A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.
Hell No: “We came. We protested. We chanted. What started out as 2, became 3, which eventually became 10 and then multiplied into 20. Ward 7 needs a lot of things. Another liquor store is most definitely NOT one of them,” writes Fairfax Village-based Life in the Village. The potential liquor store in question is Uncle Lee’s Seafood, in Deanwood, which has applied for a Class A liquor license—much to the chagrin of nearby communities, who feel that there’s a saturation of liquor stores in the area already.
A Time for Apathy: Last week, an open letter to Councilmember Jack Evans was circulated on the Dupont Forum email list. It addressed a potential conflict of interest between Evans’ government job and private work for Patton Boggs: “…The Examiner newspaper reported on July 1, 2009 that Mr. Evans had recused himself from a key vote on the public subsidy for the convention center hotel because his law firm, Patton Boggs, represents Marriott. This, of course, is the law firm from which Mr. Evans has received $240,000 annually as compensation for unspecified services for the last several years…” Though one list member was disappointed the posting didn’t generate much discussion—”I’m surprised this post didn’t garner any comments, because this looks bigger than the rest of the city scandals put together. It’s certainly bigger in what it costs the taxpayers by more than a hundred-fold”—another noted, “you should not be too surprised…we’re all just kind of fed up with the some of the current crop of elected officials and actions they have taken in their own self-interest at the expense of taxpayers. Sad.”
Desperately Seeking: The Brookland email list is deep in discussion of the proposed taxi medallion legislation, which would require licensed cabs to buy a pricey medallion to be licensed. A member of the list claims to be a taxi driver and dispatcher and insists that the legislation, while flawed, is a good thing because “Currently, there are 8,250 licenced vehicles. That is too many. You can see the swarms of cabs in certain areas at certain times.” However, other list members don’t feel that that’s the case: “If there are too many taxis, why is it so hard to get one to respond to a call to pick up at home? What is the best solution to getting enough coverage for underserved areas that don’t have enough street-hailing business for taxis to be cruising around?”
Pick It Up! Park View D.C. and nearby neighbors are fed up with the amount of trash in their streets. Writes Park View D.C., “I’ve long been mystified by the amount of clamshell food containers, empty liquor bottles, and general trash that can be found on our neighborhood’s streets. Often times you can find a crack bag or empty condom wrapper in the parkway in front of an otherwise well maintained row of homes.” A vivid description, no? A new blog, The Park View Beautification Crew, has sprung up to address the problem.