The Georgetown Metropolitan

This week for Georgetown Time Machine, GM is visiting a new collection for him, the National Archives. In particular, it is the Archive’s collection of incredibly detailed aerial photography of DC from the first half of the 20th century (thanks to the great Old Time DC for the idea). This particular photo is of the western end of the Key Bridge and the remnants of the aqueduct bridge in July 1931. And the resolution is such that we can really dive in to explore southwest Georgetown in the early 30s!

Right off the bat, we can see that the aqueduct bridge was just a skeleton at this point:

The Key Bridge was constructed in 1923, at which point the aqueduct bridge was closed. It wasn’t demolished until 1933 though, as this photo partially attests. And the abutments remained until the 60s.

Next to the aqueduct bridge, you can see the massive Dempsey’s Boathouse (just next to the still extant Washington Canoe Club), which also lasted until the 60s:

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Photo by John Weiss.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Although the election is not being actively contested anymore, today is election day for the special election to fill the Ward Two seat until next January. You can vote in person at Hardy, or you can just mail in the ballot that apparently the Board of Elections sent out to everyone whether they requested on or not. As long as it’s postmarked by today, it will count.
• Life give you lemons, you paint the lemons.

1500 block of 33rd St.

Photo by Jacquesofalltrades.

The DC Fair Elections Act has been a huge success. This act, which provides robust public financing to candidates for election in DC, was taken advantage by seven of the eight candidates for the Ward Two Democratic primary. Hell, even Jack Evans of all people used it. While the apparent winner, Brooke Pinto, eschewed the program, it undeniably enabled many more candidates to make a noticeable splash than in the prior system. This is a great thing, but it makes it all the more essential that we adopt some form of ranked choice voting.

Ranked choice voting essentially asks voters to rank the candidates by the order of preference. You can rank them all, or just some, or just one. It’s up to you. After the votes are cast, the Board of Elections runs a quick and open algorithm to see which candidate is preferred by the most voters. Here is a basic video explaining how the most common version works:

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Photo by Matt Kiefer.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• ICYMI: GM is going to run for the ANC.
• Levain Bakery coming to the former Johnny Rockets space.

Over the weekend, Joe Gibbons announced that he will not seek reelection to serve on the ANC representing SMD 2E02. He has served on the Commission two terms, including one term as chair. He cited a growing gaggle of grandkids as reason to step away.

I’ve been neighbors will Joe since he moved here with his wife Hillary from Chicago. He’s been as fantastic a Commissioner as he’s been a neighbor. I wish he’d stay on, but spending more time with grandkids than at OGB meetings is about the easiest decision anyone could make.

And I am running to replace him on the ANC.

Georgetown faces unprecedented challenges right now. The one-two punch of coronavirus and a spurt of violent looting has left virtually every storefront boarded up. And even once the plywood comes down, it’s unclear how many businesses will even be left to open. And how.

It will take extraordinary cooperation between all groups to create an environment where as many shops and restaurants can reopen as possible. Because I know I cannot imagine living in a Georgetown where I can’t step out my front door and walk to buy a book, get a haircut, and eat dinner all within a few blocks. And I suspect you can’t either.

We will have to come together to decide how to organize our streets and sidewalks in a way that makes Georgetown a safe and comfortable place to walk in or stop for a bite to eat. While this will obviously be geared toward getting visitors to come back to Georgetown and support our businesses, this will benefit residents just as much.

And the challenges are obviously not just about businesses. The city will face enormous financial strains as revenues dry up. As it looks to cut expenditures, we will have to be diligent in protecting our parks, streets, trees, schools, and other resources that keep Georgetown beautiful and livable. Pulling together citizen and advocacy groups will be critical to see our neighborhood through the crisis. We’ve got to stop fighting the fights of the past and realize we are encountering a possibly existential threat.

And I know the fights of the past because I’ve been in them. I’ve lived in Georgetown for seventeen years. I’ve been on the board of the Citizens Association of Georgetown for ten years, including as chair of the Transportation committee. I previously served on the board of the Friends of Volta Park. And I’ve been on countless ad hoc working groups like the Georgetown 2028 effort or the Georgetown Community Partnership.

And of course I’ve written this blog for eleven plus years. The fights I wasn’t actually in, I was documenting daily. I’ve sat through more hours of ANC meetings than just about anyone who wasn’t actually on the Commission. I’ve seen where things go wrong, where things get sidetracked with grandstanding or footstomping. But I’ve seen where things go right. I know how to achieve that.

I always thought I’d run for ANC someday in the vague future. But today I recognize that the future is happening right now. I’m ready to help. I hope I have your vote.

Photo by M.V. Jantzen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The Board of Elections released updated election results after all. Brooke Pinto extended her lead for the Ward 2 primary and the other candidates have conceded. Moreover, they’ve encouraged their supporters to vote for her for the special election, in order to avoid the disruption of a short term councilmember. GM obviously is disappointed Patrick Kennedy lost, but at least Jack Evans did too. Congrats to Pinto.
• GM is heading out of town today for a week on the Eastern Shore. Updates will resume next week.

C & O Canal

Photo by Jacquesofalltrades.

Although we learned yesterday that Jack Evans won’t be the next full-term Ward 2 Councilmember, we didn’t learn who will. Brooke Pinto holds a small lead over Patrick Kennedy for the Democratic nomination (which is the de facto general election). But a potentially large number of mail-in ballots have not been counted. And we won’t get a sense of what the final numbers will be for over a week.

Election day was a total fiasco. Confusion reigned as the mayor order a 7 pm curfew due to the police state downtown, despite the fact that the polls were open until 8 pm. And in fact the lines were so long that voters who got in line by 8 pm were still waiting to vote after midnight. This was likely caused by the fact that the Board of Elections seem to have done a terrible job getting mail-in ballots out to those who requested them. So a large number of people showed up to vote on election day. But the city also made the misguided decision to reduce the number of polling stations, so the waits increased significantly.

So the totals announced as of yesterday include some portion of mail-in ballots received, early in-person voting, and election day in-person voting. The number of outstanding ballots that have not been counted could be in the thousands, but that is just a guess at this point. The Board of Elections hasn’t released any details on those numbers. Continue reading →

Photo by John Weiss.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• A peaceful group of several thousand hundred protestors marched through Georgetown last night.
• The effort to give Georgetown shoppers more space on the sidewalk.