue; a new Mexican restaurant coming to Mount Pleasant.

June 2019:   The Library makes a mess of our May meeting; horrifying home invasions on Irving Street; procedures for noitfying the public about our ANC meetings; proposals for enhanced pedestrian safety on Mount Pleasant Street; the last restaurant "voluntary agreement" in Mount Pleasant is terminated; a FOIA to the ANC for Oakwood Terrace correspondence; restoration of the fine mural on Klingle Road; historic preservation objects to flagstone pavement of a small Park Road front yard; a tavern liquor license for the Addis Paris Cafe.

May 2019:   Oakwood Terrace development; ANC monthly meeting notice; Oakwood Terrace, and historic preservation; Residential Permit Parking for Pierce Mill Road and Rosemount Avenue; 5G wireless internet in Mount Pleasant; 45 years since we moved into Mount Pleasant; the "Shotgun Stalker" of 1993.

April 2019:   Harvard Towers "repositioning" possibility; meeting concerning the 19th and Lamont park; USPS mailing to notify residents of that meeting; child bitten by dog; an April Fool's Day newsletter; police meeting "piggybacked" onto our ANC meetings; stopping before the sidewalk when driving out of an alley; historic objects to replacement window on Monreoe Street; historic demands that alterations be "not visible" from the street, however "compatible" in appearance; renewal of development prospect on Oakwood Tarrace; interrupted construction work at 1814 Ingleside Terrace; civil discussion on NextDoor.com; mosquitos soon to come!

March 2019:   Terminating the "voluntary agreement" at Purple Patch; reviving the Brown Street Market; getting the absurd definition of "penthouse" at Zoning changed; those "Free2Move" cars parked in Mount Pleasant; the troublesome traffic light on Adams Mill at the Zoo entrance; cardboard boxes in recycling containers; guns; theft from auto statistics; plans for the park at 19th and Lamont.

February 2019:   ANC1D officers for 2019; Right Turn on Red prohibitions in Mount Pleasant; public space permit for the Addis Paris Cafe; plans for the park at 1900 Lamont; terminating the "voluntary agreement" for the Purple Patch Restaurant; a liquor license for the Brown Street Market; garage-roof decks, and the zoning definition that makes them "penthouses"; Residential Permit Parking expands; icy front steps vs. my newsletter delivery.

January 2019:   Gunshots on Newton Street; PSA 408 returned to 3D, and enlarged; burglaries decreasing here; a window replacement on Monroe, and historic preservation objects; time to apply for Visitor Parking Passes; RPP zoning on Park Road, 2000 block; drivers must yield to buses re-entering the traffic lane.

2018:

December 2018:   Two robberies one morning here; voting location returning to Bancroft; early evening darkness, and pedestrian fatalities; loss of parking due to safet enhancements on the 2000 block of Park Road; a pedestrian safety space alongsode cars parked on Park Road; RPP for Park Road; the Park Road/Klingle/Walbridge crosswalk; front porch lighting on these early-darkness days; DPW autumn leaf collection.

November 2018:   Historic Preservation objects to concrete pavers in a resident's yard; ANC election results; Mount Pleasant votes for Ward One and citywide elections; the October PSA 408 meeting; Residential Permit Parking (RPP) for the 2000 block of Park Road; RPP as a tool to fend off resident-owned cars not registered in the District; the ROSA program, to identify the unregistered-car offenders; alley Supercans conflicting with parking access; robbery rates in Mount Pleasant.

October 2018:   A mentally ill man troubling residents of Mount Pleasant; Supercans left in alleys during the week; the story behind that abrupt loss in water pressure in July; repaving the 2000 block of Park Road, and DDOT's recommended changes for safety ehnahcement; garage-roof decks regulated as "penthouses" by the DCRA; the upcoming election.

September 2018:   Bancroft Elementary reopens; getting historic preservation approval for an electric utility cabinet at 1900 Lamont; historic preservation limitations on solar panels; historic preservation conflicts with bus-only lanes on 16th Street; homicide at 16th Street apartment house; co-owner of Don Juan's Restaurant dies; more historic preservation issues coming; pedestrian-safety improvements at the Park Road - Klingle Road - Walbridge Place intersection; opposing a stop sign on Pierce Mill Road; a suggestion to DDOT for slowing traffic entering Mount Pleasant on Park Road.

July 2018:    New treebox sod on Lamont Street and Park Road; stipulated liquor license for the Addis Paris Cafe; primary election results; three historic preservation issues: demolition of a garage off 18th Street, a replacement front window on Monroe, and a utility box for the 1900 Lamont apartment house; a little white dog, lost, and then the dog's human found; a bicyclist's death on M Street, and the rule for automobile right turns; pedesrian safety measures proposed for Park Road; a challenger for my ANC position.

June 2018:    "Special exception" permits for Bancroft; terminating the "voluntary agreement" for Sportsman Liquors; ANC elections in November; the crosswalk across Park Road at the Klingle/Walbridge intersection; gunshots, and a resident wounded, on Irving Street; mosquito traps; where not to dump dog-poop bags; water young street trees; clearing leaves in the Klingle Road bike track; window replacement, and a historic preservation problem, on Monroe; a new ice cream shop on Mount Pleasant Street; what an ANC does.

May 2018:    The death of Bob Pohlman; a garage-roof deck, opposed by historic preservation; the Best World market, and the CVS possibility; the June 19 primary election; Proposition 77, on the June ballot; construction at Bancroft Elementary, and their rooftop air conditioning units; please clean up dog poop in your own back yard; the BZA, and the building proposed for 1844 Monroe Street.

April 2018:    New system for 911 calls; gun confiscated on 19th Street; garage rooftop deck opposed by historic preservation; armed robberies in Mount Pleasant; burglary rates here; road repaving plans; safety enhancements for pedestrian crosswalk across Park Road at Klingle; a 50-year resident leaves; out-of-state car parked for a month; Emancipation Day holiday, and allowing holiday work at Bancroft.

March 2018:    A CVS in Mount Pleasant?; traffic speed on the 2000 block of Park Road; side yards for the end of a row; historic preservation, and a falling-down old garage off 18th Street; PSA 408 meetings; short-term rentals (AirBnB) in DC.

February 2018:    Election of ANC officers for 2018; Council legislation for short-term ("AirBnB") rentals; Sportsman's Liquors makes a mistake; historic preservation, and a falling-down alley garage; tickets for (legally) parking within 40 feet of an intersection; an alley garage for 1665 Harvard Street; January ice, and missed newsletter deliveries.

January 2018:    Historic preservation permit for 1715 Kenyon; leaf collection on the Klingle Road bike track; the Paisley Fig bakery, and a delayed permit; Mount Desert Ice Cream to come to 3110 Mount Pleasant Street; another bogus parking ticet, rescinded; the 60-foot spruce at my home comes down; work at Bancroft on Martin Luther King Day; a Wells Fargo Bank resolution; January ice, and my newsletter delivery.

2017:

December 2017:   Permit for 1842-44 Monroe Street, and the property line; a thousand-dollar parking ticket; early sunsets, and pedestrian visibility; burglary rates in Mount Pleasant; the coming primary election; snow, and our responsibility for clearing sidewalks; a robbery on Park Road.

November 2017:   Rear extensions for 1739 and 1745 Harvard Street (continued); historic preservation at 1730 Kenyon; an alley apartment structure for 1665 Harvard Street; proposed demolition of the carriage house/garage on the alley behind 3305-3307 18th Street; development of the vacant lot at 1842-1844 Monroe Street; the October PSA 408 meeting.

