The latest Loose Lips column contains some surprising information about the H Street CDC (Community Development Corporation). Just as back ground I'll remind people that the H Street CDC often engages in activities that have little to nothing to do with H Street (perhaps H Street CDC is a bit of a misnomer?). But this newest one is a surprise to me. Apparently, the organization is now running a program that teaches kids Chinese. But don't get too upset because, as the article points out, though the H Street CDC has received public funding in the past, it isn't getting any right now. Still, odd eh? In the past the H Street CDC has played a role in various projects on H Street (unsurprisingly), and prior to the recent sale they were the landlord for AutoZone.
13 comments:
Teaching kids Chinese is great. Any American child who is fluent in Chinese has a much larger chance at success in the global economy. Especially as the American and Chinese economies are getting every more intertwined.
This is my biggest pet peeve...
Chinese shouldn't be thought of as a single language. A whole bunch of languages are spoken in China and the most common one is Mandarin. I guess you could argue that each language is a form of "Chinese," or at least part of the Chinese language family.
It's a bit like saying people who live in India speak Indian, although perhaps the languages spoken there are more diverse compared to those in the Chinese family.
An important point in this story is that Chairman Brown's wife has been hired by the H Street CDC to lead this program. Nice way to get a free trip to China. No ?
By the way, does the H street CDC pay any taxes on their property and profits? They certain have profited from past tax dollars in the form of block grants. They should gladly be repaying those funds from their real estate profits.
By the way, Tommy Wells should be doing some over sight of this group, I believe that the council member still appoints a member to the H Street CDC board.
Whats going on at Toyland this weekend?
Was at Toyland last night and it was actually pretty fun! There were 20-odd people there, folks playing games at the bar, and the waitress was friendly and fun. New menu is out and it's much more comprehensive than what it used to be. Crowd seems to skew younger than before, not quite sure why. Their music system could use some improvement - they're using a boombox with an iPod docked and it's kinda muddy. But everyone there seemed to be having a good time! What's going on this weekend there? Well, not sure that there has to be "something" going on there, but it's regaining its footing and I plan to stop in to check it out!
Thanks Anon 9:09. You've just given me more useful information about Toyland than I've had in a long time - and you were able to provide it anonymously. Thank you Inked for allowing this again. I look forward to checking out Toyland again soon.
Anonymous posters are people too. They're just cowardly, not very creative, and ashamed...... Of something. But i do enjoy thinking about how I'd meet them IRL (in real life for you....tenured folks. :-)
* after a few drinks, and casual chat at the bar *...
"no seriously, what's your alias on FroTro? Are you that guy that doesn't live on Parker?"
"ummmm... I'm pretty sure that the "not on Parker" person is a ..... Girl."
"no way! I know things. So there are only two types of people in dc. Which one are you?"
"-smirk- ummm.. I think there are more than just TWO types of people in DC! LOL! ( no, really, the character mouthed the letters L.O.L. Seriously. LOL!!)
"not really, trollfacemaster. In dc we only have two types of people. NOW I KNOW, you're layman!"
To be continued...... By all.... Or none....
H St CDC is a bad joke. It is all that was wrong with DC for the past three decades.
In a real city we'd have investigations and they'd do a perp walk of shame for decades of misusing taxpayer funds.
But this is DC. So expect business as usual, like wives of Councilmembers getting cushy jobs.
This, DC, is why we can't have nice things.
+200
Agreed.
I could write a book on the bullshit dc gov pulls. Trust me, I was the neighbor of a dc commissioner. All I will say is this, " drugs, urine, out of state DUIs, and..... Believe it or not, an excellent pet owner.
Btw, I'm learning ASL. Totally hot Gallaudet chick that I met at a coffee house........
Is this the same Chairman Brown's wife who we taxpayers are paying$4000 per month so that he can ride around in style? This is a travesty.
Somebody needs to keep a close eye on the HSCDC. They're basically a developer of low-income housing, financed through city and federal funding. Done with "development partners" whom they don't have to disclose because they're "private." Well, this was all started with tax-payer money and continues to enrich the staff and "partners" with tax-payer funding.
How about a little checking here?
When they need some zoning help, a push through DCRA, or maybe some financing, who's going to say "no" to the Council Chairman's wife? Wonder if she'll get a small "partnership" interest in some of their "private" deals. Would Kwame have to declare that on his ethics forms?
"This, DC, is why we can't have nice things" Gimme a f***ing break! You can have whatever you want in DC. H St CDC has not received taxpayer dollars for quite some time.
To those of us who have lived in DC for all or most of our lives, this Chinese-language program is no surprise. North Capitol Street divides H Street into NE (formerly an African American business community) & NW (Chinatown). Some of us are about building collaborations within our shared communities rather than upholding physical & mental segregated. Peace
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