ADVISORY
NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION 1B
Government
of the
Minutes
Thursday, January 7, 2010,
7:00 PM,
The regular monthly meeting
of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1B occurred on Thursday, January 7 2010, at
7:00 pm in the
Chairperson Nadeau observed
the presence of a quorum and called the meeting to order at 7:13 PM.
Chairperson Nadeau then made
the following announcement:
We
ask that you silence your cell phones.
By “silence” I mean either put them on “silence” or turn them off if you
are able. The vibration and rings
interfere with our recording and we sometimes lose valuable information.
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This meeting is
audio-recorded for the public record and the draft minutes of the meeting,
which will be published on our website within one week.
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We welcome and
encourage public comment at appropriate points in the meeting. Normally, we will ask for public comment on
issues before the Commission before any motion is offered for official
action. Once a motion has been made and
seconded, comment and discussion is confined to Commissioners.
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We ask that all
those making presentations, asking questions, or making comments speak loudly
and clearly for the benefit of our recording device. You can come forward and sit at the witness
table and make sure that your comments are picked up. Please state your name, residence address,
and what organization you represent. If
you are representing yourself as a resident, rather than an organization,
please say so.
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For the accuracy
of our public records, we ask that all those making presentations, asking
questions, or making comments complete the very brief speaker information form
located on the sign in table at the back of the room. Please give the completed form to our Staff
Director, Jim Irwin, either before or after you speak to the Commission. The purpose of this form is to assure correct
spelling of your name in the minutes, accurate address and accurate statement
of representation.
Thank you for your
attendance, participation and cooperation.
Chairperson Nadeau asked
Commissioners to introduce themselves.
Commission Announcements
Commissioner Moss announced
that the
Commissioner Muhammad
announced that the South Columbia Heights Neighborhood Association, of which he
is the president, would be meeting on Wednesday, January 20th, at
7:00 PM, at the
Commissioner Moss announced
that the United Negro College Fund had finalized an agreement with Radio One
for office space in the new development on
Commissioner E. Gail
Anderson Holness announced that ANC 1B11 would be having its monthly meeting on
Monday, January 11th at 7:00 PM in the LeDroit Kelly Miller Senior
Building at 2025 4th Street N.W..
The guest speaker will be Ms. Cheryl Moore from the U.S. Census
Bureau. On Saturday, January 17th,
the ANC 1B11 monthly empowerment program will be held at the same location from
11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. The program
includes story telling for children and senior technology literacy training,
assisted by
Community Announcements
Ms. Jo Strowder,
Commissioner Anderson
Holness said that she wanted to remind the community that she was also the
Deputy Director of Business and Community Outreach at the University of the
Secretary’s Report – Minutes of December, 2009 meeting
Commissioner Anderson
Holness submitted the draft minutes of the December 2009 meeting for review and
approval.
Commissioner Raia noted that
Metropolitan Police Department Lieutenant Jova’s name had been misspelled and
should be corrected.
There were no other
corrections.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness moved that the minutes of the December 2009 meeting of ANC 1B be
approved as corrected.
Commissioner Lopez seconded
the motion.
The motion was adopted
unanimously, 9 yes, 0 no.
Treasurer’s Report
Commissioner Lopez reported
that the current bank balance was $93,418.88.
Three checks were written in
December.
#1737 to James Irwin for office supplies in the amount of $51.31.
#1738 to James Irwin for
staff wages in the amount of $1,135.00
#1739 to the African
American Holiday Association in the amount of $1,600.00 for Grant #10-01.
All three of these checks
were cashed in December.
Commissioner Lopez moved
that reimbursement to James Irwin for purchase of office supplies be approved
in the amount of $128...95.
Commissioner Muhammad
seconded the motion.
The motion was approved, 9
yes, 0 no, 1 abstain, with Commissioner Ferrer abstaining.
Commissioner Lopez said that
the Commission should consider participating in the ANC Security Fund, which
required an annual payment of $25.00 for the period January 1, 2010 to December
31, 2010. The Commission participated in
the Fund for 2009.
Commissioner Lopez moved
that ANC 1B authorize the payment of $25.00 to the ANC Security Fund.
Commissioner Thomas seconded
the motion.
The motion was adopted
unanimously, 10 yes, 0 no.
Commissioner Lopez moved
that the Commission approve the Treasurer’s report for January 2010.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness seconded the motion.
The motion was adopted
unanimously, 10 yes, 0 no.
Election of Officers
Chairperson Nadeau called
for nominations for the office of Chairperson.
Commissioner Raia nominated
Commissioner Anderson Holness.
Commissioner Conklin
nominated Commissioner Nadeau.
Chairperson Nadeau asked if
there were other nominations.
There was none.
Chairperson Nadeau called
for a roll call vote.
Commissioner Thomas asked if
both candidates could make a statement.
Chairperson Nadeau invited
Commissioner Anderson Holness to speak.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness said that she had served as Commissioner representing ANC 1B11 for the
past year, during which time she had held monthly meetings of her district and
launched the empowerment project, which meets every third Saturday of the
month. The empowerment project engages
the community through a story hour for children, and a senior program including
computer training. She had met with PSA
305 to address public safety issues, attended Pleasant Plains Association
meetings. She said that, as Chairperson,
she would make the Commission very participatory and transparent, with everyone
involved and all Commissioners having input into what happens. She said serving
as Commissioner representing ANC 1B11 had been a pleasure.
Chairperson Nadeau said that
it had been an honor to serve as Chair for the past year, and to serve as
Vice-Chair and Secretary for previous years.
She said she believed that the Commission had accomplished a lot
together during 2009. She appreciated
working hand-in-hand with anyone who wanted to get involved. She wanted to continue with the work in
progress and said that there was a lot to be done during the next year. She said she would be honored to continue
serving as Chair and left it to the Commission to decide whether she had served
well.
Chairperson Nadeau called
for the roll call vote.
Mr. Jim Irwin called the
roll of the Commission. The vote was as
follows:
Commissioner Moss voted for
Commissioner Anderson Holness.
Commissioner Raia voted for
Commissioner Anderson Holness.
Commissioner Muhammad voted
for Commissioner Anderson Holness.
Commissioner Thomas voted
for Commissioner Nadeau.
Commissioner Nadeau voted
for Commissioner Nadeau.
Commissioner Lopez voted for
Commissioner Nadeau.
Commissioner Conklin voted
for Commissioner Nadeau.
Commissioner Akinmboni voted
for Commissioner Nadeau.
Commissioner Smith was
absent.
Commissioner Ferrer voted
for Commissioner Anderson Holness.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness voted for Commissioner Anderson Holness
Mr. Irwin announced the roll
call vote to be a tie, with five votes for Commissioner Anderson Holness and
five votes for Commissioner Nadeau.
Chairperson Nadeau asked if
Commissioner Smith would be attending the meeting.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness said she believed he was on his way to the meeting, but did have a
class.