October 2017:    Rear extensions for 1739 and 1745 Harvard Street; MPD parking tickets; fall leaf collection; residential permit parking fines; daylight saving time coming to an end; PSA 408 meeting with Lt. Jonathan Munk; robberies in Mount Pleasant, 2002-2017.

September 2017:    Historic streetlights for Klingle Road and Walbridge Place; a new lieutenant for our PSA; opposing the proposal to eliminate 16th Street bus stops at Newton and Lamont; two rear expansions of Harvard treet houses, requiring "special exception" approval; continuing problems of invalid parking tickets written by MPD officers; zero burglaries, and zero robberies, in Mount Pleasant in August; a zoning variance needed for the two-row-house structure planned for Monroe Street; traffic here due to the second phase of Beach Driver closure.

July 2017: The Comprehensive Plan; the Klingle Valley Trail; Rock Creek Park bike path enhancement; 16th Street bus stops at Lamont and Newton; streetlight work on Mount Pleasant Street; Washington Upright streetlights for Klingle Road and Walbridge Place.

June 2017: Mount Pleasant Street streetlights; proposing a time limit on parking cars on the street; the Paisley Fig to open late summer or early fall; Commissioner Karaffa's Comprehensive Plan resolution; tax cuts in the District's FY2018 budget; the next phase of Beach Drive closure and detours through Mount Pleasant.

May 2017: Streetlight upgrade for Mount Pleasant Street; the Greater Greater Washington Comprehensive Plan policy letter; dividers attached to Lamont Park benches, to prohibit reclining; burglary rates; Tax Revision Commission recommendations, and the FY2018 DC budget.

April 2017: Short-term (Airbnb) rentals in Mount Pleasant; the three-digit codes for traffic and parking tickets; speed camera fines for the year 2016; parking for disabled drivers, and those red-top meters; upgrade of Mount Pleasant Street streetlights to LEDs; a proposed addition to the DC Comprehensive Plan; favorable comments for the Each Peach Market, and Beau Thai Restaurant, and, indirectly, for the soon-to-come Paisley Fig; bench dividers on Lamont Park benches; PSA meeting, April 26.

March 2017: Possible abuse of visitor parking passes on Newton Street; increased moving-violation fines proposed by DDOT; Council-proposed regulation of bed-and-breakfast operations in residential areas; Bancroft art auction; Beach Drive road closure; Klingle Road, and the Klingle Valley Trail; DC needs rain.

February 2017: The first meeting of the new commission; a historic preservation permit for 3109 18th Street, and the "invisibility" requirement for alterations; sharply increased moving-violation traffic fines; tavern liquor licenses for two new restaurants on Mount Pleasant Street; crime rates, and crime prevention, in Mount Pleasant; apply on-line for Visitor Parking Permits; consolidation of bus stops on 16th Street; local-election voting rights for noncitizen legal residents; bogus tickets for parking past the 40-foot "no parking to intersection" signposts.

January 2017: The new ANC; La Clinica del Pueblo acquires La Casa Community Center; speed camera on Park Road; conversion of row houses to apartment houses; the 40-foot parking rule; crime rates in Mount Pleasant; the snatching of a woman from the street on Monroe at 17th; proposed houses for 1842-44 Monroe; cost of oil heat versus gas; red-top meters for handicapped parking; warm weather in January.

2016:

November 2016: Disruption in November, and this very late newsletter; the results of the November 8 election; the election of Donald Trump, so contrary to my vision of America; Mount Pleasant's voting results; my resolution in support of Councilmember Nadeau's resolution in opposition to Federal immigration raids; my resolution in support of Mayor Bowser's declaration that DC will remain a "sanctuary city"; a change needed for the eastbound Klingle Road bike lane; burglaries in Mount Pleasant; the development adjacent to 1840 Monroe Street; about the Paid Family Leave bill.

October 2016: Proposed construction adjacent to 1840 Monroe; arrest in lot behind Bancroft; row house at 1833 Lamont conversion to an apartment house; tavern liquor license renewals; settlement-agreement termination for Marx; progress for the Paisley Fig; handicapped parking regulations coming; bike lanes on Klingle Road; the November 8 election.

August/September 2016: Bike lanes on Klingle Road; liquor license change for the Brown Street Market; the Paisley Fig, to move into the Heller's site, held up by historic preservation objections; the HPRB objects to proposed expansion of a home on 18th Street; the speed camera on Park Road; Beach Drive to be closed soon for several months; candidates for ANC; our voting site moved to the Mount Pleasant Library; an exceptionally vicious assault and robbery on Newton Street; Mount Pleasant robbery statistics; plans for the vacant lot adjacent to 1840 Monroe.

July 2016: A driveway for 1843 Park Road; the speed camera on Park Road is 'live'; Beach Drive road work to begin after Labor Day; ANC commissioner elections; bike lanes on Klingle Road for safe access to Rock Creek Park; assault and robbery on Newton Street; burglary on Walbridge Place; voting location for the November election; Heller's Bakery to become the Paisley Fig; watering those newly planted street trees; scam calls to home phones; new ANC1D website.

June 2016: Chewing gum removal from sidewalks; the ANC1D website project, the selection of a sole-source contractor, and my resignation as ANC1D Treasurer; permit request for a driveway on Park Road; mosquito season approaches; speed camera on Park Road; curbside parking on 18th Street; curbside parking on Klingle Road; theft from auto rates; termination of "voluntary agreements".

May 2016: Building permit controversy on Hobart Street; Asian Tiger mosquitoes, and the diseases they spread; change in "special tree" regulations; historic preservation, "aging in place", and a permit requested by an aging Park Road resident for her home; water those newly planted trees!; terminating "voluntary agreements" in Mount Pleasant.

April 2016: Opposing the elimination of bus stops on 16th Street; speed camera for the 2000 block of Park Road; the "choker" concept for traffic slowing on Park Road; plans for road work on Beach Drive; newly planted street trees; bike lanes on Adams Mill Road; a trap for catching Asian Tiger mosquitoes; decline in the theft-from-auto rate; horn honking to signal a resident that his ride had arrived.

March 2016: No-quorum ANC meeting; visitor parking passes being sold on line; steep increases in traffic violation fines; pedestrian fatalities in DC; ANC elections this year; elimination of bus stops on 16th Street; new business at Heller's bakery site; liquor license changes for Marleny's Restaurant; Radio Shack and Staples closed on 14th Street; bogus Verizon employees calling at homes; the Zika virus, and Asian Tiger mosquitoes; DC's hard water, and deteriorating dishwasher performance.

February 2016: ANC officers for 2016; objecting to sharply increased traffic fines; street robberies in Mount Pleasant, west of 18th Street; an incident at Don Juan's Restaurant, and efforts to save his liquor license; the January 22-23 blizzard; the "Bancroft" of Bancroft Elementary; conflict of interest charge dropped, "no evidence".

January 2016: Pedestrian/bicyclist access to Rock Creek Park; two-thirds of ANCs don't give out grants; oil heat vs. gas; public notice of anticipated ANC1D meeting topics; large increases in DC traffic violation fines; speed camera for the 2000 block of Park Road; renew visitor parking passes.

2015:

December 2015: A dreadful ANC meeting; 1865 Park Road, and historic preservation versus zoning regulations; Zoo gates to open only at 8 AM, beginning January 1; ANC grants; holiday gifts for children "disallowed"; hiring a "communications assistant"; a playground in the 1900 Lamont Street park; time to apply for Visitor Parking Passes.

November 2015: Endorsing Council bill to treat homicide surge has public health crisis; a speed camera for the 2000 block of Park Road; a bike/pedestrian lane for Klingle Road, into Rock Creek Park; proposals for the park at 1900 Lamont; harassment of Jack, for not supporting a playground in that park; ANC grants, and the severe restrictions on the use of ANC funds for "public benefit".

