meet-n-greet tonight for Ward 5 candidates Raenelle Zapata and Drew Hubbard - at St. George's

See this message from John Salatti:

As a service to Bloomingdale residents, I am sponsoring an opportunity to meet two candidates for Ward 5 Council

WHEN: Thursday the 22nd
WHERE: St. George`s Episcopal Church, 2nd & U NW
WHO: Raenelle Zapata from 6:30 to 7:30
Drew Hubbard from 7:30 to 8:30

So come out and meet some of the candidates. Get your questions asked right here in Bloomingdale!

See you there,
John

John T. Salatti
(202) 986 - 2592
``Together, Building a Better Bloomingdale``

Valentine`s Spaghetti Dinner - at St. George's Episcopal Church - Saturday, 2-11-2012

See this message passed along by Truxton Circle/Bates area resident Mary Ann Wilmer:

You are cordially invited to:

Join Us for a Valentine`s Spaghetti Dinner
(Hosted by the Episcopal Church Women of St. George`s Church)

Date: Saturday, February 11, 2012
Place: St. George’s Episcopal Church
Time: 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Ticket Prices:
$12.00 for Adults
$10.00 for College Students
$6.00 for Children

Fun, Games, Music, Door Prizes, Raffle Prizes and More!
Please join us for a heartwarming event!!

Important Details: Please reserve your tickets by Thursday, February 9 ththrough the contacts listed below so that we will be prepared to accommodate you and your guests. Please come and wear your Valentine`s colors, as a souvenir photograph is included in the price of the ticket!

For more information, please call:
Lucy Austin 301 then 325 followed by 0111
Vida Anderson 202 then 253 followed by 2669

Stu: Les Petits Chanteurs returning to Bloomingdale this week

See this message from Stuart Davenport:

I want to let people know that Les Petits Chanteurs are returning to Bloomingdale this week, and they will be performing at the Art Museum of the Americas at the OAS building this Friday at 1pm.

See the flier attached.

Les Petits Chanteurs are the Haitian choral singers and classical musicians who performed in Bloomingdale two years ago at St. George`s Church, the Bloomingdale Farmers Market, and the Big Bear Cafe during the annual neighborhood pig roast (bi-annual??).

They are now touring the eastern United States as they perform and raise funds to rebuild their school and music hall in Port Au Prince.

They come into DC on Thursday, Sept. 8th and will be having a BBQ at the Big Bear Cafe from 3:30pm-8pm. They then head to the National Cathedral to prepare for their tour (and practice for their performance at OAS on Friday).

For all neighbors who offered housing, helped with the BBQ, and came to hear them sing years ago - come say hello at the BBC! Or the OAS building on friday.

-Stuart

tonight's Bloomingdale Civic Association meeting

See this message from Teri Janine Quinn, President, Bloomingdale Civic Association

Please Join Us for the Bloomingdale Civic Association Meeting
Monday, June 20, 2011 at 7pm at
St. George`s Episcopal Church
(2nd & U Streets, NW)

Agenda Highlights:

• Howard University – Update on Changes to the Campus Master Plan



• Update on BCA Representation on the McMillan Advisory Group (MAG)



• Heritage Trail Request for a Letter of Support



• ``Get the Rats Out of Here``: Presentation on reducing rats in the neighborhood from Gerard Brown, Program Manager, the Rodent & Vector Control Division, Bureau of Community Hygiene



• Discussion about Block Captains and Safety Issues with a representative from the 5th District Police Department



• North Capitol Main Street`s Request for a Letter of Support for the Art Walk

Please spread the word to your neighbors…especially those without Internet access. Also, St. George’s is fully handicapped accessible and has a separate room for families and children. We hope to see you Monday night!

The next Bloomingdale Civic Association Meeting will be held Monday July 18, 2011.

John Salatti wants to add some text regarding the meeting being family-friendly:

To ensure that all Bloomingdale meetings are family friendly, we have reserved a room at St. George`s for parents and children. They can use the space as a place to take a break during the meeting, or parents can organize some activities so that most parents can be in the meeting while other parents are watching and playing with the kids.

parking enforcement on the 100 block of T St NW

See this Email exchange originating with an Email from T Street NW resident Brice McCracken.


I am working to address the parking issues on Sunday in Bloomingdale due to church goers that illegally park in the neighborhood. Can you please post something to the blog encouraging folks in the neighborhood to contact Councilman Thomas and their ANC commissioners about the problem? I think the more people drawing attention to this issue the faster it will be resolved.

Thanks for your assistance with this very important issue.