Commissioner Moss said she
would call Commissioner Smith.
Commissioner Moss moved that
the Commission continue with the agenda and other business under the incumbent
chairperson and defer the election of officers until the arrival of
Commissioner Smith.
Commissioner Ferrer seconded
the motion.
The motion was adopted
unanimously, 10-0.
Commissioner Akinmboni moved
that Commissioners Nadeau and Anderson Holness serve as Co-Chairpersons of the
Commission.
The motion failed for lack
of a second.
2010 Meeting Schedule
Chairperson Nadeau proposed
that the 2010 meeting schedule continue to be the first Thursday of every
month, beginning at 7:00 PM. She said
she did not think a motion was required, only a public announcement. She thanked Commissioner Muhammad for
arranging for the Commission to continue to use the
Commissioner Nadeau
announced that the new Commission office should be ready for occupancy at the
end of January or in early February.
Public Safety and Public Safety Committee Report
Commissioner Moss reported
that the Public Safety Committee had met on Tuesday, January 5th. Commander Jacob Kishter, the new commander
for MPD Third District and the new second in command, Inspector Angel Medina,
were introduced at the meeting. At the
meeting, three officers who made major arrests were acknowledged, including two
officers who arrested an individual in possession of an AK-15, a military
weapon, with ammunition. Commander
Kishter plans to introduce a robbery tactical force in PSA 305, something that
has been successful in PSAs 302 and 304.
Thefts from autos continue to be a big problem in the area. Police officers urge citizens not to leave
anything at all visible in their cars.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness noted that one interesting point from the meeting was that citizens are
strongly encouraged to report even minor thefts, so that the pattern of crimes
can be detected. Nothing is too minor to
be reported.
Unfinished Business
Chairperson Nadeau called
for consideration of the two voluntary agreements on the agenda, which had been
discussed at the December meeting.
Commissioner Raia said the
two items of unfinished business were placed on the agenda by the
Chairperson. He and the owners of the
two businesses felt that the voluntary agreements should have been completed
before this meeting. He was still
confused as to why they were on the agenda and had not been signed. The motion adopted at the December meeting
was for him to draw up agreements, send them out to Commissioners for review,
and then to be signed by the Chairperson.
However, they were not signed and were now under unfinished business.
Chairperson Nadeau said that
she had stated her position by e-mail to the Commission and would restate it
publicly now. She believed, after
consulting with former Commissioners and with an understanding of what it meant
to bind the Commission to a contract, that it was wise for all agreements to
come before the Commission for a vote, as had been done in previous years. She had mentioned in her e-mail that it was
certainly up to the Commission to decide what they wanted to do, but that she
felt uncomfortable signing agreements between meetings without everyone having
focused on them. Since a voluntary
agreement is a legal instrument that is attached to a liquor license
permanently, she asked that these agreements be considered and voted on by the
Commission.
Commissioner Raia said he
understood, by Roberts Rules of Order, that when a motion was adopted by vote
of the Commission, it was binding on all Commissioners. If the Commission voted on something he did
not like, he still had to do what the Commission had voted to do. The Commission had voted on the procedure for
adopting these voluntary agreements, but the Chairperson chose to disregard the
Commission’s vote.
Commissioner Conklin said
she recalled that, while the motion had not specifically said so, there was
discussion that, because of the precedent-setting nature of the businesses,
Commissioners wanted an opportunity to review and vote on the agreements.
Commissioner Raia said there
had been discussion, but there was nothing in the motion about the Commission
voting on the agreements.
Chairperson Nadeau observed
that it seemed to be a fine point.
Commissioner Raia said it
was not a fine point. The motion was a
cut-and-dried fact.
Chairperson Nadeau asked
Commissioner Raia if he would like to vote on the agreements at this meeting.
Commissioner Raia said he
would not want to vote. He would want to
follow the motion that was adopted at the December meeting. He did not understand why the Commission was
doing this now.
Chairperson Nadeau said
that, as the agreements were drafted, they did not really do anything.
Commissioner Raia said he
had met with ABRA about the agreements, and they had no issues with them.
Chairperson Nadeau said that
ABRA was an impartial body. The
Commission’s role was to advocate on behalf of its constituents and its
community. She said she had sent
Commissioner Raia some suggestions; she had not just made a blanket
objection. For example, she said that the
agreement with the
Commissioner Raia asked if the
Chairperson was proposing that the voluntary agreement require that the owner
use reimbursable details.
Chairperson Nadeau said no,
she wanted to see the owner collaborate with other businesses on the security
measures and plans already in place. She
said she had also asked, in the discussion at the December meeting, that input
from someone who was expert in CX licenses be obtained in developing the
agreements, but that she did not see that happen.
Commissioner Raia said that
he had done that. He said he had sent an
e-mail stating that he had met with Solly’s, had gotten community input, and
had met with Jean of the 930 Club.
Chairperson Nadeau said she
had talked with people and it did not sound like it had happened in the way
that had been discussed.
Commissioner Raia asked if
anyone from the community wanted to speak to the question.
Chairperson Nadeau said she
did not want to get into a “he said-she said” exchange. She did not believe these agreements were the
strongest voluntary agreements that could be developed. She believed the Commission could do
better. She said she did not want to
sound like a broken record, that it was up to the Commission to decide what to do. However, she believed the Commission had sent
Commissioner Raia out into the community in good faith, but that he had not
done a good job.
Commissioner Raia said that
Chairperson Nadeau should have sent him comments instead of waiting for this
meeting. He said that by delaying the
process, it was possible that the owners might lose their leases.
Chairperson Nadeau said she
wanted to question why it was that Commissioner Raia did not appear at the
Alcoholic Beverage Control Board hearing and permitted the Commission’s protest
to lapse.
Commissioner Raia said
minutes of previous meetings would show that when Mr. Irwin was hired, it was
stated that he would be providing representation at ABC hearings. The only purpose of the first hearing was to
schedule the next meeting.
Chairperson Nadeau asked if
Commissioner Raia had asked Mr. Irwin to attend the hearing.
Commissioner Raia said he
had not done so. He had gone out of
town, but he had assumed that Mr. Irwin, based on previous discussions, would
be attending.
Chairperson Nadeau said that
this should be clarified for future hearings because she believed Commissioner
Raia had been attending such hearings up until now.
Commissioner Raia said that,
with a voluntary agreement negotiated, the Commission was supporting, not
protesting, the application.
Chairperson Nadeau said that
the protest had been reinstated.
Commissioner Raia said he
had read the letter to the ABC, which said that the Commission had not been
notified about the hearing, so he was confused.
Chairperson Nadeau said that
the letter did not say that, but did say that the notice of the hearing was
very short.
Commissioner Raia said he
had spoken to ABRA about that.
Chairperson Nadeau noted
that there was a question from the audience.
