Category Archives: Uncategorized

Shotgun House Deconstructed – Little Appears Salvageable

By Larry Janezich

Preservation of the historic “Shotgun House” at 1229 E Street, SE, was the issue that stood in the way of the development – not only of the site itself – but also of the lots in the 1200 block of Pennsylvania Avenue which it backed up to.  The entire package was owned by Capitol Hill investor Larry Quillian, who jousted with preservationists for years over his desire to demolish the property.  The preservationists, backed by the Historic Preservation Review Board, consistently won every contest.

Late December finally saw the deconstruction of the historic Shotgun House.  The Historic Preservation Review Board signed off on the redevelopment project last August, as part of a package to develop that the property as well as property in the 1200 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, currently occupied by Frager’s Garden Center.  SGA Architects purchased the properties from Quillian and plans to build 120 residential units with a small retail component on the Frager’s Garden site.  As part of the deal, the Shotgun House was to be preserved and incorporated into one of four new residential units at the E Street address.

The permit provided for the deconstruction and relocation of the building, though it appears that not much of the original building material was salvageable.  The most likely scenario is that a structure identical to the Shotgun House (using some of the original materials) will be constructed, thus preserving a facsimile – but not the original building – probably not what HPRB and the city’s preservationists had in mind when they agreed to the plan.

Capitol Hill Corner reached out early in the week to SGA Architects and to others in the community to try to clarify what the intent is, but has received no response.

For previous posts on these projects, see here: http://bit.ly/2aRSnHp  and here:  http://bit.ly/28NQ7Cg

Joselito Spanish Restaurant Near Eastern Market Opens Monday, January 9

By Larry Janezich

Javier Candon’s Joselito Casa de Comidas, located at 660 Pennsylvania Avenue SE – the space formerly occupied by Sona – will hold a “soft opening” from Monday, January 9, to Sunday, January 15, offering a 20% discount on food.

Executive Chef David Sierra, (Taberna del Alabardero, Fiola Mare and SER Restaurant) has created a menu based on traditional family recipes from southern Spain.  Most dishes are offered in three sizes: tapa (appetizer), media ración (entree) and ración (family style portion).

The beverage program features beers, wines, cavas, sherries, sangrias, and vermouths from Spain.

Joselito seats 70 inside, including a private room with capacity for 24, plus 20 more on the sidewalk patio.

From Monday January 9 to Wednesday, January 12, the Joselito’s will be open only for dinner from 5:30pm to 10pm.

Beginning Thursday, they will open daily for lunch and dinner from 11:30am until 10pm, Sunday through Thursday, and from 11:30am until 12 midnight on Friday and Saturday.

Joselito’s features “Hemingway Hour” daily from 4-7pm, with 20% off everything on the menu.

Candon also owns SER in Ballston.

For more, go here:  Website: http://www.joselitodc.com/

For CHC post from August 1, here:  http://bit.ly/2aqjri0

The Week Ahead…. And Capitol Hill Resident Offers Free Mediation Service

by Larry Janezich

Capitol Hill Resident Sig Cohen Offers Fee Mediation Service to Resolve Disputes.

“At a time when the political scene appears polarized over healthcare, gun safety, women’s reproductive rights, and climate change, among other issues, our Capitol Hill community seems like an oasis, where on the surface, at least, calm prevails. Not always. Living here, I have witnessed minor differences escalate into toxic disputes.

If you are in a dispute, I invite you to try mediation.  Until we have an online form, email chmediate@aol.com with your name, contact information, and the issue(s) that you think need facilitation or mediation.  Also provide the name(s) of the other party and whether they agree to engage in either facilitation or mediation.”  –  Sig Cohen.   For more info, see Hill Rag article here:  http://bit.ly/2it5r9H

Monday, January 2

Capitol Hill Restoration Society Historical Preservation Committee meets at 6:30pm, Kirby House, 410 10^th Street, SE.

Tuesday, January 3

1. ANC6B Planning & Zoning Committee meets at 7:00pm, at St. Coletta’s of Greater Washington, 1901 Independence Avenue, SE.

