1. Agreed to send a letter of support for Children's Medical Center's (this is actually not in 5B, but it's close to it so they came) application for a Certificate of Need for a Facility Master Plan, Phase II (expansion).
2. Agreed to send a letter of support for Progressive Life Center's application for bond financing so it can purchase its building located at 1704 17th Street NE.
3. Commander Greene of the MPD discussed crime trends in the 5th District.
4. Approved some reimbursements of expenses for copying and such.
5. Approved a couple of other administrative matters and rules (mostly relating to office access). The issue was slightly contentious because our office is located in a private facility (the Salvation Army Harbor Light Center) so only the Chair can have a key. Some former Commissioners in the audience objected to this (the copier and other resources are also in theory available to community groups and members). But given the key arrangement, and the fact that this place is not exactly near public transportation, use seems likely to be limited. (our meeting location, 2601 18th Street NE, doesn't exactly score highly on the accessible by public transportation scale either).
Why last night's meeting took so long:
I'd like to say it was because we had a backlog of tasks from those times we didn't have a quorum, but that would be a lie. Last night we had a handful of very talkative people in the audience who did not really want to keep on task and kept steering us off into other directions (e.g., at one point there was a hypothetical question about placing foster kids who might be firestarters). Though the Chair did somewhat attempt to clear things up, there were a few repeat offenders there last night who would not be deterred, and if we have explicit rules about how long someone gets the floor, they aren't exactly enforced. So, two hours and fortyfive minutes after many of us arrived, the meeting concluded at 10:00pm.
Present:
5B01 William Shelton (Chair)
5B02 Patricia Brown Daniels
5B07 David Hooper
5B08 Elise Bernard
5B10 India Henderson
5B11 William Myers
Absent:
5B03 Raymond Chandler
5B04 Rayseen Woodland
5B05 Rosetta Davis
5B06 Wilhelmina Lawson
5B12 Joseph Paul
Vacant:
5B09
Absent:
5B03 Raymond Chandler
5B04 Rayseen Woodland
5B05 Rosetta Davis
5B06 Wilhelmina Lawson
5B12 Joseph Paul
Vacant:
5B09
6 comments:
Thanks for the recap. Sorry to have missed Cmdr. Greene. Can you say which commissioner resigned?
It was Joan Black. She represented a portion of Ivy City and the Arboretum neighborhood. I think you may have at least three people who want to run to replace her, but I can't tell you who they are with the exception of Audrey Rae, who arrived at the meeting armed with campaign flyers.
Soooooooo. Do you think that you will get quorum to decide how to hold elections for the vacant seat? I think that it the ANC's job.
I believe there are already procedures (established by the city, I think) to deal with such an issue. It was published in the register today, and interested parties can register as candidates ad the Board of Elections and Ethics after obtaining at least 25 signatures from residents of the SMD. Assuming that there are 2 or more candidates, an election will likely be held in January.
I would strongly urge any residents of 5B09 to please pay attention to the candidates and vote because every vote really counts in this type election where voter turnout is likely to be very low. If you don't vote and someone gets elected who is a wacko, you've got nobody to blame but yourself.
Not that it matters, but the Childrens Hospital Center is actually pretty far, at least 1.5 miles or more, to ANC5B.
Yeah, I know. I guess they just wanted maximum support. It was a good presentation.
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