Mr. Michael Fonseca, representing
the Music and Arts Club, said their concern was that they had a draft agreement
negotiated by November 15th and that the draft was shared with the
Commission by Commissioner Raia. They
had waited for comments on the draft to come back to them. They had not had any feedback up to now and
felt left in the lurch. If there were
comments or if the agreement was weak, they were prepared to work with the
Commission to address the problems. But
now, it looked like this agreement was to be voted on and they might have to
start all over. If so, they would lose a
minimum of another month. It seemed to
him unfair because of an intramural dispute.
They had done what they were asked to do. It was a disservice.
Chairperson Nadeau said that
Mr. Fonseca and the applicant had certainly done all that they were asked to
do.
Commissioner Muhammad said
that he was displeased because the voluntary agreements were on the agenda
under unfinished business and because a motion had been adopted by the
Commission. Regardless of what the
motion said, how could it be approved and then not honored? That did a dishonor to him, to the Commission
and to constituents, whether they were concerned about a business or a personal
matter. The attorney and the applicant
did what they were supposed to do, and the Commission, by adopting the motion
at the December meeting, did what it was supposed to do. It passed, but the Commission had not
fulfilled the motion. So now, the
Commission is discussing something that is, in essence, not keeping its word or
its bond. That was not acceptable to
him. What was the purpose of the
Commission if motions were adopted, then not carried out? The Commission might as well end the meeting
and go home because it was failing to represent whom it was supposed to
represent, no matter what the issue was.
He thought not implementing the motion was very arrogant. An agreement was an agreement. The motion did not have to be adopted. The motion could have been amended. The motion was adopted without amendment, and
now here it was again. So, the issues on
the agenda at this meeting, which were very important, might not be honored
either. The Commission should be
consistent. This did not make sense and
was not acceptable.
Chairperson Nadeau said it
was not her intent to dishonor the vote of the Commission; it was merely her
intent to make sure the Commission was being transparent, and she apologized to
the Commission.
Commissioner Moss asked if
it was possible to add comments from the Commission to the voluntary agreement
so that the process could be expedited and the applicant not suffer adverse
consequences.
Commissioner Raia said if
there was something a Commissioner wanted added to the agreement, it should be
sent to him. He would discuss the matter
with the applicant, but this was a negotiation, so some things might not be
included. He would discuss suggestions
with the business, but it did not mean the suggestion would be accepted.
Commissioner Conklin
suggested that Commissioner Raia and Mr. Irwin work out a process for
determining who would represent the Commission at ABC hearings so that nothing
was missed in future. She thought the
Commission should have a broader discussion at some point about how it handled
voluntary agreements. Maybe that was
something the ABC Committee should address and bring before the
Commission. She did not think it was
worth continuing to delay the two agreements currently on the agenda.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness said that the Commission had voted on the agreements and made a
decision, and if the majority ruled, then the Commission should act on what the
majority had decided. This was not a
decision that one person could make. The
Commission should move forward, whether or not Commissioners agreed on it
now. The vote on the motion was
unanimous and it should be implemented.
Chairperson Nadeau said that
if there was no other comment, the Commission would move on and the Chair would
sign the voluntary agreements.
Liquor Licenses and ABC Committee Report
Commissioner Raia said there
was no ABC Committee report.
Café Society –
Mr. Doug Whipple,
representing Green Zebra LLC, said that Green Zebra is an heirloom tomato, in
case anyone wondered where the name came from.
He said he was not only the attorney for the business, but also a
partner and the farmer who would be providing produce for the restaurant. The restaurant will occupy the second and
third floors of the same building occupied by Music and Arts Club. They are planning a very relaxed steak house,
one that people could afford to go to and had very good food: good burgers, good steaks, good sides. Mr. Whipple gave the Commission sample menus
to look at. They are planning for 139
seats. There will be a small summer
garden on the third floor with a roof that can be opened over it. The nearest residential neighborhood is not
very close.
Commissioner Raia commented
for the record that the summer garden was not on the rooftop, but on a terrace
opening from the third floor, which is enclosed by a wall.
Mr. Whipple said that, in
addition to the existing physical barriers, they would be adding physical sound
attenuation to assure that the sound is kept down.
Commissioner Raia said he
had met with the business owners, reviewed the business plan and heard from the
community that people were looking forward to having a steak house open in the
neighborhood.
Commissioner Raia said that
the business was willing to negotiate a voluntary agreement to address any
community concerns.
Commissioner Raia moved that ANC 1B protest the
application of Café Society for a Retail Class C Tavern License on the basis of
peace, order and quiet, that the protest be withdrawn upon the negotiation of a
voluntary agreement between the applicant and the Commission, that Commissioner
Raia be authorized to negotiate the voluntary agreement, and that the voluntary
agreement be circulated to the Commission for review and comment with the
Chairperson signing the agreement upon completion.
Commissioner Muhammad seconded the motion.
Chairperson Nadeau offered a friendly amendment to
bring the voluntary agreement back to the Commission for discussion and vote
before signing.
Commissioner Raia said he did not want to accept the
amendment because, if the Commission does not have a quorum at the next
meeting, it creates delays for licenses and permits and can cause deadlines to
be missed. If the Commission does not
have a quorum, then the license can be delayed for 90 days.
Chairperson Nadeau said that while this was a
reasonable hypothetical, the Commission had consistently had a quorum in
2009. She thought the main concern
should be for the Commission to do due diligence on the agreement.
Commissioner Raia said he would like to have his
motion considered as he stated it. If it
failed, then another alternative could be considered.
Commissioner Anderson Holness called for a vote on
Commissioner Raia’s motion.
Chairperson Nadeau asked if there was a second to her
motion to amend.
Commissioner Conklin seconded the Chairperson’s
motion to amend.
Commissioner Akinmboni asked the Chairperson to
restate the motion to amend.
Chairperson Nadeau said she was moving to amend
Commissioner Raia’s motion to require the voluntary agreement to come back to
the Commission for a vote before being signed.
Commissioner Raia said that the voluntary agreement
would come back to the Commission before the meeting by e-mail.
Chairperson Nadeau said her motion was to have the
voluntary agreement voted on by the full Commission before being signed by the
Chairperson.
Mr. Fonseca commented that the businesses’ leases had
liquor license contingencies that required them to have liquor licenses
approved by a certain date.
Commissioner Ferrer asked what the deadline for
getting approved licenses was.
Mr. Fonseca said January 17th.
Commissioner Moss asked if the intent of the
Chairperson’s motion was to have the voluntary agreement come back to the
Commission and that review and comment on the voluntary agreements by e-mail
was not enough.
Chairperson Nadeau said that she kept getting the
feeling that people just did not have the time to read through the agreements. It seemed that the lack of feedback suggested
that. A vote by the Commission was what
had been done for years.
Commissioner Anderson Holness commented that it was not
what had been done recently.
Chairperson Nadeau said that the present procedure
made her very uncomfortable and she had said that every month.
