A message from HSMS (the best way to learn about any organization is to attend a few meetings):
The H Street Main Street Design Committee will be meeting Monday August 14, 2006. Please come out to learn more about the facade improvement projects and upcoming events.
The Design Committee has a new chair Ms. Delicia Karim. Hope everyone can come out to meet her. She is a great addition to the H Street Main Street Board of Directors.
Below is the meeting agenda for 7pm Monday August 14,2006. The meeting will be held at HSMS offices at 961 H Street, NE in the old Bank of America location.
Hope to see you all there!
H Street Main Street
Agenda:
1. DHCD Façade Project
2. Dreyfus Façade Project
3. On-going events/project update
4. New Business
9 comments:
What time is the meeting??
7 pm, as Elise wrote above.
7pm. Sorry for the delayed response (I'm not in town).
I just updated the post. It didn't inc lude the time before.
Good luck to the new design committee chair. She'll be at least the fifth person to take the job since the HSMS began. Every one of her predecessors sincerely tried to make progress. And now every one of them has left the organization.
That should tell you something.
-H Street resident
What it tell me -H street resident is that you are another crab in the hot pot pulling down the other crabs. HSMS is way under funded as any project,that involves H street.(with maybe the sole exception of the CDC) You guys are fighting over mere crumbs.Demand parity from the next council person.
The previous commenter is correct to say that we need to demand more from the next council member. However, we also need to demand more from the Main Street, REstore DC, and the CDC.
HSMS is poorly run and it has little progress to show for itself. Recently, the organization missed some terrific opportunities. Why did it cancel the contract with Ready Willing and Able to clean the streets? Why was it unwilling to support a BID with Capitol Hill BID?
REstore DC, the government agency that's supposed to help HSMS, is just a waste. Their assistance consists mostly of hectoring and paperwork. They're untrustworthy and unprofessional. They make the work of HSMS even more difficult.
The CDC is both corrupt (the Post had a story several years ago) and responsible for most of the bad development on the corridor (Autozone, for example). Their skills are poor; their interests are parochial; they're not very trustworthy.
So here's what we need to demand from Tommy or whoever wins the election:
1. Demand a financial audit of HSMS and the CDC;
2. Pressure HSMS to follow its bylaws, including getting a new HSMS board chair and getting rid of board members in long standing who don't do anything.
3. Focus on REstore DC and make them provide useful assistance to HSMS and other Main Streets. This should include real money. It should also include some assistance on stuff like secretarial work and financial paperwork.
4. Don't give the CDC another dime. Make sure they've stopped self dealing and engaging in financial deals that enrich board members and staff.
5. Understand that the H Street Corridor has been underfunded and ignored for about 40 years. The private and public sectors have failed until recently. The nonprofit sectors -- the CDC and HSMS -- have a role to play but they can do better.
6. Support the city agencies that are doing great work. Planning and DDOT are really wonderful. They've engaged the neighbors and listened to our concerns. They deserve our deep and heartfelt gratitude.
Nobody's got the secret answer on how to get this work done. But for the first time in a very, very long time we can see very serious and exciting progress. To continue this progress, the next ward 6 councilman needs to provide constant oversight and attention to the H Street Corridor.
-H Street resident
Another reason that HSMS is under funded is that the board members themselves do not participate in fund raising. They are supposed to, but they don't. They are supposed to "give" or "get" a certain amount of money each year, but like most things in their bylaws.....it is not enforced. I think that these are good people who are just clueless as to how to run an organization.
H st. resident II
Most of the people who knew what they were doing quit the board. The competent people decided that they were putting in a lot of work -- and some money too -- into an organization that wasn't going to accomplish much.
That doesn't mean that it cannot accomplish anything. But experience has shown that the leadership of HSMS over the past several years just won't let anything happen.
-H Street resident
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