October 2015: The homicide in the Harvard Towers parking lot; homicides are up, but robberies are not; the District Council bill considering the homicide problem as a "public health crisis"; traffic calming for the 2000 block of Park Road; my resolution endorsing Police Chief Lanier as a dedicated advocate of community policing; the Zoning Administrator's decision concerning 1865 Park Road, allowing a zoning variance on the basis of a building that burned down 45 years ago.

September 2015: Mayor's Agent approves Bancroft modernization project; asking the MPD to leave parking ticketing to Parking Enforcement personnel; road work on Newton, complicated by parked cars; West Nile virus in Mount Pleasant; styrofoam packaging to be banned; homicides and violent crime rates in DC; "Black Lives Matter" placards; work begins on the Klingle Valley Trail.

July 2015:  Modernization of Bancroft Elementary; plans for 3054 Mount Pleasant Street development; trees down, one courtesy of a Capitol Paving dump truck; crime rates in Mount Pleasant; who is responsible for treebox space maintenance; problems implementing a "slurry seal" on Newton Street; support for voting rights for noncitizen residents.

June 2015:  Modernization of Bancroft Elementary; graffiti on the back wall of Don Juan's Restaurant, and the District's "aerosol art" program; permits for the use of Lamont Park; traffic speed on Park Road; my newsletters; robberies in Mount Pleasant down a lot.

May 2015: More on off-street parking "credits" for nonexistent parking spaces; MPD parking tickets for legally parked cars; Bancroft school modernization; Columbia Heights Educational Campus; graffiti on Don Juan Restaurant's back wall; parking policy for drivers with disabilities.

April 2015: ANC's obstruction of the opening of the Farmers' Market; parking meter rates on Mount Pleasant Street; new "Wage Theft Prevention" law; Bancroft redesign changed to put soccer field on the 18th Street side of the school; rough road on Walbridge Place; local-election voting rights for noncitizen legal residents; allowing an 85-unit apartment house with no offstreet parking; speed camera cost-benefit analysis.

March 2015: An 85-unit apartment house with zero off-street parking provided; Zoning Administrator "Determination Letters"; DCRA policy allowing developers to disregard off-street parking zoning regulations; a second crosswalk across Mount Pleasant Street at the Kenyon intersection, rejected by the ANC; a letter from the ANC required for the continuation of the Farmers' Market in 2015, held up by objections raised by three commissioners; a disallowance by the DC Auditor of a Chevy Chase ANC's grant for winter wear for the homeless, illustrating the difficulty in using ANC funds for the benefit of a neighborhood; bogus phone calls threatening legal action for unpaid tax bills; local-election voting rights for noncitizen legal residents.

February 2015: ANC officers for 2015; meeting calendar; historic preservation restrictions on solar panels; the Meridian Hill Baptist Church conversion to an apartment house, with no off-street parking; plans for modernization of Bancroft Elementary; theft from auto statistics; transfer of Mount Pleasant into the Fourth MPD District.

January 2015: Burglary statistics; new law concerning clearing sidewalks of ice and snow; another crosswalk for Mount Pleasant Street; requirements for stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks; Heller's Bakery closing; conflict between historic preservation and solar energy installations; roof deck for 3240 19th Street; foreign-born residents in the DC Metro area, and Mount Pleasant; the new ANC1D commissioners; plans for modernization of Bancroft Elementary; January snowfalls.


2014:

December 2014: The Oakwood Terrace project; the Deauville reopened, as the Monsenor Oscar Romero Apartments; a Subway sandwich shop to be opened in Mount Pleasant; the Inspector General's critical report on DC parking and speed-camera ticketing policies; I get a couple of bogus parking tickets rescinded; robberies in Mount Pleasant on a downward trend; November 4 election results; DC primary elections to move back to September.

November 2014: Apartment house conversions; the Exelon acquisition of Pepco; house numbers along alleys; the burglary wave stops, abruptly; Verizon's FiOS arriving in Mount Pleasant; election results; handicapped drivers, and parking meter policy; bicycle helmets.

October 2014: Parking permits for Mount Pleasant employees; coming project to "rehabilitate Beach Drive"; tree spaces, and too-tall vegetation; burglaries in Mount Pleasant; renewal of visitor parking passes; the Zabver Thai carry-out opens; the Oakwood Terrace development; the Inspector General's critical report on speed camera and parking ticket policies.

September 2014: ANC candidates; visitor parking passes; the school boundaries plan; population changes here; Norway maples; lost parking spots on 18th Street; thefts from auto; burglaries; picking up dog poop; "Secure Communities" and crime.

July 2014: Historic preservation in Mount Pleasant; curbside parking spaces on 18th Street; school boundaries update; coming changes on the ANC; "running traps", and clogged sewer lines; visitor parking passes for the 3300 block of 19th Street; trash and treeboxes on Mount Pleasant Street; historic preservation for 1821 Newton Street, and how the historic preservation process works in Mount Pleasant.

June 2014: School attendance zones; Columbia Heights Education Campus; ANC candidates needed for next year; speed hump for 18th Street; the meaning of "sharrows"; Native Americans in Mount Pleasant.

May 2014: Adam Hoey's "parklet" and "Friends of Lamont Park" resolutions; changing the date of the primary election; primary election voting results for Mount Pleasant; "Real ID" driver's licenses; changing school boundaries and school selection procedures; the zoning regulations review; plenty of rain this year; old-style Supercans and recycling containers to be confiscated, if left on public space; 40 years in Mount Pleasant, and our view of this neighborhood.

April 2014: Extraordinary March snow; Broad Branch Road rehabilitation; overly bright street lights on Adams Mill Road; 1865-67 Park Road, and lot coverage limits; parking pads at 1865-67 Park Road; parking on Newton Street, and the Stoddard Baptist Home staff commuters; why the September primary election was held in April this year; preliminary results of the April 1 primary election.

March 2014: Curbside parking spaces lost to alley-exit no-parking expansion; tavern license for Don Jaime's Restaurant; objecting to provision of revised zoning regulations allowing 60% lot coverage on all lots; troubles with the new zoning regulations; snow in February and March; absence of any decline in robberies in DC, vs. dramatic drop in homicides; DDOT/MPD study of speed camera locations, affirming a "safety nexus" for each and every one; primary election, April 1; school boundary changes to come, and the middle-school problem.

February 2014: ANC officers for 2014; cold weather; abandoned cars; 18th Street alley exit; 1867 Park Road at the HPRB; speed camera for Park Road; Jim Graham for District Council; Klingle Valley Trail.

January 2014: ANC meetings moved to the Library; lost parking spaces adjacent to the alley off 18th Street; proposed development at 1867 Park Road; Oakwood Terrace, again; was Oakwood Terrace kept "secret" by Jack in 2010?; undelivered December newsletters, due to icy steps; legal responsibility for clearing snow from the sidewalk; permitting legal residents to vote in local elections; low temperatures, and freezing water pipes, in January; crime rates in Mount Pleasant; where to put one's Christmas tree for city collection.

2013:

December 2013: Changes to our voting precincts, and voting locations; a bike lane for Broad Branch Road; four lost curbside parking spots, due to increased no-parking distances to an alley entrance; revision of our zoning regulations; an apartment house proposed for 1867 Park Road; my recommended changes for the new zoning regulations; the ANC chairperson's misleading testimony at the HPRB; supporting local voting rights for noncitizen legal residents.