Commissioner Raia said the Chairperson should let
Commissioners do their job by e-mail and just sign what they bring forward.
Chairperson Nadeau said she wanted a vote on her
amendment, and if it did not pass, then the decision would be clear.
The motion to amend failed, 2 yes, 4 no, with
Commissioners Akinmboni, Ferrer, Lopez and Thomas abstaining.
Chairperson Nadeau said the question was on
Commissioner Raia’s motion.
The motion was adopted, 8 yes, 1 no, 1 abstain,
Commissioner Nadeau voting no and Commissioner Conklin abstaining.
Commissioner Ferrer suggested that the process for
reviewing and approving voluntary agreements should be put in writing, as had
been done for grant policies. There had
been a lot of contentiousness around the process and he thought it important to
have everything in writing so that everyone knew what the process would
be. He did not think it made sense to
protest a license, then vote again the following month. Why even protest in the first place?
Chairperson Nadeau said that filing a protest with
ABRA gave the Commission standing to negotiate a voluntary agreement with an
applicant. If there is no protest, the
license can be approved before the Commission has had a chance to negotiate
with the applicant.
Commissioner Raia said that the reason they had gone
back to the non-protest was that Commissioners worked with the community and have
relationships with them. He had never
had anyone who said they would do a voluntary agreement then refuse to do
it. When they stopped protesting, they
had no problems with that. But in
December, it was suggested that the Commission go back to protesting
applications.
Chairperson Nadeau said they had had a problem with
one of Commissioner Moss’s licenses, and that was why they reinstated the
protest procedure.
Commissioner Raia said he would say that there were
no problems in his single-member district, 1B02.
Commissioner Ferrer commented that the protest made
sense if that was how the Commission got standing with ABRA.
Commissioner Raia said that sometimes there was no
need for standing because the businesses have the same operators, so we know
who they are. Rather than them having to
pay lawyers to sit in meetings, we can sit down with the business and negotiate
the voluntary agreement, send it to the business, then meet with the lawyers
just one time, instead of meeting more than one time.
Commissioner Ferrer said he thought it was important
to put the Commission’s processes in writing so that there was transparency for
the community, so that they would know what to expect when they come to the
Commission.
Commissioner Raia said that most businesses do
know. When they come to him and say they
want to do a voluntary agreement, he would rather support the application than
protest, but the Commission decided the protest was the way. He would like the Commission to think about
going back to supporting first, rather than protesting.
Commissioner Ferrer said that it was important for
the community to understand that anyone who had issues with any liquor license
coming up should feel very free to raise those issues at the Commission
meetings. The Commission negotiated
voluntary agreements based on what it believed was the best interests of the
community and the experience of individual Commissioners, but it would be good
to hear from constituents what they think with regard to liquor licenses.
Commissioner Thomas said that she had always had a
problem with the whole process. She had
lots of people calling her who did not know when ABC Committee or other
committee meetings were being held. Once
the Commission had elected officers and committee chairs for the year, she
would like to see committee meetings much better publicized, not just by
e-mail, but also by flyers in the community and other means, as well as
allowing community members and business members to serve on these
committees. The Commission made decisions
and judgments without community input, unless someone had a problem with the
liquor license right next door or across the street. The meetings needed to be better publicized
and community members needed to be involved.
Commissioner Raia said that there had not been one
license application since he become a Commissioner that he had not received
e-mails and comments about. There was
definitely community input.
Commissioner Thomas said she would like to have
everybody’s input and open up the meetings to everybody.
Mr. Scott Pomeroy,
Commissioner Anderson Holness said that it would also
help if Commissioners held regular monthly meetings in their single member
districts. She said all of the
Commissioners did not have monthly meetings, so that did not help the process
either.
Mr. Ben Jackson,
Chairperson Nadeau said yes.
Commissioner Raia said yes, unless he had met with a
community group.
Mr. Jackson said he was new to the meetings, but his
discomfort was that Mr. Whipple had spoken to the Commission and the community
for ten minutes, then the Commission voted almost unanimously to approve
something that had not been finally negotiated and the community did not
necessarily have anything to say about it.
Commissioner Raia said that he met monthly with
Alicia Keyes and others in Mr. Jackson’s building and he got the input of the
building’s residents in that way.
Mr. Jackson said that a neighboring licensee had
started business about a year ago without a voluntary agreement, and now the
building had lots of issues, so his concern was that there should be as much
community input as possible, recognizing the time lag.
Commissioner Raia said that, without naming names,
that was a license that had been granted before he became a Commissioner.
Commissioner Moss said that businesses applying for
licenses were always mandated to meet with the community association in the
area where they operate, so that allows for community input.
Presentations
Ms. Gabriella Vega. Transportation
Planner in the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) for Ward One, introduced
her colleagues Mr. Chris Zieman, transportation planner for Ward 2 and Mike
Goodno, bicycle planner. She said they
had worked together to implement the counterflow bike lane on
Chairperson Nadeau asked if
everyone was familiar with the project.
A member of the audience
commented that the placement of the bike lane with cars parked on the outside
edge of the lane, and the flow of bike traffic against the flow of auto traffic
was very confusing.
Mr. Goodno said that the
The audience member said her
concern was not that it was confusing because she had not seen it before, but
that there were safety issues. With the
bike lane located against the curb and cars parked on the outside with traffic
passing, bikers cannot be seen. There
are blind spots. She thought this was a
big safety issue.
Mr. Goodno said that the
location of parked cars and visibility was one of their biggest safety
concerns. That was why they put bicycle
symbols in the intersections, to remind people to watch out for bikes, and a
lot of signage. This was a pilot project
and was not necessarily the way future bike lanes would be. If there were accidents, then the design
would be changed, but DDOT heard a lot of support for this in Ward 2. The lane was installed in November. From spring through fall, 2010, they will be
studying the number of bikes using the lane, how it affects vehicle speed and
numbers, and getting feedback from the community to evaluate the success of the
pilot project.
Commissioner Raia said that
bikers were not using the bike lane going north but were in the traffic lanes,
and asked if that could be monitored. He
asked if the lane on the left side of
Ms. Vega said that the lane
on the left was for southbound bikers, which was why it was protected by the
cars parked on the traffic side. However,
there were some people who used it to travel northbound. There are some bicyclists who are a bit
afraid of travelling exposed to auto traffic in the next lane. The lane was
nine feet wide to accommodate two-way traffic.
Commissioner Raia said [inaudible]
and the lane needed to be monitored.
Commissioner Moss asked how many
parking spaces had been lost to create the bike lane.
Mr. Goodno said a lot less
than they originally thought. Over 14
blocks, a total of five or six parking spaces had been eliminated.
Ms. Vega said that two
parking spots might be lost because of the proposal to extend the bike lane,
but they are actually spaces where people were now parking illegally. Other than those two, existing parking would
be untouched.