Items on the draft agenda:

Historic Preservation Application for 202 9th Street SE, concept/new two story carriage house.

Zoning Adjustment Application for 1338 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, (La Lomita), for a modification of significance of BZA Order No. 18915, now requesting special exception relief under the parking requirements and the loading requirements and variance relief under the lot occupancy requirements to construct a mixed-use building at 1330-1338 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE.

Zoning Adjustment Application 416 G Street SE, for a special exception from the lot occupancy requirements to construct a second-story addition to an existing one-family dwelling at 416 G Street, SE.

Presentation:  Comprehensive Plan Housing and Development Statement : Greater Greater Washington

2. ANC 6C Planning, Zoning, and Economic Development Committee meets at 7:00pm, Capitol Hill Medical Center/Kaiser Permanente, 700 Second Street, NE.

Items on the draft agenda:

732 4th Street, NE – Application for concept approval for the construction of a rear addition and rooftop addition.

504 C Street, NE – Application for concept approval for the raze of an existing noncontributing structure and construction of a new three-story building.

3. ANC 6C Parks and Events Committee meets at 7:00pm, at Kaiser-Permanente Capitol Hill Medical Center, 700 second Street, NE.

Agenda not available at press time.

Wednesday, January 4

1. ANC6B Transportation Committee meets at 7:00pm at Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE.

Items on the draft agenda:

Discussion on regulations for temporary public space permits (Emergency No Parking etc.): Matthew Marcou, DDOT Public Space Regulatory Administration

Naming of Public Alley for Lot 136 at 17th and C Streets, SE.

Thursday, January 5

1. ANC6B Alcohol Beverage Control Committee meets at 7:00pm, in Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE.

Items on the draft agenda:

Cava Restaurant, 527-529 8th Street SE, withdrawal of ANC6B protest

The Pretzel Bakery, 257 15th Street SE, new retailer’s Class D Restaurant license.  Protest hearing February 13, 2017

Report on the Status of ANC 6B License Renewal Protests: Good Stuff Eatery, Bearnaise, and We the Pizza; Hank’s on the Hill; Capitol Hill Tandoor; and Cava.

2. ANC 6C Transportation and Public Space Committee meets at 7:00pm, at Kaiser Permanente Capitol Hill Medical Center, 700 Second Street, NE.

Agenda not available at press time.

3. Events DC Hosts 4th Citywide Community Meeting to Roll Out Recommended Redevelopment Options on Future Usage of the RFK Stadium-Armory Campus at Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The meeting will unveil initial short-term activations for the 190-acre campus.  6:30pm – 8:30pm, Room 146ABC, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place.  RSVP: This meeting is free and open to the public.  RSVP by clicking here: https://rfkcitywidemeeting2.splashthat.com/

Looking Back at 2016 – A List of Capitol Hill Corner’s Top Posts from 2016

by Larry Janezich

Below is a list of some of Capitol Hill Corner’s top stories from 2016.  For 12 photos from the past year, visit the “Life on Capitol Hill” feature on the Home page, or click here:  http://bit.ly/2co2uUs

Jan 7 Capitol Hill’s Proposed Southeast Boulevard: Up to Ten Years and $190 Million

Jan 9 Hill East Residents Confront City Proposed Substance Abuse Recovery Center

Jan 11 Tree Mansion Has Archibald Walk Up in Arms

Jan 20 ANC6B Signs off on Major Retail/Residential Project at 1401 PA Avenue – NY Pizza Site

Feb 3 New Indi Bookshop Opening Near Eastern Market

Feb 25 First Images of Frager’s Site Development – Store, Condos, Retail

March 17 Results Closes and Reopens Under New Management

Mar 21 Demolition Begins on Buchanan School Site

Mar30 ANC6B Signs Off on Watkins Alley Development

March 30 Capitol Hill’s SE Safeway Slated for Redevelopment

April 3 First Lady Lunches at Radici Near Eastern Market – Photo Essay

April 13 ANC6B signs Off on Latest Frager’s Design – Photos and Floor Plan

April 16 &pizza Back on Track after Mea Culpa and Stinging Rebuke by ANC6B

April 21 Meeting Tonight on Hill East Carjacking and & Violent Crime Spike

April22 Nana Thai Restaurant on Barracks Row to Close in June

April 28 Mayor Bowser Launches Rat Riddance Initiative on Capitol Hill

April 30 First Look at Concept for 3rd Development Near SE Safeway – Bowie Site

June 6 Matchbox Abandons Plan to Expand on Barracks Row & Closes DC-3 Hot Dogs

June21 Shotgun House and Frager’s Garden Center Sold – 120 Apartments Coming

June 29 Phase I looks Closed for Good

June 30 Hill East Residents Vent About Open Air Drug Market and Gunfight at 17th and Independence