November 2013: Adams Mill Road opened; school boundary revision; Oakwood Terrace, and a "tree and slope overlay"; no-parking zones adjacent to 18th Street alley expanded to 20-25 feet; bogus arrowhead on a Kilbourne Place no-parking sign; speed camera for Park Road; bike lane for Broad Branch Road; ethnic and economic diversity in Mount Pleasant.

October 2013: Marx Cafe tavern license; visitor parking passes; DC statehood resolution; Residential Permit Parking; preschool/pre-K lottery for Bancroft; Oakwood Terrace; Adams Mill Road project; crime rates in Mount Pleasant; commission chairperson China Terrell; festival lights for Mount Pleasant Street; "Rocky" Rakani sells the Argyle Convenient Store.

August/September 2013: Remote observation of ANC meetings via Skype; visitor parking passes; speed cameras, and safety statistics; Bancroft Elementary, and the pre-school pre-kindergarten lottery; Rosemount Avenue "no exit" signage.

July 2013: The Meridian Hill Baptist Church project, and parking; Oakwood Terrace; robberies in Mount Pleasant; new principal at Bancroft; groundbreaking for the Monsenor Romero apartments; a vicious dog attack; putting the audio of our monthly meetings onto the internet; new "demolition by neglect" regulations proposed; ANC meetings, and neighborhood communications.

June 2013: Public attendance at ANC business meetings; the 2010 notice of Oakwood Terrace development; the May 23 HPRB hearing for the proposed Oakwood Terrace development; moving the ANC business meetings to the Library; recent robberies on and near Brown Street; is there a "rash of crimes" in Mount Pleasant?; converting the space adjacent to the 7-11 into a public park, and our "parkings"; status of the Kenyon/Adams Mill/Harvard project.

May 2013: The special election for District Council; robberies and other crimes in Mount Pleasant; Bancroft playground availability to the public; proposed development at 17th Street and Oakwood Terrace; the Adams Mill Road/Kenyon intersection project.

April 2013: Another neighbor dies, unexpectedly; thefts from auto, and a rash of parked-car vandalism; resident cited for overflowing trash/recycling container; about the Constitutional "right to bear arms"; Mount Pleasant children with high blood lead; the Kenyon/Irving/Adams Mill intersection; periodical cicadas expected soon; armed robbery of a DC resident of her dog (dumb criminal category).

March 2013: Red lights, and red-light cameras; the rabid fox incident; the Beau Thai opens; Rock Creek Parkway road work; motor scooter regulations; the barrier on Adams Mill Road; Mount Pleasant visitor parking passes; the winter snow total; Adams Mill Road/Walbridge Place armed robber convicted.

February 2013: ANC officers for 2013; retail liquor store hours, and Sunday sales; the law concerning stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks; new commissioners; DC school boundaries; the Beau Thai restaurant; ANC meeting location, and the treatment of Head Librarian Ellen Kardy by the DC Public Library; newsletter deliveries to 1823 Newton and 3324 18th; ANC grants; neighbor Charlie Bryant's death.

January 2013: Haydee's Restaurant application for extended hours; speed cameras, and traffic fatalities; parking distance from an intersection; the Second Amendment, and today's weapons; the decline in DC homicides since 1993; Mount Pleasant in the mid-1970s; speed cameras, and speed limits; Kenyon/Adams Mill/Irving intersection project progress; minimum age for alcoholic beverage purchase, and automobile deaths.

2012:

December 2012: Residential Permit Parking; Adams Mill/Walbridge robbers held; legislation to reform alcoholic beverage regulation; final vote totals, 2012 election; Beau Thai to open in January; Paula Broadwell in Mount Pleasant, hounded by photographers; Haydee's Restaurant applies for 24-hour food service; "red top" meters for handicapped parking; Adams Mill Road one-way at the Zoo; pedestrian struck by car at the Zoo entrance; blighted property at 1855 Lamont; earliest sunsets of the year.

November 2012: Two armed robberies on the west side of Mount Pleasant; proposed legislation concerning speed-camera fines; proposed motor scooter regulations; resident hit by car at the Zoo exit; the reelection of Barack Obama; leaf collection.

October 2012: Outcome of a 2011 robbery on Newton Street; the Porter Street speed camera, and the claim by the MPD that photo enforcement "saves lives"; application by the National Housing Trust for the Deauville site redevelopment makes progress; status of Radius Pizza and the Beau Thai Restaurant; rainfall totals; $75 fine for "failure to maintain public space"; DC plan for handicapped parking meters; DST to end Nov 4; work to start soon on Kenyon/Adams Mill/Irving intersection; West Nile virus; ANC election November 6; gay marriage.

September 2012: Changes to my single-member-district boundaries; Kenyon/Adams Mill/Irving intersection project status; West Nile virus in Mount Pleasant; unreasonable speed cameras; traffic speeds in DC; another historic preservation incident; designation of the Deauville site as "blighted"; the Democratic Party Convention, and diversity in Mount Pleasant.

August 2012: Support for Radius, Beau Thai restaurants; Mount Pleasant Library schedule; Fiesta DC, not in Mount Pleasant!; visitor parking passes; November ANC candidates; speed cameras; Klingle Road suit dismissed; African Hair Gallery.

July 2012: Sharrows for Mount Pleasant Street; rejecting a new crosswalk for Mount Pleasant Street; Councilmember Graham's alcoholic beverage regulation reform bill; a very aggressive Parking Enforcement officer; speed cameras; robberies in Mount Pleasant, and our declining crime rates; the bogus "spike" in DC robberies.

June 2012: Deauville apartment house project; Thai restaurant to Mount Pleasant Street; Sunday liquor sales; exceptions to ban on alcoholic-beverage singles; "special trees" law; Eleanor Holmes Norton to visit the ANC; speed cameras; historic preservation denial of solar panels.

May 2012: The April 13 primary election results; Biddle and Orange on Klingle Road; Columbia Heights man killed by trash truck exiting an alley; reform of "emergency no parking" placard procedures; proposal to allow liquor retailers t be open on Sunday; speed cameras and other photo enforcement devices; rats around 18th and Newton; the food-truck event at Lamont Park; bushes extending out over sidewalks; ANC candidacy petitions.

April 2012: Primary election results; red-top parking meters for handicapped-reserved parking; sand-brown sidewalks, and Historic Mount Pleasant; home maintenance, vs. historic preservation; "public members" of the Historic Preservation Review Board; Klingle Road/Valley status; Bancroft Elementary; Kenyon/Adams Mill intersection progress.

March 2012: Zoning variance for 1865 Newton; protesting the ANC redistricting procedures; a bogus robbery crime wave; status of the Mount Pleasant Library; MPD homicide closure rate; recycling dumped into trash; light-brown sidewalks; DC primary election; Klingle Road lawsuit; home invasion on Irving Street.

February 2012: Meridian Hill Baptist Church development; Historic Preservation Review Board "public" member; Kenyon/Adams Mill/Irving intersection project; Mr Concepcion Zavala killed attempting to stop his truck; Betty Ayomike passing; robberies down in Mount Pleasant, but not decreasing in DC; supposed "attempted carjacking" on Park Road; drivers must stop before sidewalk when exiting an alley.

January 2012: Kenyon/Adams Mill intersection project; pedestrian access route to the Kenyon/Irving bus stop; improper "Emergency No Parking" signs on Ingleside; use of visitor parking passes by contractors; change to PSA 408; homicides in DC may be down, but robberies are not; ANC financial reports; Mount Pleasant Library work completion schedule.

2011:

December 2011: Opting out of "enhanced" RPP; protesting switch of Mount Pleasant to MPD District Four; burglaries; thefts from auto; ANC redistricting testimony; Broad Branch Road closure; robberies; sunset time; ANC 4A attempts to extend into Ward One, to lay claim to Klingle Road.