Commissioner Moss asked who
would make the final decision about continuing the bike lane after the
spring-fall evaluation was completed.
Would the community have the opportunity to give feedback?
Mr. Goodno said they would
be seeking feedback from residents and users, and would be sending out
evaluations. He was not sure whether in
the spring or fall.
Commissioner Moss asked who
was making the final decision: Director
Klein, the Mayor’s Office, or someone else.
Mr. Goodno said Director
Klein would make the final decision on advice of staff.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness asked if there were any specific regulations for bikers and how they
travel. Her concern was that bikers pull
in front of cars, even at lights. It
seemed that the regulations that applied to drivers did not apply to bikers or
they are not adhering to the rules.
Commissioner Raia said,
speaking as a biker, that the same rules applied to both drivers and
bikers. Bikers were not following the
rules.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness said that, just the other day, she had seen a biker hit a car with his
hand because he thought the car was too close to him, but he was not in the
bike lane where he was supposed to be, he was in the vehicle lane, between
cars. This caused a great
altercation. If the driver had moved to
the side, the biker would have been hit.
Ms. Vega said that she biked
herself and sometimes tended to move to the left of the bicycle lane because
she was concerned that someone would open a car door in front of her. However, as Commissioner Raia was saying, the
same rules applied to bikers as applied to drivers.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness asked if anyone was enforcing traffic rules for bicycles.
Ms. Vega said yes.
Commissioner Raia said he
had seen police stop bikers.
Mr. Goodno said that, if
there is an accident, nine times out of ten the biker or pedestrian will get
the ticket.
Chairperson Nadeau said
that, with regard to extension of the bike lanes into Ward One, the lane would
fall mainly in her single member district, somewhat in Commissioner Conklin’s
district, and a little corner in Commissioner Thomas’s district. The three of them had talked with their
constituents and they would like to support the extension.
Commissioner Nadeau moved
that ANC 1B support the extension of the
Ms. Vega said that right now
they were going to carry the lane to W Street, that there was a bike lane on
the west side of Malcolm X Park, and they were trying to figure out whether
there was enough space to continue the lane past W Street., but they did not
know right now.
Commissioner Moss said that,
travelling on 15th going north, it got pretty dicey at the corner of
Chairperson Nadeau asked if
there was a second to her motion.
Commissioner Raia seconded
the motion.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness asked for the motion to be clarified.
She thought the motion would have the Commission supporting something
that had not been approved and that Ms. Vega had said they were not sure could
be done.
Chairperson Nadeau said her
motion was to extend the bike lane north on 15th Street, and 15th
Street ends at Irving Street, so those Commissioners representing the affected
area supported that extension.
Commissioner Akinmboni and
Commissioner Raia said that Ms. Vega had said they could extend the lane only
to W Street.
Chairperson Nadeau said that
was because they did not have the technology to extend it further, but the
three Commissioners would love to see it extended all the way, so the motion
would be to support it.
Commissioner Akinmboni said
that
Ms. Vega said there was
actually a bike lane on the east side of
Commissioner Anderson
Holness asked if Chairperson Nadeau would accept a friendly amendment to change
the extension to W Street.
Chairperson Nadeau said she
would withdraw her original motion. She
moved that ANC 1B support the extension of the counter-flow bike lane up to W
Street.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness seconded the motion.
The motion was adopted
unanimously, 10-0.
Design Review Applications and Design Committee
Report
Commissioner Raia said this
residential project was located at
Mr. Derrick Huetinck, the
owner of the site, introduced his architect, Mr. Jack McLaurin, of the Lessard
Group, Inc. Mr. Huetinck said they were
asking the Commission for support for their plan to construct homes on three
lots at
Mr. McLaurin reviewed the
plans with the Commission. He said that condominium
sales had been up 34% in December, so he hoped that this project would bring
additional housing to the District. He
then reviewed drawings and photographs, pointing out that the project would be
very close to the African American Civil War Memorial and the U Street Metro
Station entrance. They are proposing to
change the present concrete sidewalks to brick and the access walks on the site
will be brick. They will enhance the
streetscape and add new street trees.
Architecturally, they are trying to be very responsible and complementary
to the neighborhood. When Mr. Huetinck
bought the site, the lots were already subdivided. The land plan as established by the previous
owner is good and will not be changed.
The plan is to build three condominium townhome buildings, with two units
in each building. The buildings will be
three stories with a basement, so each townhome condominium will be two
stories. The buildings will be a mix of
two-bedroom and three-bedroom units.
They have added parking in garages to the original site plan. Most of the units will have garage parking;
some, because of size, will have off-street parking accessible from the alley,
secured by security gates.
Commissioner Akinmboni asked
if the parking would be in the alley.
Mr. McLaurin said no, not in
the alley. The off-street parking would
be accessed from the alley.
Commissioner Moss asked what
the timeline for the project was.
Mr. McLaurin said they had
submitted their application to the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) on
December 23rd. They have also
applied for building permits. As soon as
those approvals are received, the project will begin.
Commissioner Ferrer asked
how many units total were in the project.
Mr. McLaurin said 16 total.
Commissioner Ferrer asked if
they would all be priced at market rate.
Mr. McLaurin said they
would.
Ms. Eartha Clark, residing
in ANC 1B02, asked if there would be any curb cuts.
Mr. McLaurin said there were
no curb cuts. He said they would be
taking away a curb cut.
Ms. Clark asked where the
access to the parking was.
Mr. McLaurin said through
the alley in the back. He said there is
an existing public alley that opens onto U and 11th Streets. Residents would enter their parking spaces
or garages from the alley.
Commissioner Raia moved that
ANC 1B support the project located at
Commissioner Muhammad
seconded the motion.
The motion was adopted 9
yes, 0 no, 1 abstention. Commissioner
Conklin abstained.
Grant Applications and Grant Committee Report
Commissioner Akinmboni
referred the Commissioners to the draft Policies Governing Grants to Community
Organizations. She said that these
policies had been circulated, reviewed and discussed at the last Commission
meeting. They would be posted on the
website so that everyone would know the conditions under which an organization
might receive a grant. They were
intended to assure that grants were properly managed and accounted for, and
that all requirements of the D.C. Auditor were fulfilled.
Commissioner Akinmboni moved
that the draft policies by approved by the Commission.
Commissioner Raia referred
to paragraph 12. He noted that the 2010
budget provided for a maximum grant amount of $5,000 and suggested that the
limit of $2,000.00 specified in paragraph 12 should be increased to $5,000.00.
Commissioner Akinmboni said
that small organizations would apply for a maximum of $2,000, while larger
organizations with larger projects would be able to apply for $5,000 grants.
Commissioner Raia said that
the policy did not specify small and large organizations and asked how that
would be defined. He asked if
Commissioner Akinmboni would agree that the maximum should be increased to
$5,000.00.