July 1 First Images for New Shotgun House and Capitol Courts’ Micro Apartments on PA Ave SE

July 8 Work Starts on 49 Unit Condo Project at 11th and I Streets, SE (Kipling House) – Latest Rendering

July 12 ANC6B Signs Off on Revised Plan for Preserving the Shotgun House – First Look at New Design

July 15 Shakespeare’s Barracks Row Rehearsal Space Wants to Be Retail/Office/Residential. But…

July 21 Andromeda Hill East Mental Health Clinic in Hill East to Open Over Protest of ANC Commissioners

Aug 1 SER Spanish Restaurant Looks Like It’s Opening Outlet Near Eastern Market

Sept 7 First Images of the Design Concept for Watkins Elementary School Modernization Project

Sept 10 DC Restaurateur Xavier Cervera Back as Owner of Eight Capitol Hill Restaurants

Sept 14 Mayor Offers Hope on Hill East Boys and Girls Club Development

Oct 12 Developer Selected for Capitol Hill SE Safeway

Oct 19 Barrack Row’s &pizza Opens

Oct 22 Free Charging Station/WiFi at Eastern Market Metro Plaza – “Soofa Bench”

Oct 24 Capitol Hill SE Safeway Development – Up to 320 Apartments Planned

Nov 2 Developer Says Capitol Hill SE Safeway To Be Closed for Two Years

Nov 11 Restaurants and the Community – the Bad, the Good, and the Recalcitrant

Nov 15 Hine Update – Tenants Move into North Building in January

Nov 16 Chik-Fil-A – MD Ave NE Opens in March 2017

Nov 18 – Hill East Boys and Girls Club Development Back on Track – Photo Essay

Nov 21 Capitol Quarter Community Center – Key to Mixed Income Community – A Ship without a Captain

Nov 29 100 Plus Residents Turn Out for Community Meeting on Capitol Hill Shootings

Dec 14 ANC6Bs Last Ditch Battle Against Hank’s Oyster Bar on Neighbor Flooding Issue

Dec 16 – Neighbors Furious Over Barracks Row Eatery Back Alley Grease Dump

Dec 20 Update on Hine Project North Building Residential and Retail

Dec 22 Officials Brief Hill Residents on Inaugural Security, Safety and Protests

Dec 29 Editorial:  The Shameful Washington Post Series on the Youth Rehabilitation Act

Editorial:  The Shameful Washington Post Series on the Youth Rehabilitation Act

by Larry Janezich

This past month, The Washington Post published one of the worst series of local “investigatory” journalism this city has seen in a long time.  They should be embarrassed, and any city official anxious to respond to residents’ concerns about violent crime who sees the series as a basis for revamping the Youth Rehabilitation Act (YRA) should think twice.

It may be that the YRA needs to be reformed, but if so, that reform needs to be based on factual demonstration of its shortcomings, not on anecdotal evidence, especially when those anecdotes suggest responsibility for serious mistakes lies elsewhere.

The Post series questions the “second chance” provisions of DC’s Youth Rehabilitation Act, which offers shorter sentences to young people convicted of certain crimes, as well as the opportunity to expunge the record of the crime if conditions set by a presiding judge for time served and post-release are met.

The main and most explosive claim made by the reporters is that some young people convicted of an offense and sentenced under the YRA go on to commit murder after they are released, implicitly suggesting—while offering no proof —that these murders could have been prevented by harsher sentencing.