November 2011: Adams Mill Road resident Ben Mufti, killed by a falling tree branch; reconstruction of the Kenyon/Irving/Adams Mill intersection, and a problem concerning the bus stop location; temperature records; condominium development at the Meridian Hill Baptist Church site; date of earliest sunset; how the West Nile Virus came here, and wiped out the crow population; burglaries in Mount Pleasant; Compost Cab, for composting your food scraps; how President Kennedy, 50 years ago, forced the Washington Redskins to open up to black players.

October 2011: Fiesta DC; ANC redistricting; burglaries; problems in Lamont Park; expansion of Don Juan's sidewalk cafe.

September 2011: The library; the earthquake; burglaries; rain, and watering street trees; ANC redistricting; diatomaceous earth for bedbugs; earlier sunsets.

August 2011: The Mount Pleasant Library, and the Board of Zoning Adjustment; a plague of parking tickets; sidewalk cafe for the Pupuseria San Miguel; the Kenyon/Adams Mill Road, and Harvard/Adams Mill Road intersections; ANC redistricting; Meridian Hill Baptist Church conversion to condos; burglaries.

July 2011: The Mount Pleasant Library expansion project; Latino Fiesta in Mount Pleasant; shifting Mount Pleasant into the Fourth MPD District; reconstruction of the Kenyon/Adams Mill and Harvard/Adams Mill intersections; burglaries in Mount Pleasant.

June 2011: Ward One boundary, and redistricting; dogs on/off leash; Haydee's gets a tavern license; armed robbery on Newton Street; proposed revision of MPD districts; immigrants, and economic vitality.

May 2011: A loading zone for Haydee's; charges against the Raven dismissed; "Emergency No Parking" placards; emergency exercise drill on Newton; burglaries in Mount Pleasant; special election results; Mount Pleasant Library expansion; liquor sales hours.

April 2011: The Raven Grill; termination of MPNA voluntary agreements; 2010 census data for Mount Pleasant; construction work on Rock Creek Parkway; new ANC1D web site; Supercan replacement; there's no "surge" in property crimes in DC; loading zone for Haydee's; anniversaries of MLK assassination, first shots of the Civil War.

March 2011: Termination of MPNA voluntary agreements; traffic backups on Park Road; Raven Grill charged with operating after approved hours; Alante Financial robbery; police officers and Latino residents; dismissal of thousand-dollar parking ticket; coding of parking tickets; Klingle Valley Environmental Assessment finding of "no impact" approved; redesign of Kenyon/Adams Mill/Irving intersection to permit left turns.

February 2011: ANC officer election; my newsletter costs; Klingle Valley Trail; robbery of Alante Financial; bicycle safety testimony; left turn from Klingle onto Park Road; crime increasing or decreasing in Mount Pleasant; bedbugs.

January 2011: The "Open Meetings" bill; parking 25/40 feet from an intersection; P055 "no parking anytime" tickets; a thousand-dollar truck-parking ticket; right turn light at Klingle/Park/Walbridge; elm tree on Adams Mill at Kenyon; ANC meeting start time; crime in Mount Pleasant; demographics of Mount Pleasant; problem property on Walbridge, and "demolition by neglect"; natural gas leak in front of 1900 Lamont.

2010:

December 2010: ANC election results; Small Area Action (Revitalization) Plan; hearing concerning termination of Haydee's, Don Juan's VAs with the MPNA; plans for 3324 18th Street mansion; Transportation Enhancement Grant, and Mount Pleasant Street treebox spaces; ANC grants; status of resident seriously injured by trash truck in August.

November 2010: Robberies; robbers identified and caught; ANC election results; speeding traffic; fiber optic in Mount Pleasant; renovation of 3324 18th Street; 20th anniversary of 1991 Latino disturbances; leaf collection schedule; new parking regulation bill; 150th anniversary of election of Lincoln.

October 2010: Haydee's Restaurant; Mount Pleasant's voting results in the primary; robberies in the District, and in Mount Pleasant; ANC elections on November 2; Fiesta DC problems; left turn from 16th onto Park Road; PSA meetings; traffic speeds; row house fire on 19th; Bancroft playground access by residents; redesign of the Kenyon/Adams Mill/Irving intersection; trees suffering from drought.

September 2010: Latino Fiesta; ANC election; Adams Mill Road pavement markings; 25-feet-to-intersection parking; pedestrian critically injured by truck at 17th and Lamont; armed robbery on Newton; night club license for Haydee's rejected; the Bancroft playground; vacant lot at 17th and Oakwood; public space permits for storage pod on 17th, construction van on Lamont; rainfall shortage.

August 2010: The Bancroft Elementary playgrounds; "Emergency No Parking" signs; parking tickets; funding for the Deauville, and the St Dennis; Fiesta DC; CM Graham's Enhanced Residential Parking bill; Mount Pleasant Street as a "green street".

July 2010: Rock wall at Park Road and 19th; narrow sidewalks on Irving; the tree in front of Haydee's Restaurant; rules for neighborhood block parties; high temperatures, and low rain; Main Street's Transportation Enhancement Grant; candidacy for ANC, 2010; Asian Tiger mosquitoes; robberies, and thefts from auto; the Klingle Trail.

June 2010: Fire exit, sidewalk cafe for Haydee's; ABC Board hearing on Haydee's night club application; assault and robbery on Lamont Street; 40/25-foot parking ticket dismissed; Vince Gray's fence, and "public space"; the oak tree, and wall, at 19th Street and Park Road; rerouting buses on Mount Pleasant Street; Klingle Valley Trail Environmental Assessment.

May 2010: Pedestrian Encounter Zone; bus noise on Mount Pleasant Street; legal noise limits; stipulated liquor license for Don Juan's sidewalk cafe; Public Nuisance Abatement bill; citation procedure for nuisance offenses; Council acts against "Secure Communities"; death of bicyclist Constance Holden; Bruce Fields, the recently deceased homeless resident; assault and robbery at Lamont and Walbridge; troublesome young man near Lamont Park; new "emergency no parking" regulations.

April 2010: Byron Peck's mural; the MPD and "Secure Communities"; PSA meetings in Spanish; visitor parking passes; the death of the homeless man with the crutch; police officer hyperactive in parking tickets; Haydee's Restaurant night club application; daytime parking passes; failing to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks; "Pedestrian Encounter Zone" on Mount Pleasant Street; the first 80-degree temperatures of 2010.

March 2010: The night club license for Haydee's; police-Latino relations, and Spanish-speaking officers at the PSA meetings; the Secure Communities program; Daylight Saving Time; street sweeping; un-scooped dog poop; permanent visitor parking passes; Byron Peck's mural.

February 2010: ANC officer elections; the snow; a nightclub liquor license for Haydee's Restaurant; Don Jaime's Restaurant voluntary agreement violation; robberies up in DC, not down; killer of Jose Villatoro sentenced; a single sale violation at the Woodner Grocery; CM Graham's assists with snow clearing of Mount Pleasant streets; that steel plate in the Walbridge/Park Road/Klingle Road intersection.

January 2010: The U.S. Attorney's Office handling of gunshots into a Mount Pleasant bedroom; how much is 40 grams of crack cocaine?; robberies, and robbery closure rates; Lt Micah Pate; the 17-inch snowfall; steel plate in the Walbridge/Klingle/Park Road intersection; the Mount Pleasant Forum; automobile registrations, and missing notifications of expiration; daytime parking passes; pedestrian death on 16th Street; tickets for parking on "lower Lamont".