Sincerely,
Brice McCracken


Begin forwarded message:


From: "Thomas, Harry (COUNCIL)"
Date: March 3, 2011 8:51:14 AM EST
To: "james.fournier9@verizon.net" , "anc5c03@gmail.com" , "Chase, Ayawna (COUNCIL)" , "Johnson, Nicole (Council)" , "Pittman, James (COUNCIL)"
Cc: "john.salatti@gmail.com" , "brice.mccracken80@gmail.com" , "Chase, Ayawna (COUNCIL)" , "finessetax@gmail.com" , "terijanine@gmail.com" , "bca-executive-board@googlegroups.com"
Subject: Re: Parking Enforcement in the 100 Block of T St NW (Constituent Concern)

Thanks for copying me I am working with the ministers to address these concerns

----- Reply message -----
From: "James Fournier"
Date: Thu, Mar 3, 2011 7:02 am
Subject: Parking Enforcement in the 100 Block of T St NW (Constituent Concern)
To:
Cc: , , finessetax @ gmail.com, terijanine @ gmail.com

John,

Thanks for passing this along.

Brice,

The issues raised in your e-mail have been around for a long time and I believe Commissioner Salatti's response highlights the current state of affairs. I would be interested in seeing the photos that you have.

- James

Mar 3, 2011 01:28:30 AM, anc5c03 @ gmail.com wrote:

===========================================

John,
Thank you for sharing. I look forward to working with everyone to develop sustainable solutions.

Hugh
On Mar 2, 2011, at 23:11, "John T. Salatti" wrote:

Dear Brice,

As fate would have it, I received another e-mail Sunday concerning church-related parking and the dangers such parking can sometime cause. I take these e-mails as evidence that the time has come to discuss these issues more widely. So before I say anything else, let me note that I have copied my fellow Bloomingdale Commissioners, James Fournier and Hugh Youngblood, and I have copied my fellow board members of the Bloomingdale Civic Association. This parking issue is one that they all have an interest in and an issue that will require all their creative, positive input to resolve. As full disclosure, I live 100 feet from a church, St. George's Episcopal at 2nd & U NW.

As for your specific questions regarding parking enforcement on Sundays, let me offer three basic points. First, without question in the District of Columbia, the unwritten rule is that parking enforcement around churches is essentially suspended. I say "unwritten" because I am sure that no one will in writing and officially say that, but nonetheless that is, so to speak, the God's honest truth. One can park with immunity in ways on a Sunday morning that virtually any other time will result in a ticket. This means that getting the violations dealt with in the manner you quite vigorously attempted is not likely to have much impact. Second, the Department of Public Works, which handles basic parking enforcement, does not generally do enforcement on weekends in residential areas like Bloomingdale. The areas you note in your e-mail are commercial districts and are handled differently. That said, Parking Enforcement does come out on occasions during the weekend and a request can be made to them to specially come to Bloomingdale on Sunday. However, as I noted, such enforcement would fly directly in the face of long-standing policy. Third, police officers do write parking tickets on weekends, but again they generally will look the other way on a Sunday morning.

So let me offer another suggestion. I have very good relationships with almost all the pastors, rectors, etc. in and around Bloomingdale as well as a very good relationship with Rhode Island-North Capitol Ecumenical Council; most, but not all, of our neighborhood churches are part of the Council. With that in mind, I would like to bring the commissioners and the Bloomingdale Civic Association officers together with the Ecumenical Council and any other church in the area (I think specifically of the Eritrean Christian Church at 2nd & S and World Missions Extension Center at 1st & Randolph NW). In that venue, we can discuss with the ministers the concerns that you and others have raised and look for positive solutions.

The churches are vital and historic parts of this community that have felt less-than-welcome at times by the actions of some neighbors. So it behooves us to approach them in the spirit of mutual respect and in the spirit of positive collaboration to avoid both bad feelings and, more importantly, preventable accident or injury. I am confident that I can arrange that meeting.

But first I will confer with the commissioners and civic association officers to consider solutions and options that we can present to the pastors before we meet with them. Solutions will be important part of the discussion; we'll also want to let them know about the soon-to-open Flatiron Building across T Street from you; the repopulating of that building will only exacerbate the parking shortage. So a little strategic, early, and thoughtful discussion on our part would be helpful.

In the mean time, I am glad that you brought up the photos that you have taken. Please save them. Perhaps we can turn photos into a PowerPoint presentation to show how the parking issues are creating some dangerous situations around the neighborhood. I'll be back to you about those.

