Photo by M.V. Jantzen.
Good morning Georgetown and welcome to 2011. Here’s the latest:
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
Next Monday, the ANC will meet for the first time in 2011. This will be the first meeting for the two new members of the ANC: Jake Sticka and Jeff Jones. They’ll get to jump right into since this is decently meaty and potentially dramatic meeting.
DC Tri-it-again-thlon
You may recall that last month things got pretty awkward at the meeting with the ANC challenged the owner of the DC Triathlon, Charles Brodsky, to disclose just how charitable his triathlons are. He refused to even give a rough estimate. The ANC was dubious and told him to come back next month (i.e. now) with some more meat on the bone in terms of just how charitable the race is (the reason the charitable level is even an issue is that the ANC is trying to make it a standard by which they will approve or oppose special events that shut down Georgetown streets).
Adding to the tension is the fact that Brodsky is on the ABC board. The fact he stuck around after the discussion of his event to hear ABC matters discussed drew even more controversy.
So according to the agenda, the DC Triathlon will be discussed (GM’s not sure why the other triathlon run by Brodsky, the Nation’s Triathlon, is not on the agenda). Will the ANC grill Brodsky again? Will he come prepared to actually answer questions that he really ought to be able to answer? We’ll see. Continue reading
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DC Triathlon by arjubx.
Last night the ANC met for its final 2010 session, and one theme dominated the meeting: awkward. As in “awwwk-waard”. On multiple occasions last night, GM winced at the social discomfort on display. But that’s what made it such a great meeting!
Special Events
Early on in the meeting, the commission turned to the question of special events. There has been a growing perception among the commissioners that the number of special events in Georgetown that require street closings has been on the rise. To combat that, the ANC is working to develop certain guiding principles as to whether to approve an event or not. The two main principles are whether the event is mainly charitable in nature and what benefits it has to Georgetown. GM probed a little on the second prong, since it sounded to him a little like extortion, but really what that principle entails is more of a qualitative look at how cooperative the group has been and how much they have done to minimize the impact on the neighborhood.
So with that in mind, the commission turned to two proposed events that are asking to shut down some Georgetown streets: the DC Triathlon on June 19th and the Nation’s Triathlon on September 11th. Both of these events are being planned by Charles Brodsky. While the commission focused somewhat on the proposed impact the races would have on the community (the DC Triathlon would only shut down the Whitehurst; the Nation’s Triathlon would shut down the Whitehurst, M St. west of Key Bridge, and Canal Rd.) the discussion soon narrowed in on whether the races are charitable or not. Brodsky was quick to point out that the Nation’s Triathlon has raised $9 million to help fight Leukemia. The commissioners, however, pointed out that his company is still for-profit and they questioned whether the charitable donations even come out of the fees or are simply raised additionally by the competitors. Brodksy stated that some charitable donations do come out of the race fees.
It was already somewhat heated at this point, but it got worse. The commission wanted to know roughly what percentage of the race revenues go to charity. Brodksy said he didn’t know, and that he couldn’t even guess. The commission found this hard to believe. Eventually they asked that he come back and tell them next month what that percentage is. He basically refused to do so. To this Tom Birch asserted that without more information, the commission had no way to know whether this whole thing is a sham. Brodsky didn’t take very well to that comment. The ANC told Brodsky that they’d be happy to work with him to minimize the impact the races have on the community but that he was going to have to work with them or they’d oppose the race. At one point Brodsky said he’d just as well take their rejection. In a word, it was awkward.
But it got worse. Continue reading
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After GM had his say yesterday on the ANC, you can come next ANC meeting next Monday and see the ANC in action for yourself.
So what’s on tap? Unfortunately, not much. Five of the eight Old Georgetown Board items are residential, which can lead to heated discussions, but are rarely newsworthy. A good way to think of them is to view them as learning experiences as either how to or, more often, how not to go about doing home renovations.
As for the commercial matters, one thing jumps out to GM: Billy Reid, a high end clothing store, is moving into the space recently vacated by Riccardi at 3213 M St.
Another item GM noticed is that the new Thunder Grill, which installed a huge and ugly awning without any approvals, is getting reviewed by the Old Georgetown Board, but the ANC put it on the no-review calendar (they do that when they trust the OGB to make the aesthetic call). Continue reading
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As GM mentioned yesterday, Monday night’s ANC meeting was so long that GM was left with no time to write up the whole meeting in time for yesterday. So here’s what you missed:
Crime
Sgt. Hedgecock came by for his monthly report and bore bad news. Georgetown has been struck recently with a spike in muggings, mostly of the iPhone variety. Some robbers are snatching it right out of people’s hands, but some have taken a more violent approach by simply knocking the victims on the ground. This happened twice two weekends ago.
And then of course there was the brazen bank heist on September 30th, which Hedgecock compared to the move “Heat.”