However, the Post fails to take into account the overwhelming evidence that recidivist rates are not related to the length of a prison sentence.  Research consistently finds that the certainty of punishment, rather than severity, has deterrent effects.  (A link to an overview of research in this field is here: http://bit.ly/2hU5DO4)  In fact, harsh sentencing could have the opposite of the intended effect by increasing recidivism rates, producing only more and better criminals as a result.

The dangerous assumption underlying the Post’s YRA series is that if lenient sentencing is not 100% successful, that is reason enough to reject it, yet, at the same time, harsher sentencing need not prove itself effective at all.  Subjecting different approaches to this uneven standard of evidence has led to more than four decades of mass incarceration.  An array of voices, including many conservatives, have recently challenged the policies of mass incarceration, and they have done so mainly by having the courage and decency to insist on evidence.

But evidence is in short supply in The Washington Post series, in part because the criminal justice system in DC operates without any reasonable standard of transparency, and in part because the Post reporters did not seem interested in context or comparisons.  Remarkably, despite its central thesis targeting the YRA, the Post series provides information that suggests that the Rehabilitation Act operates well.  We learn that since 2010, there have been 121 young people sentenced under the Rehabilitation Act who went on to commit murder at a future date.  This represents the loss of 121 people who should be with us today and 121 families and neighborhoods that are scarred by this loss.  We also learn that 3,188 sentences for felony crimes were handed down under the YRA in the same time period (3.8% of these went on to commit murder).  We never learn how many or what kind of violent crimes other than homicide have been committed by former Youth Act participants.  Nor does the Post provide violent crime recidivism rates – including murder – for youth offenders sentenced under regular (non-YRA) court procedures.  If those recidivism rates are higher than 3.8%, then maybe a series reporting the comparative success of the Rehabilitation Act would be in order.

In fact, a close reading of the series finds little to specifically indict the YRA.  Instead, the Post reveals lapses in judicial and prosecutorial decision-making, lax procedures of the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA), and a lack of communication among the city’s law enforcement agencies—all of which endanger the public.

Among these recurring failures, the picture that emerges of the independent federal agency CSOSA is the most distressing.  It can take two months for the CSOSA bureaucracy to get a warrant issued for the arrest of an offender under their watch who has disappeared from their system.  CSOSA Director Nancy M. Ware told the Post, “With our population, we want to give them the benefit of the doubt.”  CSOSA is not accountable to the Mayor or the City Council; while serving the District, the agency does not have to answer to any part of it.  This is untenable.  CSOSA should answer to the people of the District of Columbia immediately and on an ongoing basis, and the same goes for judges and the US Attorney’s office.  (Washington DC is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office – the largest of the nation’s 92 US Attorney Offices – prosecutes federal crimes and all serious crimes in the city).  The Washington Post reporters may think they published a series critical of the YRA, but all they really did was underscore the dysfunction inherent in DC’s lack of political sovereignty.

A natural response to the series is to do something dramatic, but right now DC controls none of the levers most at fault for the lapses described by the Post.  Only the Youth Rehabilitation Act falls under its direct control.  Predictably, calls for action focus on the YRA, though there is no persuasive proof that the YRA has failed.  One proposal asks that no one be allowed to benefit from the Youth Rehabilitation Act twice either by receiving a suspended sentence or having a conviction set aside.  Yet we have no idea how many times this has backfired within the small set of repeat YRA beneficiaries.  Without this information, this is legislating while flying blind.  Regarding convictions being set aside, judges already retain the ability to “reactivate” an expunged offense if a repeat offender appears before them.  In practical effect, this proposal amounts to eliminating judicial discretion.  This is the opposite of what we should want.  The problem is not that judges retain discretion; it is fitting to empower them to tailor a response best suited to the particular set of circumstances in front of them.  The problem is that judges who deal with DC offenders do not in any way report to District residents.