2009:

December 2009: Drug dealing on Monroe Street; robbery clearance rates; residential permit parking, and the daytime parking passes; bicycling regulations; fee for disposable bags; the plate in the Park Road/Klingle Road/Walbridge Place intersection; the Mount Pleasant Forum; traffic light timing on Klingle Road.

November 2009: Autumn leaf collection; a second homicide in Mount Pleasant this year; shots fired into an Adams Mill Road bedroom; commuter parking passes for Bancroft and Stoddard; porch lights; thefts from automobile; traffic lights on Klingle Road; the steel plate in the Park Road/Walbridge Place/Klingle Road intersection; removal of the pedestrian pylon on Park Road at 19th; the HPRB approval of the Mount Pleasant Library addition; minimum distance for passing a bicycle.

October 2009: Gunshots on Adams Mill Road; status of the Deauville; the Klingle Valley Trail; the Mount Pleasant Library renovation and expansion; residential permit parking in north Mount Pleasant, and day parking passes; drug arrests on Monroe Street; bird mortality due to roaming housecats; the last warm day of 2009.

September 2009: Fiesta DC returns to Mount Pleasant; RPP on Monroe, Newton, Ingleside, 19th; day parking passes; gunshots on Adams Mill Road; "revitalization" planning for Mount Pleasant Street; "Latino Family of Washington" event.

(There was no August 2009 issue)

July 2009: Police activity on Park Road; residential permit parking for Monroe, Newton, Ingleside, 19th; demolition by neglect on Walbridge; 25-foot parking rule, and bogus parking tickets; a sidewalk cafe for Don Juan's restaurant; the effort for revitalization of Mount Pleasant Street; move of Capital City Charter School to 16th Street; homicide in the Harvard Towers; ANC grants budget; drug arrests nearby.

June 2009: RPP parking permits for Monroe, Newton, Ingleside, 19th; status of the daytime parking pass proposal; fire-emergency access behind the Mount Pleasant Library; ANC audits; abuse of "Emergency No Parking" placards by District contractors; enhanced crosswalk across Park Road at 19th Street; perverse timing of traffic lights on Klingle Road; "impervious area" fees on water/sewage bills.

May 2009: RPP for Monroe, Newton, Ingleside, 19th; Councilmember Graham's parking bill; traffic speed on Park Road; speed humps for 17th Street; zoning variance for 3150 17th Street; ruins of the Deauville; gunshot on Monroe Street; hard times at Neighbors' Consejo.

April 2009: Bike lanes on Adams Mill Road; automobile break-ins; the Mount Pleasant Library expansion/renovation; outcome of a January 2008 kidnapping and carjacking; emergency access to the rear of apartment buildings; residential permit parking on Monroe, Newton, Ingleside, and 19th; the oak tree on Park Road at 19th; ANC finances.

March 2009: Expansion plans for the Mount Pleasant Library; daytime parking passes; Bancroft Elementary and the White House garden; CM Graham's anti-loitering bill; WASA's impermeable surface billing; the ANC grants program; traffic calming on Park Road; FiestaDC leaves Mount Pleasant.

February 2009: ANC victim of check fraud; visitor and daytime parking passes; commuter traffic on Newton; traffic calming for Park Road, 2000 block; daylight saving time, and the time of opening Beach Drive to traffic on Sunday evenings; heating bills; street robberies; crime statistics; Rosemount windows; Mount Pleasant Library renovation plans.

January 2009: The Obama inauguration; appeal of an ABC Board decision concerning Don Juan's Restaurant; the ANC small-grants program; reform of the residential permit parking system; deadly house fire on Kilbourne Place; urination in alleys, and the gate on an alley off Kilbourne; what to do about speeding commuter cut-through traffic; plastic license plate covers; robberies.

2008:

December 2008: ANC grants; plastic license plate covers; District bill requiring a majority vote of property owners for historic district designation; robberies; traffic lanes on Park Road at 17th; ANC audit.

November 2008: Mount Pleasant Traffic Study final meeting; November 4 election results; reconstruction of the 1600 block of Park Road; zoning variance for 1665 Harvard Street; Mount Pleasant Library expansion; Safe Routes to School, Bancroft Elementary, and traffic in alleys; Bicycle Safety Enhancement Act; Mount Pleasant women killed in crash on I-66; repaving of Kenyon and Irving Streets; satellite sites for the inauguration.

October 2008: Performance parking pilot program; historic district designation for Lanier Heights; State Board of Education election, and candidate Lillian Perdomo; burglaries in Mount Pleasant; ANC grants; the election November 4; ANC financial bookkeeping; bedbugs; Verizon FiOS; Harvard Street zoning variance application; oak tree at 19th Street and Park Road.

September 2008: Single sales ban; Historic Mount Pleasant; pilot visitor parking program for Mount Pleasant; robberies down, burglaries up; Marx Cafe voluntary agreement; mariachis at Don Juan's; heavy rain ends the drought; Park Road traffic calming meeting; Stokes Charter School leaves Mount Pleasant.

August 2008: ANC candidates; Klingle Road; single sales bans; dry weather, and watering street trees; dog poop; Mount Pleasant diversity; recycling styrofoam packing pellets; crime in Mount Pleasant.

July 2008: Single sales ban; Mt Pleasant bicyclist killed by truck; sexual assault on 18th Street; oak tree on Park Road at 19th; a plague of bedbugs; ANC financial reports; assist from Councilmember Graham.

June 2008: ANC budget; Klingle Road; the Mount Pleasant Traffic Study; armed robbery of a Metrobus on 16th Street; visitor parking; daytime parking permits.

May 2008: Klingle Road; responsible hospitality; Mount Pleasant traffic study; robberies in Mount Pleasant; the price of home heating oil; the excavation at 1900 Lamont; parking enforcement; the National Zoo's plans, and the Kenyon-Adams Mill-Irving intersection.

April 2008: The ABC Board's live music decision; the Park Road oak tree; basement apartment entrances; rebuilding the Kenyon/Adams Mill/Irving intersection; parking enforcement problems; a bogus burglary "surge"; the Klingle Road issue returns; drug dealing on Monroe.

March 2008: The fire at the Deauville; Mount Pleasant pilot parking program; rebuilding the retaining wall along Adams Mill Road; Parking Enforcement confusion over 25 vs. 40 feet to an intersection; the ban on sales of single containers of alcohol; Walbridge Place handicapped access; the live music ban.

February 2008: Robberies; protest hearing for entertainment endorsements; thefts from auto; the Mount Pleasant traffic study; front entrances for basement apartments.

January 2008: New commissioner; ANC officers for 2008; ANC liquor license protest withdrawals; parking tickets; police raid on Park Road; MPD foot patrols; Bancroft beer-can cleanup; historic preservation on Newton Street; imminent opening of Target in Columbia Heights.

2007:

December 2007: Traffic in Mount Pleasant; robberies, and an arrest; clearing snow and ice from sidewalks; Christmas tree disposal; the live music dispute; historic preservation, and the Walbridge Place matter; trash on public space; packing styrofoam pellet recycling.

November 2007: Marleny's Restaurant voluntary agreement; gunshots on Monroe; 1823 Newton redevelopment, and historic permit application; trash enclosure behind Don Juan's Restaurant; street robberies; traffic study, second community meeting.

October 2007: Fiesta DC; Mount Pleasant Traffic Study, and the one-way notion for Mount Pleasant Street; resignation of Joe Esparza; foot patrol officers; DST end; fall leaves; Walbridge Place lift; the drought.

September 2007: Fiesta DC; gunshots on Monroe Street; live music; robbery on Pierce Mill Road; Asian Tiger mosquitos.

August 2007: Live music and voluntary agreements; Mount Pleasant Traffic Study; FiestaDC; Bestway trash housing; restaurant food sales requirement; parking 25 feet from intersections.