Commissioner Thomas said she
thought the amount of each grant should depend on the project, not on the size
of the organization.
Commissioner Raia agreed and
said that they did not want to limit small organizations that might be able to
do big things, versus large organizations that did small things.
Commissioner Thomas said the
language should read “up to $5,000.00.”
Commissioner Lopez asked if
there would be criteria for grants if they exceed $2,000.
Commissioner Raia said it
would be the same criteria as in the draft, unless the Commission wanted to
create new criteria. When the Commission
voted on the budget, it provided for up to $5,000 per grant, but did not
establish any special criteria.
Chairperson Nadeau said that
the Commission had said that the Grants Committee was going to establish grant
criteria, but that had not happened yet, and that might have some bearing on
the discussion.
Commissioner Lopez said he
did not think that a small organization of one or two people who came to the
Commission with a big project and wanted $5,000 should be told no because they
were too small.
Commissioner Akinmboni said
that they did not want any community organization to get all of the funds for
their project from the Commission. They
wanted organizations to raise additional funds from other sources.
Commissioner Thomas said
that the policies already stated that.
Commissioner Raia said that
in past cases, the Commission had approved $2,000 when the organization asked
for $3,000.
Commissioner Conklin asked
if the word “Generally” and the sentence “The Commission may, in its
discretion, approve a grant for an amount greater than the maximum….” did not
provide flexibility to provide a $5,000 grant.
Commissioner Raia said that
he thought “generally” was a very loose word, and he thought it would be better
to simplify the statement.
Commissioner Lopez said the
words “up to $5,000” would be better because the word “generally” suggested
that grants of more than $5,000 could be made and he did not want to do that.
Commissioner Akinmboni
agreed and said her motion would include the amended language of paragraph 12
to provide that grants could be “up to $5,000.00.”
Commissioner Lopez said the
language of paragraph 12a would also have to be changed so that the maximum
specified would be $5,000 rather than $2,000.
Commissioner Conklin said
that the second full sentence of paragraph 12 (“The Commission may, in its
discretion, approve a grant for an amount greater than the maximum, if it
determines that the application has exceptional merit and will confer an
unusual benefit to the community.”) would have to be removed since the
Commission would not want to approve any more than $5,000.
These changes were all
agreed to.
Commissioner Moss referred
to the Recommended Staff Support Procedures for Processing Grant
Applications. She asked if paragraph 1
meant that all grant applications had to go first to the Staff Director.
Commissioner Akinmboni said
that the purpose of the paragraph was to assure that all grant applications
were quickly and efficiently distributed to all Commissioners.
Commissioner Moss said she
was not opposed to the procedure, but that in
Commissioner Akinmboni
agreed that community organizations should go to their Commissioner of
jurisdiction first.
Commissioner Moss said the
procedure did not really read that way, so she wanted to be sure that
Commissioners had the flexibility to do both and that they are responsible for
informing their constituent base about the process.
Commissioner Akinmboni
agreed and said that the procedure was written that way to prevent grant
applications from being delayed because a Commissioner did not pass the
application on to other Commissioners.
When an organization comes to a Commissioner, the Commissioner should
tell them to get the application off the website, work with the organization, and
then make sure the application goes to the Staff Director so it can be
distributed to all Commissioners.
Commissioner Moss thanked
Commissioner Akinmboni for doing a great job on the grant policies and
procedures, and said that the Commission had really needed this work.
Commissioner Muhammad said
Commissioner Moss does a good job as a Commissioner and
Commissioner Thomas said
that Commissioner Muhammad’s point went back to what she was saying about more
community involvement on all of the Commission’s committees.
Commissioner Akinmboni
reiterated her motion with the changes suggested by Commissioners.
Commissioner Lopez seconded
the motion.
The motion was adopted
unanimously, 10 yes, 0 no.
Meridian Hill Neighborhood Association
Chairperson Nadeau said she
would like to remove the Meridian Hill Neighborhood Association application
from the agenda until they have submitted a revised budget. She would advise all Commissioners when that
happens.
Commissioner Thomas asked if
anyone had done research on the legal requirements regarding tree boxes.
Chairperson Nadeau said yes,
the boxes needed to be made of iron.
Commissioner Raia suggested
that, if the MHNA grant application does come back to the Commission, the
Commission should consider what percentage it is going to do in case another
community organization comes and says they want tree boxes.
Columbia Heights-Shaw Family Collaborative
Ms. Rose Gordy, Director of
Family Services, Columbia Heights-Shaw Family Collaborative (CHFSC), said that
they were applying for grant funds to support parenting skills classes offered
to residents of Ward One. The
Collaborative serves all of Ward One and Ward Two. It began operation in 1996 after D.C. Family
Services went into receivership and there was a need to build a new network to
support families and to keep them out of the child welfare system. The work they do is primarily preventive,
including home-based visitation, parenting support and information
referral. They work to build community
partners and manage the summer youth employment program for Ward One. She said that the past year had been
difficult and revenue from various grant sources had been cut and they had to
eliminate a full-time position in the parenting support program and a community
educator. Their grant request would fund
two different parenting courses. They
each would be three weeks long; one would be in English and one in
Spanish. The funds would pay a trainer
who is a licensed social worker and has experience with mental health and gang
violence issues. Funds would also pay
for materials, handouts, and child care, so that parents could attend the
classes. These classes will reach more
than just parents. The classes affect
entire families and the people who participate then talk with their friends and
neighbors, and in the end, the entire community is strengthened.
Commissioner Raia commented
that the application for grant funds could not refer to Ward Two.
Ms. Gordy said that the
classes are for Ward One and that was stated in the application.
Commissioner Raia said the
program was good and he could not take any credit for finding it. It was located in his area, but Commissioner
Muhammad found this program and brought it his attention. He urged Commissioners who had questions to
ask, but he also urged all Commissioners to support the program. It was making a great difference in the
community.
Commissioner Thomas said
that the Collaborative had control over the summer youth employment program for
the area around V, W, Belmont and Chapin Streets and up to December 31st
2009, there had been no gang fights, none of the young people had been
arrested; they had been cleaning up the neighborhood. There had not been any complaints, no
robberies, or any of that. This was a
very worthy organization that does many things.
Commissioner Lopez asked if
the Collaborative had reached out to other ANCs in Ward One for funding. He was
not saying that this Commission should not provide $5,000, but there were many
other organizations in need and this was only the first of many applications. Were all the people going to the classes
located in ANC 1B?
Ms. Gordy said that they
were mainly focusing on ANC 1B. It was a
question of context. Their programs,
whether school-based or community-based, like programs in Garfield Terrace, or
Commissioner Raia said that
not all commissions have grants.
Commissioner Thomas said
that when they had first discussed providing larger grants, she had a different
idea in mind for the Collaborative, the idea of providing aid for utility bills
or rent. However, that had not been
permissible, and she thought this was a very good way of helping families, if
not financially.