While there is only one anecdote in the series that relates what I would describe as a failure of YRA sentencing (that of Dalonte Weems), the most egregious mistake chronicled by the Post was Judge William Nooter’s decision to release Antwon Pitt back to the community despite numerous warning flags and a lack of clarity regarding whether Pitt was or was not supposed to be under GPS supervision (he was).  Days later Pitt committed a horrendous rape in Hill East.  In his lack of due diligence, Judge Nooter failed the people of the District of Columbia, yet he will suffer no consequences for it.  The only legislative fix for this problem is called the DC Statehood Act.  (It is worth noting that Judge Nooter’s indolence was not the only tragic failure in the Pitt case; Pitt’s abominable record while in prison in Florida was either never communicated to CSOSA or it was never acted upon by that agency.  Either scenario is disgraceful.)

Given DC’s lack of control over the agencies that charge, sentence, and supervise its offenders, it is puzzling that another suggestion made in response to the Post series is for the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to exercise greater oversight over DC’s criminal justice system.  This would be a dubious suggestion at any point in time; in the face of a Trump/Ryan government, it is irrational.  How is it possible that even more involvement of a Republican Congress will be beneficial to the District, when Republicans in Congress have shown nothing but contempt for the will of the people of DC?  If lack of political sovereignty is one of the fundamental problems plaguing DC’s criminal justice system, how can further diminishing that sovereignty be any sort of solution?

But bad solutions are not surprising in the face of a poorly identified problem.  It’s a sad day for Washington, DC when its premier paper facilitates a climate hostile to evidence and reason.  It’s shameful that the Post has taken a path privileging anecdotes over evidence, and assumes that punitive sentencing resolves problems of recidivism without showing that it does. Why are supporters of rehabilitation and leniency responsible for any and all future crime, but proponents of punitive mass incarceration unburdened by its record of failure?

You can print things in a paper, but that doesn’t make it journalism.  You can call yourself The Washington Post, but that doesn’t mean you speak in the best interests of the city.

(Editor’s Note: A previous version of this post incorrectly used .038% instead of the correct 3.8%)

The Week Ahead….

By Larry Janezich

Tuesday, December 27

ANC6B Executive Committee meets at 7:00pm, in Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, to set the agenda for the January 10 meeting of the full ANC6B. This will be the first meeting of the new ANC6B following the November election.  Owing to the retirement of Commissioner Daniel Chao, ANC6B o7, there will be one new commissioner – Aimee Grace.  The ANC6B will elect new officers at the meeting.

Officials Brief Hill Residents on Inaugural Security, Safety, and Protests

by Larry Janezich

Last night, officials from MPD, US Capitol Police, DC Homeland Security, and DOT briefed some 25 Capitol Hill residents on security, safety, and protests for the January 20 Inaugural Ceremony.  The meeting was organized by ANC6B Commissioners Jennifer Samolyk and Diane Hoskins.

MPD Commander Keith DeVille, Special Operations Division, Inaugural Events for DC, provided an overall view of the plans, many details of which will be made public by the Secret Service in early January on the official website found here:  http://inauguration.dc.gov.

Here’s what we know so far:  Capitol Hill residents will feel the impact of the Inaugural in several ways over three days, January 19, 20, and 21.

Road closures – Starting early on January 19, streets around the Capitol and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, streets will be closed to vehicular traffic as the “hard” security perimeter is “built out.”  The “build out” involves erecting barriers, removal of street lights, and welding shut of manhole covers.  The “hard” perimeter on Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, will be staffed by 3300 police officers from around the country, who will focus on crowd control, freeing up MPD to concentrate on the rest of the city.  Regarding schools within the perimeter, parents will be allowed to pick up children and school buses will run.

Metro – Opens at 400am on January 20 and closes at midnight.  Eastern Market, Union Station, and Stadium Armory Metro stops will not be affected by the security measures but MPD will have a police presence.

RFK bus parking – Buses bringing people to the Inaugural will be parked at RFK which can accommodate 1300 buses.  A much small number have reserved spaces so far, but DDOT says it’s still early.  Passengers will off-load and walk to the Capitol Grounds (ticketed access), the National Mall (un-ticketed access), or the parade route (ticketed and un-ticketed) west on East Capitol to Lincoln Park, where they will divide into north and south routes depending on their destination.  DDOT will provide ADA resources to ferry  individuals who need transportation.