July 2007: Historic Preservation and the Walbridge Place elderlies (again); red-arrow-light runners at Park Road and Klingle/Walbridge; burglars arrested on 17th Street; Mount Pleasant traffic study status; fighting for live music in Mount Pleasant restaurants; street robberies; the drought; Rosemount Avenue windows; porch removal on Ingleside Terrace.

June 2007: Mount Pleasant Responsible Hospitality Partnership; pedestrian safety measures for 16th and Irving, and for Mount Pleasant Street; enforcement of pedestrian rights in crosswalks; Rosemount Avenue "historic" windows and door; Mount Pleasant traffic study; special school board/Board of Education election; restaurant liquor license "voluntary agreements"; robbery at 19th and Monroe.

May 2007: Automobile drivers exiting alleys; Park Road closure for repairs; the Mount Pleasant live music ban; parking 25 feet from intersections; Rosemount Avenue windows; Mount Pleasant traffic study; retaliation against a renter for her support of live music.

April 2007: Non-historic windows on Rosemount Avenue; "Fight Back" operations; the new sidewalk on Rosemount Avenue; status of the Mount Pleasant traffic study; collapsing house at 3222 19th Street; ANC resolutions.

March 2007: Disturbances and gunshots around Monroe and 18th; historic preservation problems; the around-the-park left turn from northbound 16th onto westbound Park Road; a red-light camera for Park Road at the Walbridge/Klingle intersection.

February 2007: Theft from auto rates; historic preservation in Mount Pleasant; repaving of Rosemount Avenue, with a wide sidewalk; snow clearing regulations; daylight saving time; "Turf Wars" book signing.

January 2007: Pedestrian death on Park Road; relaxation of 400-foot liquor license ban; "personal hardship" exception for historic preservation regulation; traffic speed on Park Road, before and after bike lanes; pedestrian advance "walk" time.

2006:

December 2006: Opposing the notion of making Park Road one-way westbound; parking to within 25 feet of an intersection, versus 40; the Historic Preservation denial of a handicapped ramp on Walbridge Place; armed robbery on Lamont Street; styrofoam packing pellet reuse at the UPS Store; karaoke at Don Juan's; the troubled house at 3222 19th Street.

November 2006: ANC election results; Historic Preservation ramp exit denial on Walbridge Place; Mount Pleasant Traffic Summit; drop in Mount Pleasant burglaries; Park Road bike lane; traffic calming on Park Road.

October 2006: Violent crimes on Walbridge Place and Ingleside Terrace; the murder of Jose Villatoro; the Latino Family Fiesta in Mount Pleasant; a police pursuit through Mount Pleasant; burglaries; sidewalk leads on Ingleside Terrace.

September 2006: Wheelchair ramps at 19th and Lamont; primary election results; ANC candidates on the November ballot; voluntary agreements, and karaoke at Don Juan's; a sidewalk, and traffic calming, for the 2000 block of Park Road; the burglary wave continues.

August 2006: The traffic light on Park Road at Klingle/Walbridge; a shocking water bill; burglaries, a one-man crime wave; changing the DPW bulk trash collection policy; sidewalk color; Jim Graham endorsement; an armed robbery on 18th Street; an armed robbery on 17th Street, by a band of children; closing time at Don Juan's.

July 2006: MPD foot patrols; burglaries in Mount Pleasant; ANC call for an end to the ban on live music; bulk trash collection; no-parking signs; the crime emergency, and the MPD's robbery closure rate.

June 2006: Robberies in Mount Pleasant; change of ANC Chair; Lamont Park letters of ANC support; Comprehensive Plan, and east-west traffic; Bancroft Elementary testimonial; Web site, and the shotgun stalker; Mrs Johnson's car; the MPNA and their restaurant policies; residential permit parking permit fees.

May 2006: Repaving of 19th Street; traffic on Park Road, and a full-scale traffic study for Mount Pleasant; our new PSA Lieutenant, Lt Vines; foot patrols on Mount Pleasant Street; abandoned-automobile complaint on Walbridge Place; coping with rats; knife assault at the Raven Grill

April 2006: April 4 and 18 ANC meetings; Adams Mill Road signpost; live music ban in Mount Pleasant restaurants; pedestrian path to the Irving/Kenyon bus stop; reopening of the Argyle Convenient Store; homeowner permit applications; no Mount Pleasant Festival this year; elm tree at 3133 Adams Mill Road; DC Latino Fiesta.

March 2006: Death of Sgt Gerry Burke; street sweeping resolution; destruction by DDOT of the Bestway curb cut and driveway; wheelchair ramp at the Argyle; Adams Mill Road street sign; computer and projector system for the ANC.

February 2006: Trash containers on public space; rent control reform; blockading by DDOT of the Bestway curb cut and driveway; permit problems, and the wheelchair ramp, at the Argyle Convenient Store.

January 2006: Traffic jams on Park Road; my testimony to District Council on new parking legislation; what's a "parking"?; the Bestway public space issue.

In January, 2006, I testified again to this committee, concerning the parking legislation now under study. This was as a resident, because there was no time to gain ANC endorsement of this testimony. I called for
(1) Rejection of the proposal to increase RPP fees to $25, $50, and $100;
(2) Restoration of the time limit on parking cars on our streets, to prevent the "warehousing" of cars, a wasteful use of precious parking space; and
(3) Again, decreasing the minimum parking distance to an intersection from 40 feet to 25 feet, adding valuable new parking space to our neighborhood.
Here is that testimony.

2005:

December 2005: Bus stop on Irving at Kenyon; HPRB review of 1869 Park Road, and my approach to permit applications by residents; robberies by children; the Bestway/Don Juan's back lot, and trash storage; carjacking on Hobart; residential permit parking fees; Beach Drive traffic management plan; pedestrian access to Rock Creek Park. 

November 2005: Pedestrian crossing times on 16th Street; election of Mitchell Backfield to 1D02; symbolic votes in ANC elections by noncitizens; robberies in Mount Pleasant; left turn from Kenyon onto southbound Adams Mill Road; shooting on 16th Street; rats. 

October 2005: Juvenile robbers; special election to fill 1D02 vacancy; MPNA "Live Link" system; Washington Post interview; rats.

September 2005: Lead water service lines; completion of 3400 Mount Pleasant Street rebuilding; fire at the Argyle Convenient Store; robbery/homicide on Irving Street; "broken windows", and the District's robbery closure rate.

August 2005: Robbery on Adams Mill Road; Mount Pleasant immigrant statistics; speed humps on Monroe Street; public space permit for 1636 Kenyon St condo development; ANC approvals of Lamont Plaza use permits, and sound levels; replacement of lead water lines on 19th Street.

In July, 2005, I testified to the Committee on Public Works and the Environment of the District Council concerning parking in Mount Pleasant -- one of our most difficult problems, as anyone who arrives home late in the evening, and needs a curbside parking spot, knows. The ANC approved a position endorsing:
(1) Residential Permit Parking (RPP) zones defined by ANC boundaries, not block-by-block;
(2) Reduction of the minimum parking distance to an intersection from the current 40 feet to a more reasonable 25 feet;
(3) Provision for a limited number of daytime-only parking permits for employees of Mount Pleasant businesses, schools, and institutions; and
(4) Provision for daytime-only parking permits for people coming to Mount Pleasant to service our homes and children.
Here is that testimony.