Commissioner Lopez asked if
the Collaborative could reach out to other single member districts, like his
ANC 1B07, which includes a large Latino population and the area around 14th
and Girard Streets.
Ms. Gordy said they had
reached out to that area and had worked with a teen parents program there. They also had programs at
Commissioner Moss said that
she had worked in social work and child protective services and knew the
daunting task that they were facing.
With federal budget cuts and other reductions, it was important for
local funding to be provided.
Commissioner Ferrer said the
organization was doing great work. He
asked if this would be the first set of parenting classes that they had
conducted, or was this a program that had been done last year, but would be
discontinued because of budget cuts.
Ms. Gordy said this was not
the first time they had done the curriculum.
The problem was that the program really required a full-time position to
do it well. She thought they had done
the program well last year. They had
done one-day programs with parents in so many elementary schools in Ward One,
which is where the issues begin, and anti-gang programs, and several different
curricula. Without the full-time position,
they could not maintain the number of programs and classes. It took much more than the two to four hours
of classes every week. There were hours
of preparation, recruiting, and liaison that was necessary. They really needed the staff resources to move
into different areas.
Commissioner Ferrer asked
how many parents they would expect for each session.
Ms. Gordy said that,
according to best practices, up to twelve is all that should be involved in
each course. If they had two groups, the
total would be 24.
Commissioner Ferrer said
that they had said they would have classes in February-March and May-June, and
he asked how many classes the funds would support.
Ms. Gordy said the funds
would support two classes.
Commissioner Lopez noted
that there was an audit problem.
Receipts for expenses were required in 60 days, which would begin
today. The Treasurer would not be able
to get receipts for expenditures in 60 days.
He suggested that the grant be done in two parts. Waiting for receipts until June would be much
too late and the auditor would say no.
Commissioner Akinmboni said
that the program had to buy supplies and materials for the classes, and that
the Collaborative was getting funding from other sources, so the $5,000 could
be used for preparation.
Commissioner Raia said that
he thought Commissioner Lopez was saying that, in order for it to work legally,
the amount would have to be divided in half.
Commissioner Lopez said that
the materials might be purchased right away, but the funds for childcare could
not be expended until the actual classes were underway. He wanted to make sure the Commission
understood what was being voted on.
Commissioner Raia suggested
that, based on the dates of the classes, the $5,000 grant should best be
divided into thirds.
Chairperson Nadeau asked if
the Commission could vote to issue checks at a later date.
Commissioner Lopez said yes.
Commissioner Holness said
she wanted to commend Ms. Gordy and the Collaborative for all the work that
they had done, because that was exactly what the ANC 1B11 empowerment project
was all about. She asked what the
recruiting process was, was there a handbook that could be given to the
Commission, and would Ms. Gordy like to come to the ANC 1B11 meeting to share
the same information she had shared at this meeting.
Ms. Gordy said they did have
a flyer that they distributed. They
usually went to the various schools and talked with counselors, who often had
students that they referred. In
addition, there was walk-in traffic.
Commissioner Muhammad said
he was very excited about the work of the Collaborative. When discussing the 2010 grant budget two
months ago, CHSFC was one of the first organizations he had thought of as a way
to assist the constituents in ANC 1B. He
asked Ms Gordy to contact the individual Commissioners and let them know of
residents in their single member districts who were taking the classes provided
by the Collaborative. He said there were
many people in his single member district who would like to volunteer to assist
the Collaborative in its work.
Commissioner Raia moved that
ANC 1B approve the CHSFC grant application for $5,000 and that the grant be
provided in the form of two checks, one issued for $840 plus one-third of the
funds being issued when the Treasurer issues it and the second check to be
issued on April 1, 2010 for the other two-thirds of the rest of the funds.
Commissioner Muhammad
seconded the motion.
The motion was adopted, 9
yes, 0 no, 1 abstention. Commissioner
Akinmboni abstained due to her position on the Board of Directors of CHSFC.
Robert and Mary Church Terrell House and
Commissioner Moss introduced
Ms. Alice Aughtry, former President of the LeDroit Park Civic Association to
review the grant application.
Ms. Aughtry said she was
representing the Museum and
Chairperson Nadeau excused
herself during the presentation and Vice Chairperson Conklin assumed the Chair.
Vice Chairperson Conklin
asked for questions from the Commission.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness said that she thought what the Terrell House and Museum did spoke for
itself and she was in full support of the grant proposal, not only because of
the work of Robert and Mary Church Terrell, and she (Commissioner Anderson
Holness) was a Howard Law graduate, but also because the work is extremely important.
Commissioner Moss noted that
Ms. Terrell was one of the founders of Delta Sigma Theta, of which Commissioner
Anderson Holness was a member.
Chairperson Nadeau returned
to the meeting and resumed the Chair.
There were no questions from
the community.
Commissioner Moss moved that
ANC 1B approve the grant application of the Robert and Mary Church Terrell
House and LeDroit Park Museum and Cultural Center for $1,000 for the expenses
of the forensic challenge on Saturday, February 20, 2010.
Commissioner Muhammad
seconded the motion.
The motion was adopted, 9
yes, 0 no, 1 abstention. Chairperson
Nadeau abstained due to her absence from the discussion.
Commissioner Thomas Smith
arrived at this point in the meeting.
Arose Youth Development Letter of Support for NIF
Grant
Chairperson Nadeau said that
the Neighborhood Investment Fund (NIF) was administered by the office of the
Deputy Mayor. The funds did not come
from ANC 1B. The request before the
Commission was to provide a letter of support for the application of Arose
Youth Development for NIF funds. She
said there would be other organizations presenting requests in future.
Mr. James, Parker said that
Arose Youth Development was applying for NIF grant funds to support a
professional skills training program for teens in the neighborhood. One of the problems they had encountered was
that youth do not have marketable skills, do not have experience, do not know
how to apply for or interview for a job.
Arose Youth Development is providing training to address these
problems. The NIF grant will support the
continuation of this training and expand it to include more youth, and he was
asking the Commission to support their application.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness moved that ANC 1B support the Arose Youth Development NIF application.
Commissioner Ferrer seconded
the motion.
The motion was adopted
unanimously, 11 yes, 0 no.
MidCity Business Association-Cultural
Ms. Natalie Avery, Executive
Director of the MidCity Business Association, said that they were asking for
the Commission’s support for NIF funding for a visitors center on
Chairperson Nadeau called
the Commission’s attention to an e-mail from Andrea Doughty announcing that ANC
2F had voted to support this application.
Ms. Laura Brower, Director
of Development for Cultural Tourism DC, said that they had received a grant
last year to begin a visitors center at Ben’s Chili Bowl. Ben’s has provided free rent and utilities. Ben’s Chili Bowl get about 2,000 visitors per
day, so this is a great opportunity to make visitors aware of the historical,
cultural and entertainment features of
Chairperson Nadeau moved
that ANC 1B support Cultural
Commissioner Muhammad
seconded the motion.