Groups exercising their First Amendment rights – MPD is tracking 77 social media threads concerning potential Inaugural demonstrations by both supporters and opponents of the new administration.  Fifteen permits have been issued for demonstrations over the three days, including one at Freedom Plaza for Act Now, one at Meridian Hill Park for Real Progressives, and one for the National Women’s March on Washington which will start at 3^rd and Independence, SW, proceed to 14^th Street, and then north to the Ellipse where it will disperse.  See WaPo article here:  http://wapo.st/2h7ld7U

35 platoons, each comprised of 33 civil disturbance officers, will be assigned to crowd management and to respond to civil disturbances on January 19, 20, and 21.  Attendees for the ceremony at the US Capitol and the parade route will go through magnetometers; coolers and large backpacks will be prohibited.  Regarding the mall and the parade route, signs will be allowed, but not sticks for signs.

Anti-terrorism measures – MPD is not aware of any specific threat regarding the Inaugural.  Multiple table top exercises to deal with potential threats have been conducted by several agencies involved in Inaugural security and MPD will have a “high security posture.”  There are measures in place to deal with drone attacks – and for truck attacks similar to the most recent one at a Christmas Market in Berlin.

DeVille advises:  “My suggestion is, if you don’t have a reason to go down there, don’t.  Stay home and watch it on TV and trust we are doing everything we can to ensure safety.”

Participants included:  Commander Morgan Kane, DC MPD First District; Chris Geldart, Director, Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency; Suzette Robinson, COO, DC Department of Transportation; Mark Beach, Assistant Patrol District Commander, DC MPD First District; Eric Belknap, Commander, US Capitol Police; and Commander Keith DeVille, MPD Special Operations Division, Inaugural Events for DC.

Geldart will provide a brief update on new information at the full ANC6B meeting at 7:00pm on January 10, in Hill Center.

 

Update on Hine Project – North Building Residential and Retail

by Larry Janezich

According Eastbanc’s Hine Project Manager, contractors are pushing to finish the North Building by the end of the year to receive a residential certificate of occupancy from the city.  The target date for residents to start moving into the affordable housing units is January 16.  So far, 21 applicants have been approved, and the application of six more are pending.  There are a total of 34 affordable units.  Dantes Partners will be managing the residences.  According to Ken Golding of Stanton Development, “it’s hard to qualify” for the project’s affordable housing, requiring the submission of two year’s tax returns and an employer’s certification.  So far, some 60% of applicants are single.  The largest family of applicants is three.  (For more on the affordable housing component, see here:  http://bit.ly/2eYMzMe)

Stanton Development will manage the 14 above-and-below-grade retail spaces in the North Building.  Golding says there are a “lot of leases out for signature, and letters of intent,” but “there is nothing we can announce.”  Eastbanc says the earliest that retail can move in will be in May.

According to the Zoning Order, 20 percent of the total retail square footage must meet two criteria:  Outlets must be local, i.e., DC based with no more than six outlets.  1,000 square feet of retail has been reserved for two incubator businesses (750 and 250 square feet) and will be 75% subsidized.

The Week Ahead….Meeting on Inaugural Safety and Logistics – Wednesday

by Larry Janezich

Monday, December 19

1. ANC 6A Transportation & Public Space Committee meets at 7:00pm at Capitol Hill Towers, 900 G Street, NE.

Agenda:

Request for letter of support for Rock & Roll Marathon – 20 minutes (Mahmud)

2. ANC 6A Community Outreach Committee meets at 7:00pm at Maury Elementary School, Multi-Purpose Room, 1250 Constitution Avenue, NE.

Agenda:

Review of Miner Elementary School Grant Final Report

Review of grant application from Eliot-Hine MS PTO

Tuesday, December 20

ANC6A Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Committee meets at 7:00pm, Sherwood Recreation Center, 10^th and G Streets, NE.

Among items on the agenda:

Discussion of request for new CT license filed by Bespoke at 1337 H Street, NE.

Presentation by new ownership group at 1123 H Street NE (formerly Touché, formerly XII Restaurant & Lounge).

Wednesday, December 21

1. ANC6B Outreach and Constituent Services Task Force meets at 7:00pm at Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE.