July 2005: 1636 Irving condominiums (conclusion); special meeting to declare 1D02 vacant; guilty plea, and sentencing, of David Bryant; procedures for traffic calming measures (speed humps); DDOT proposals for residential parking policy reform; new PSA 301 Lieutenant; Klingle Road Environmental Impact Statement release

June 2005: 1636 Irving condominiums; zoning regulations, and condominium conversion; Harvard Towers slope; Scott Faucett resignation.

May 2005: Parking distance to intersection; ban on pitchers at Radius Pizza; Mount Pleasant Festival; confirmation of single sales position; Mount Pleasant traffic study; 1636 Irving Street condominiums; Residential Permit Parking reform; Bancroft fair and parade.

April 2005: Election of Angelia (Stormy) Scott; symbolic vote by noncitizen residents; widening of 3400 block of Mt Pleasant Street; the single sales moratorium; Bestway Market public space; March poster problems.

March 2005: Special election for 1D06 vacancy; single sales moratorium; street light upgrade; shelter for Irving Street bus stop; guilty plea by David Bryant; traffic light at Beach Drive exit ramp; attempted carjacking on Kilbourne Place.

February 2005: Single sales moratorium; ANC 1D06 vacancy; PSA 301 Lt Ewell; ANC public forums; Heller's Bakery reopening

January 2005: Officers for 2005; reserved parking spaces for Zipcar/Flexcar; icy sidewalks; single sales prohibition; robberies; assault on 19th Street; change of meeting day/time to Tuesdays, 7 pm; CD recordings of ANC meetings.


2004:

December 2004: ANC grants; reserved parking spots for Zipcar/Flexcar; streetlight project; widening of the 3400 block of Mt Pleasant Street; Klingle Road; open source Web site; residential permit parking; the sudden death of Mr John Johnson; audio recording system.

November 2004: ANC reviews of residential permit parking petitions; RPP zoning of the 3200 block of 19th Street; maximum allowed sound levels in Lamont Plaza; ANC election results; widening of the 3400 block of Mount Pleasant Street; letter to WASA complaining about excessive use of "Emergency No Parking" postings.

October 2004: Meeting cancellation; impromptu community meeting; rates of violent crime in Mount Pleasant; Bancroft Gardens work; Bancroft PlayStart playground use; October 19 make-up meeting, and Red Bean "stipulated license"; street repaving schedule; BZA variance for 18th Street porch extension; MPD robbery closure rate.

September 2004: Street light work (series conversion) in Mount Pleasant; residential permit parking on the 1700 block of Irving; ANC Candidates' Forum; sexual assault on Walbridge; my resolution concerning abuse of "Emergency No Parking" posting.

August 2004: The Mount Pleasant business district; live music in Mount Pleasant restaurants; sexual assault on Walbridge Place; widening of the 3400 block of Mount Pleasant Street; grocery cart storage at the Bestway Market; this newsletter.

July 2004: ANC special election; paper posters on street light posts; restaurant liquor license renewals; widening of the 3400 block of Mount Pleasant Street; failing of the rock wall at Park Road and 19th Street; drug arrests on Monroe Street; departure of Inspector Hoey, replacement by Inspector Groomes.

June 2004: MPD foot patrols in Mount Pleasant; paper posters; karaoke in Don Juan's Restaurant; Mayor's Parking Task Force testimony; widening of the 3400 block of Mount Pleasant Street; youth shelter on Lamont Street; liquor license renewals and voluntary agreements.

May 2004: Restaurant liquor license food sales requirements; "Pigeon Park" renaming; Jenny Babcock's resignation, and the ANC 1D04 vacancy; funding of the Mount Pleasant Library; street light upgrade work; the Beach Drive Zoo exit traffic light; the Mayor's Parking Task Force report.

April 2004: Robberies in Mount Pleasant; the Park Road - Klingle - Walbridge intersection; Residential Permit Parking; Klingle Road.

March 2004: Robbery closure rates resolution; robberies in Mount Pleasant; lead in our city water; the Housing Production Trust Fund; drug dealer arrests on Monroe Street; the MPD police sweep on Mount Pleasant Street; residential permit parking on Kilbourne Place.

February 2004: YARG; "Roots of Peace", "Art on Call", and graffiti control grants; the District's robbery closure rates; praise by Councilmember Catania for our ANC, and for Bancroft Elementary.

January 2004: Election of ANC officers; presentations by area schools,including the Elsie Stokes, Capital City, and E.L. Haynes Charter Schools, the Sacred Heart parochial school, and Bancroft Elementary; also Julie Mikuta, Ward One Board of Education member; mugging on Monroe Street, and the admirable readiness of neighbors to rush to the victim's assistance; proposal to add "Mount Pleasant" to the name of the Columbia Heights Metro Station.

2003:

Here is my December 2003 special newsletter on crime in Mt Pleasant.

December 2003: December ANC meeting: the "zero tolerance" resolution; my "drug dealing" resolution; the District's very poor rate of closing robberies by arrest; improved relations with the Columbia Heights ANC; "live music" in Mount Pleasant, and my call for compromise and negotiation with MPNA.

November 2003: November ANC meeting: crime control in Mount Pleasant; the proposed "zero tolerance" resolution; Halfway House homicide on Park Road; streetlight replacement schedule; prohibition of mariachi bands in Mount Pleasant restaurants; Council of Latino Agencies grant; PlayStart assembly at Bancroft.

October 2003: October ANC meeting: resolution to close loophole in law giving tenants a first right to purchase their rental building; retention of La Casa Multicultural Services Center on Irving Street; Columbia Heights traffic study; Latino gang violence in Mount Pleasant; new stops on Adams Mill at Walbridge; Spanish-speaking MPD officers in Mount Pleasant; Habana Riviera liquor license; graffiti cleanup in Mount Pleasant; schools in Mount Pleasant.

September 2003: September ANC meeting: voting rights for non-citizen residents; Latino gangs in Mount Pleasant; gang graffiti; new stop signs on Adams Mill at Walbridge; Bancroft grants; Sol y Soul grant; DDOT-proposed stop sign removal on 17th at Lamont.

August 2003: August ANC meeting: "Voluntary Agreements", the ban on live music in all Mount Pleasant restaurants, and the resolution calling for changes in this system;

July 2003: July ANC meeting: Washington Free Clinic grant; stop sign for Lamont Street; "voluntary agreements" for Mount Pleasant restaurants; natural gas prices; name change for the Columbia Heights Metro station.

June 2003: June ANC meeting: Shaw II Halfway House; Lamont Street youth home; Chief Ramsey resolution; Rosemount Center modernization plans; Rock Creek Park management plans, and Beach Drive closures, evaluated; rush hour parking on Park Road.

May 2003: May ANC meeting: Bancroft Botanical Gardens project; PlayStart; street lights; Klingle Road; Babe Ruth baseball; Rock Creek Park management plans, and Beach Drive closures; Mount Pleasant Farmer's Market; elm tree fungicide project.

April 2003: April ANC meeting: Phil Mendelson and property taxes; Mount Pleasant Farmer's Market; idling buses and bus shelters; Bancroft Elementary; Latino-Metropolitan Police Conference; robberies in Mount Pleasant

March 2003: March ANC meeting: ANC finances; Columbia Heights development; robberies in Mount Pleasant; Ramona's rezoning; the ethnic mix of Mount Pleasant

February 2003: February ANC meeting; ANC finances, Ramona's rezoning, police abuse resolution, Marx Cafe, crime in Mount Pleasant, traffic and parking

January 2003: January ANC meeting; Automobile registration, Klingle Road, police abuse in Mount Pleasant

December 2002: November ANC meeting report, Mount Pleasant traffic study, automobile registration, residential permit parking

November 2002: Election results, residential permit parking, substance abuse policy, Columbia Heights Traffic Study.


Return to home

This page last updated July 2, 2007