Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Ban on Single Sales of Alcohol Proposed

A proposed ban on single sales of alcoholic beverages is the latest legislative buzz eminating from the City Council. Are such bans truly effective when combating the underlying problems of littering and public drinking, or should we work harder to enforce existing laws? It sounds like an easy solution, but does it discriminate against the poor?

I've been knocking on doors and asking. Feel free to share your opinions here (if you want your opinions to influence me as a Commissioner, please sign your post with your street block). Does anyone know where banning single sales has worked in some other jurisdiction? A Google search yielded few hits beyond the D.C. proposal.

Please see this message on from Robert V. Brannum:

Ward 5 Roundtable Discussion Announcement

On Tuesday, 27 May 2008, at 7 p.m., DC City Councilman Harry Thomas, Jr. will be holding a roundtable discussion on the sale of single containers of alcoholic beverages in Ward 5. Legislation has been introduced for Wards 4, 7, and 8 to prohibit the sale of an individual container of the package if the capacity of the individual container is 70 ounces or less, as well as prohibit the division of manufacturer’s package of more than one container of beer, malt, liquor, or ale. The meeting will be held at the Isle of Patmos Baptist Church, 12th Street and Rhode Island Avenue, NE. The contact number and e-mail address for Councilman Thomas is 724-8028 and http://us.f634.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=hthomas@dccouncil.us.

Robert

Robert Vinson Brannum
Chairman, 5th District Citizens' Advisory Council, Inc.
202-256-8452
202-328-7611 fax

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Art at the Bear Marks Another NCMS Success

Last Saturday's North Capitol Main Street's (NCMS) 5th Annual Fundraiser dubbed "Art at the Bear," held at Big Bear Cafe was a "rousing success."

A quick note concerning people who were acknowledged at the event . . .


NCMS Business of the Year is Big Bear Café, accepted by Lana Labermeir, proprietor.




NCMS Volunteer of the Year is Sara Kaufman.




Vicky Leonard-Chambers received a Special Appreciation Award for past service to the organization.


By the way, that's Pat Mitchell, NCMS President, bestowing those awards.

Agenda for May 20 ANC 5C Meeting

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 5C
MONTHLY MEETING NOTICE AND AGENDA
Tuesday, May 20, 2008

All Nations Baptist Church
North Capitol St. and Rhode Island Ave., NE
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Part I: Community Concerns and Progress Reports ------ 7:05 p.m.

1) Call to Order ………………… Commissioner Bonds
2) Roll Call …………………………Commissioner Salatti
3) Approval of the April 2008 Meeting Minutes

4) Acknowledgement of Community Leaders and Guests

5) Treasurer’s Report ……………………Commissioner DeFoe
6) MPD Update …………………………… PSA 501 Officers
7) Community Concerns ……………………………………… Moderated by Commissioner Wright
8) Remarks from the Office of Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr.
9) Comments by Alice Thompson, Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services

Part II: Outstanding Business ------- 7:35 p.m.

Update on Grant Applications ……………………………… Commissioner Day
For action: Metropolitan League Grant Application (Summary Presentation)
Progress Report/Updates: Harriet Tubman Memorial, Bloomingdale Community Mediation,
Kick-boxing Tournament
Update on Celebration Honoring Area Youth Athletics …… Commissioners Grant and Salatti

Part III: New Business ------- 8:00 p.m.

· Update on Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) Activities,
Alice Harper, 5D Community Relations Specialist
· Update on Catholic University Campus Plan ……… Craig Parker, University Counsel
· Progress Report on Community Issues …………….
…Single Member District Meeting Highlights ……… Commissioner Holloway (5C12)
· Proposed Zoning Changes for 1700 First St, NW …. Commissioner Davenport
· Update on Soldier’s Home Development …………… Commissioner DeFoe
Note: Questions and Comments by Commissioners followed by Community Comments

Part IV: Committee of the Whole Executive Session -------- 8:45 p.m.
1) Pay Bills ………………………………………………………….. Commissioners Day and DeFoe
2) Items for June 2008 Meeting Agenda
Meeting Adjourned .……………………………………….. 8:55 p.m.

Monday, May 5, 2008

City Year Corps Serves Emery Elementary School

On Saturday, Ted McGinn once again led the City Year Corps and parent volunteers (86 strong) to rejuvenate Emery Elementary School (1720 First Street NE). Some volunteers (not this one!) started work at 8:30 a.m. I assisted with installing a green watering system in one of the garden beds.


The work done for the community by City Year is greatly appreciated, so I'm taking a moment to highlight an e-mail Ted recently sent me and several other community leaders. He is promoting the idea of making JF Cook Elementary School (now slated to close) available for the use of City Year. The e-mail follows, it is definitely worth careful consideration.



Hi Everyone,

City Year needs to move out of their current location by Nov 08. As some of you may know City Year's first headquarters was in Ward 5 at Q and Eckington Place Ne. At that time they had only 32 Crops members and no Young Heroes program. Since 2000 City Year has grown and was forced to seek a larger space to handle that growth outside of our Ward. So what has City Year done for DC.Since 2000, City Year Washington, DC corps members have:
- Made a difference in the lives of 42,569 children
- Served more than 550,000 hours in the Washington, DC community
- Led 6,689 volunteers in service


Click here to learn more about the history of City Year.Since 2000 City Year has held 12 service days at Emery, 4 that included community wide clean-ups and work on the Harry Thomas Rec. Center. They run the Young Heroes program for 3 years at Emery, working with 6th,7th and 8th grade students.City Year is looking for a new headquarters that has enough room to handle its growth. Next year they will have 85 Crops members and over 100 Young Heroes.

City Year's new Executive Director Jeff Franco is interested in looking at JF Cook Elementary School at 40 P street NW as a possible location. He is looking for a site near Metro bus and rail because that is how City Year moves. City Year is ready to meet with the ANC, Civic Associations, CM Thomas and DCPS to determine if this would be a good move for all the stakeholders. City Year has looked at Gage-Eckington, and because of its dependence Metro that location might not meet their needs as well as Cook. This is only the first round of contact about this possibility, feel free to contact Jeff Franco at JFranco@cityyear.org

we all work together ted mcginn