Agenda:

Discussion of Inauguration Safety and Logistics.  Invited Speakers include:  Commander Morgan C. Kane – DC MPD First District;  Chris Geldart- Director, Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency; Leif Dormsjo – Director, DC Department of Transportation; Mark Beach- Assistant Patrol District Commander- DC MPD First District; Eric Belknap- Commander US Capitol Police;  Commanders Jeffrey Carroll and Keith DeVille (Special Operations Division- Inaugural Events for DC MPD).

2. ANC6A Economic Development & Zoning Committee meets at 7:00pm, Sherwood Recreation Center, 640 10th Street, NE.

Agenda:

Kingman Park Historic District:   Request by residents to make Kingsman Park and surrounding areas a historic district.

600 9th Street, NE:  Application for zoning variances from the non-conforming structure requirements, the lot occupancy requirements, and the rear yard requirements, to permit the location of multiple decks over an existing rear-attached garage in the RF-1 Zone.

3. PSA 106 meets at 7:00pm at 200 Eye Street (again) until the community center opens for business.

Thursday, December 22

1. PSA 108 meets at 7:00pm, at Liberty Baptist Church, 527 Kentucky Avenue, SE.

Friday, December 23

Stop the Violence Community Christmas Celebration for the community at Tyler Elementary School from 6:00-9:00pm. Everyone from the community is welcome.  Please feel free to bring Christmas gifts for the children. The contact is Ms. Gloria Matthews, President of the Hopkins Residents Council, at gloriousglojoyful@gmail.com or 202-423-5576.

So Far, Councilmember Allen Sees No Illegality in Department of General Services Firings

by Larry Janezich

Councilmember Charles Allen held community office hours on Friday and told CHC:  “I may disagree with the action taken” – referring to the firing of two DGS procurement officials – “but I did not hear anything that rose to the level of an illegal act.”  He added the qualification, “based on what I’ve heard so far.”  Allen said he had sat in on “some” of the closed door committee hearing on the firings and heard Chair Mary Cheh talk about it.  Allen said that he could not discuss the details of what happened in the closed door proceedings.

In early December, Mary Cheh’s Transportation and Environment Committee – which oversees DGS – held a closed door hearing to investigate the legality of the firing of two DGS employees who say they were retaliated against after failing to award two multimillion dollar contracts to Fort Myer Construction, a major donor to Mayor Muriel Bowser.  See CHC editorial here:  http://bit.ly/2bqvKsi

Allen said that the committee will vote – probably in January – on releasing the documents and testimony for the closed hearing after staff redacts material that could jeopardize ongoing litigation.

That seems to leave open the question of whether the public will ever learn the Mayor’s office’s justification for the firings.  DGS Chief Admiral Chris Weaver resigned rather than fire the two employees, a task that ultimately fell to City Administrator Rasheed Young,

Both individuals are seeking legal redress.  Former DGS Associate Director Yink T. Alao has filed a $10 million whistleblower lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court.  Former General Counsel Carlos M. Sandoval has filed an appeal of his firing with the District’s Office of Employee Appeals.

According to Cheh spokesperson Kelly Whittier, the committee will take two actions.  First, after personnel matters are redacted, the proceedings of the committee will be made public.  Second, the committee will issue a report containing recommendations, and legislation could come out of that.  Both of these actions will go over into the next year.

DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson and Committee Chair Cheh introduced a bill on September 19 that would take contracting authority out of the hands of DGS and transfer it to a new office within the Office of Contracting  and Procurement.  That bill has been referred to the Committee of the Whole and it will continue over into the next legislative session in 2017.  Whittier says it’s likely a hearing will be held on it next year.

Cheh’s committee held the closed door hearing on the Department of General Services Contracting and Personnel Management on Thursday, December 1.  Following is a list of witnesses who were scheduled to appear before the committee:  Barry Kreiswirth, Robert Schildkraut, Jeff Bonvechio, Camille Sabbakhan, Maia Estes, Ketan Gada, Nancy Hapeman, Ana Harvey, C. Vaughn Adams, Ron Ross, Mark Tuohey, Rashad Young, Chris Weaver, Greer Gillis, Leif Dormsjo.