GM will have more on the crime numbers later this week, but the message sent by MPD is mostly two-fold: they’ve changing up their patrols to pay more attention to Sunday through Thursday–when a lot of these crimes occurred–and they’re encouraging residents to not waive their iPhones around. That’s all well and good, but GM hopes they have opportunity to announce some arrests soon.
Meet the New ANC Commissioners, Mostly the Same as the Old ANC Commissioners
Monday night, the ANC gave over the floor to the two candidates to replace the departing commissioners, Aaron Golds and Bill Skelsey. Jeffrey Jones is running to replace Skelsey and Jake Sticka is running to replace Golds.
The one thing that struck GM about their speeches wasn’t so much what they had to say, but rather that this will be yet another two years of an entirely male commission. What’s particularly odd about that is that just about every other Georgetown civic group is disproportionately run by women. For instance, look at CAG’s board, only three of the eleven members are men. GM doesn’t think the ANC is sexist or anything, but it’s just a little odd, don’t you think? Continue reading
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Since the Old Georgetown Board doesn’t meet in August, projects get backed up for approval for September. As a result, the September ANC meeting is absolute torture. But thankfully September is behind us, and the October meeting next Monday looks downright brief. Check out the more interesting topics:
Tudor Place
Tudor Place is planning a large construction project. They want to clear out all administrative uses from the main building and restore it entirely to its historical shape.
To accommodate this, Tudor Place wants to build climate controlled space for its large collection of documents and artifacts from the house. It also wants to build a new gatehouse and an educational center.
The neighbors are objecting to the proposed construction, mostly because of its effect on 32nd St. residents (the idea being that the new buildings would loom too much over the neighbors). They would like to see less construction above ground and more below ground space. CAG has said it won’t support the plan as it currently exists (Full disclosure: GM is on the CAG Historical Preservation Committee that voted on the resolution.)
With the neighbors and CAG in lockstep opposition to the plan, it seems likely that the ANC will object as well. But it should make for a fun discussion. Continue reading
Filed under ANC
Last week, Wendy Gordon of the Georgetown Dish wrote a screed against the ANC and the Old Georgetown Board that was factually inaccurate and misguided to boot. GM wasn’t going to comment on it, but now the false information is spreading so it’s time to clear the record.
Gordon’s original article complained about the OGB rejecting awnings proposed by Serendipity 3 for their windows. In the article, Gordon states:
matching awnings would be installed on the two (count ‘em) windows on the M Street side of the building, two doors on the Wisconsin Avenue side of the structure, and the recovering of the already existing awning over the main entrance to the building…The plan was presented and the votes counted. No pushback from residents, and a unanimous vote to pass by the ANC 2E. Resolution passed. One more hurdle to go…the OGB.
That’s simply not what happened. In fact the ANC did express reservations about the window awnings and passed a resolution stating as much. Here’s the text of the resolution: “ANC 2E appreciates the concept of the awnings. ANC 2E does want OGB to take a look at the awnings on the smaller windows to ensure that it does not mask historic fabric. ANC 2E has no objection to the awnings over the doors.” Continue reading
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
Today is the deadline to turn in your petitions to run for ANC commissioner. Barring some last minute entrant, however, it appears the make-up of the next term’s ANC is set, and it will include a couple new faces.
First there is Single Member District 4, where student commissioner Aaron Golds will hand over the reins since he’s graduating next spring. The only candidate that has stepped forward is GU sophomore Jake Sticka. He told the Georgetown Voice last spring that he’s “pretty concerned about whether or not the student voice is being heard, and whether or not the community actually respects the University and the students’ role in the community. Hopefully, on the ANC, I can advocate for those interests.” Continue reading
Last night the ANC met for its September session. It was long and grueling. In fact, for the first time in over a year GM left before the end, and that was after three hours.
Notwithstanding his early exit, GM was witness to a lot of interesting news, and most of it had to do with new bars and restaurants.
But first off, let’s talk bikes:
Capital Bikeshare Stations
Chris Holbin of DDOT came before the ANC to present his agency’s plans on new Capital Bikeshare stations in Georgetown. As previously reported here, there will be four such stations in Georgetown. One of those stations was previously announced to be at the gates of the university. Unfortunately, as Holbin discussed last night, there isn’t enough space on the sidewalk for a station and DDOT hasn’t reached an agreement with the school to place it inside the gates.
So they went looking for a replacement site and settled on the north front of the Car Barn on Prospect St. The commissioners, who to their credit were in favor of the program, nonetheless were opposed to this new location. They argued that the immediate neighbors objected to the noise and activity it would create. Ironically, the one commissioner who actually lives across the street from the proposed location, Aaron Golds, didn’t object. But his lone vote against the resolution objecting to the location wasn’t enough. Said resolution called for DDOT to look for another space closer to the university or on the university’s grounds.
Frankly GM would love a station across the street, but never underestimate Georgetowners’ ability to look a gift horse in the mouth. Continue reading
Filed under ANC
Photo by M.V. Jantzen.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
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