Thank you for raising this matter, Brice. Parking continues to be a real problem for the neighborhood. Our businesses, although they don't actually generate much of a parking problem currently, are regularly accused of contributing to a parking shortage in the neighborhood that is almost completely attributable to the positive growth in the neighborhood over the past 15 years. Bloomingdale has almost no vacant homes any more, and many houses have been divided in multiple units. That's the basis of our parking issues. But as our neighborhood continues to grow and our businesses continue to thrive, the shortage of parking is going to become a greater and great concern.

So please give me and the others a little time to come together and then to meet with the pastors. Please continue to document significant parking violations. Contact me any time with information, questions, and requests for updates.

Have a great day,
John
--
John T. Salatti
Commissioner, ANC 5C04
Vice President, Bloomingdale Civic Association
(202) 986- 2592
Together, Building a Better Bloomingdale


On Sun, Feb 27, 2011 at 10:56 PM, Salatti, John T. (ANC 5C04) wrote:

-------------------------------------------
From: Brice McCracken[SMTP:BRICE.MCCRACKEN80 @ GMAIL.COM]

Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2011 10:56:28 PM
To: Thomas, Harry (COUNCIL); Chase, Ayawna (COUNCIL); Salatti, John T. (ANC 5C04);
Subject: Parking Enforcement in the 100 Block of T St NW (Constituent Concern)

Councilman Thomas and Commissioner Salatti-

I moved into a condo at 125 T ST NW, in May of 2010. Since that time, I have noticed that every Sunday parking between the hours of 10am and 3pm becomes an issue due to persons attending the various neighborhood churches. Today, the parking violations committed by these individuals elevated to becoming a safety hazard for residents including me. At the intersection of 2nd and T St, cars were parked in clearly visible "No Parking" areas. These cars were even parked in such a manner as to partially be blocking T St NW. After also noticing cars parked in the bus stop at 2nd and Rhode Island Avenue, I proceeded to make a report via the 3-1-1 website to report the violations. When I returned home a few hours later, I noticed that all of the vehicles were still illegally parked and no one from DC parking enforcement or the police had come through to ticket these vehicles. When I called 3-1-1 this afternoon to again make another report of the illegally parked vehicles, I was informed by the 3-1-1 operator that there is no parking enforcement on Sundays. I know this to be false, because on numerous Sundays when I am out in Chinatown or Dupont, I have observed and on at least one occasion, been the recipient of a parking ticket in these areas. If these areas of DC are able to have their parking enforced on a Sunday, why am I not able to have parking enforced in my neighborhood? None the less, when I called 3-1-1 this afternoon, I was eventually connected with 9-1-1. The dispatcher told me that the police would be dispatched. After several more calls, I never saw a police officer come through and I did not observe any of the vehicles receive a ticket for their illegal parking.

After placing my third call to 3-1-1/ 9-1-1 for parking enforcement, I decided to walk through the neighborhood and take pictures of the illegally parked cars. I have approximately 20 pictures showing how many vehicles were illegally parked in this two block radius. I am willing to provide these pictures to you in hopes of illustrating for you just how bad this issue is. I hope this can be resolved this week, if not please know that I will continue to contact 3-1-1 (and if needed 9-1-1) until this situation is addressed and resolved.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Brice McCracken
100 Block of T St NW
Washington, DC 20001

Blessings of the Animals -- Sunday, 10/3/2010 -- St. George's Episcopal Church

See this message passed along by Bates Area resident Mary Ann Wilmer regarding an upcoming event at St. George's Episcopal Church:

Bloomingdale House Tour -- on the agenda of this Monday's Bloomingdale Civic Association meeting

Here the agenda for this Monday's Bloomingdale Civic Association meeting, supplied by Civic Association President Robert Brannum:

BLOOMINGDGALE CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC. WASHINGTON, DC

MONTHLY MEETING

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2009
7:00pm-8:30PM

ST. GEORGES’ EPISCOPAL CHURCH 2ND AND U STREETS, NW

AGENDA

I.
Introductions and Moment of Silence

II.
Bloomingdale Community Concerns
McMillan Park, public safety, and other community items

III.
Announcements/Updates from Office of Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr.

IV.
Howard University – Homecoming Update
Information presentation about parade route, traffic, and other homecoming items

V.
Bloomingdale House Tour
Update on selected houses, ads, and other tour items

VI.
St. Martin’s Apartments
Project development presentation

VII.
DC Arts and Humanities Commission
Presentation regarding application process for mural at First and W Streets NW

VIII.
Announcements

IX.
Adjournment