The motion was adopted unanimously
11 yes, 0 no.
Manna Inc. request for support of transfer of
Whitelaw Apartments Land
Commissioner Raia that Manna
Inc. took over the Whitelaw Apartment building back in the 1990s, redeveloped
the building, and made it into affordable housing, with the promise from the
D.C. government that it would be turned back over to them. They were requesting that ANC 1B send a
letter of support for the transfer to the DC Government. Residents of the Whitelaw and neighbors in
the immediate area were all in support of this transfer, and he urged the
Commission to express its support.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness moved that ANC 1B support the transfer of the Whitelaw Apartments land
to Manna Inc.
Commissioner Muhammad
seconded the motion.
The motion was adopted 9
yes, 0 no, 1 abstention. Commissioner
Conklin abstained.
Election of Officers resumed
Chairperson Nadeau asked the
Commission to resume the election of officers and noted that the election for
Chairperson was tied. She suggested that
Commissioner Smith be asked for whom he would vote for Chairperson.
Commissioner Raia asked that
the election be summarized.
Chairperson Nadeau said that
the vote for Chairperson was tied between herself and Commissioner Anderson
Holness, with five votes for each.
Commissioner Raia asked that
the roll call vote be read aloud.
Commissioner Smith said he
would like to make a few comments. He
wished everyone a happy New Year and said that his absence had been due to
changes in his work schedule. He advised
the Commission that this would be his last year serving as a Commissioner. He planned to pursue his career path and do
some other things. He had had a good
five years and he would be looking for someone to replace him.
Chairperson Nadeau asked Mr.
Irwin to read the roll call vote.
Mr. Irwin read as follows:
Commissioner Moss voted for
Commissioner Anderson Holness.
Commissioner Raia voted for
Commissioner Anderson Holness.
Commissioner Muhammad voted
for Commissioner Anderson Holness.
Commissioner Thomas voted
for Commissioner Nadeau.
Commissioner Nadeau voted
for Commissioner Nadeau.
Commissioner Lopez voted for
Commissioner Nadeau.
Commissioner Conklin voted
for Commissioner Nadeau.
Commissioner Akinmboni voted
for Commissioner Nadeau.
Commissioner Ferrer voted
for Commissioner Anderson Holness.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness voted for Commissioner Anderson Holness
Commissioner Smith said that
he voted for Commissioner Anderson Holness.
Commissioner Nadeau
congratulated Commissioner Anderson Holness on her election and wished her luck.
Commissioner Anderson
Holness assumed the Chair.
Commissioner Ferrer said he
wanted to thank Commissioner Nadeau for her service as Chairperson over the
past year.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
thanked Commissioner Nadeau for all she had done as Chairperson and thanked
Commissioners for their votes. She said
she looked forward to working with all Commissioners and bringing the
Commission together in consensus. She
said the vote had been taken, the majority ruled, and the Commission would move
forward as a Commission together.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
called for nominations for the office of Vice Chairperson.
Commissioner Muhammad
nominated Commissioner Raia.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
asked for other nominations for Vice Chairperson.
There were no other
nominations.
Commissioner Muhammad moved
that Commissioner Raia be elected Vice Chairperson by acclamation.
The motion was adopted 9
yes, 2 no, with Commissioners Nadeau and Conklin voting no, and Commissioner
Raia was elected Vice Chairperson.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
called for nominations for the office of Secretary.
Commissioner Raia nominated
Commissioner Moss.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
asked for other nominations for Secretary.
There were no other
nominations.
Commissioner Raia moved that
Commissioner Moss be elected Secretary by acclamation,
Commissioner Ferrer seconded
the motion.
The motion was adopted
unanimously, 11-0, and Commissioner Moss was elected Secretary.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
called for nominations for the office of Treasurer.
Commissioner Muhammad
nominated Commissioner Ferrer.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
asked for other nominations for Treasurer.
There were no other
nominations.
Commissioner Muhammad moved
that Commissioner Ferrer be elected Treasurer by acclamation.
Commissioner Lopez seconded
the motion.
The motion was adopted
unanimously, 11-0, and Commissioner Ferrer was elected Treasurer.
Election of Committee Chairs
Chairperson Anderson Holness
called for nominations for Chairperson of the Public Safety Committee.
Commissioner Moss nominated
herself, and then withdrew her nomination.
Commissioner Akinmboni
nominated Commissioner Muhammad.
Commissioner Raia nominated
Commissioner Moss.
Commissioner Moss declined
the nomination in favor of Commissioner Muhammad.
Commissioner Smith moved
that Commissioner Muhammad be elected Chairperson of the Public Safety
Committee by acclamation.
Commissioner Moss seconded
the motion.
The motion was adopted
unanimously, 11-0, and Commissioner Muhammad was elected Chairperson of the
Public Safety Committee.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
called for nominations for Chairperson of the Design Committee.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
nominated Commissioner Smith.
Commissioner Smith said that
his work and school commitments would prevent him from continuing as Design
Committee Chairperson and declined the nomination.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
thanked Commissioner Smith for his service as Design Committee Chairperson and
for getting the Committee started so well.
Commissioner Ferrer asked if
all ANC 1B committees had to be chaired by an elected Commissioner.
Commissioner Nadeau said
that was not required.
Commissioner Ferrer
suggested that nominations from the community be solicited.
Commissioner Ferrer moved to
table the election of Design Committee Chairperson.
Commissioner Smith seconded
the motion.
Commissioner Thomas asked if
all committee Chairpersons could be from the community. Commissioner Nadeau and Chairperson Anderson
Holness said yes.
The motion was adopted
unanimously, 11-0.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
called for nominations for Chairperson of the Grants Committee.
Commissioner Nadeau
nominated Commissioner Akinmboni.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
asked for other nominations for Grants Committee Chairperson. There were no other nominations.
Commissioner Nadeau moved
that Commissioner Akinmboni be elected by acclamation.
Commissioner Smith seconded
the motion.
The motion was adopted
unanimously, 11-0.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
called for nominations for Chairperson of the ABC Committee.
Commissioner Moss nominated
Commissioner Raia.
Commissioner Conklin asked
if there was anyone from the community interested in serving as Chairperson.
Commissioner Nadeau
nominated Mr. Scott Pomeroy.
Mr. Pomeroy said that he
taken on additional responsibility to manage the Green Team for the community,
and could not accept nomination.
Commissioner Conklin asked
if the election could be tabled.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
said that there was a nomination on the floor.
Mr. Pomeroy said that he
would respectfully request Commissioner Raia to open up the Chair of the
committee because his time, as the Commissioner representing the single member
district with the most liquor licenses, was very committed, and he had not had
time to regularly hold committee meetings.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
said nominations were in order but that Mr. Pomeroy’s comments were out of
order, and the Commission would move on with nominations. She thanked Mr. Pomeroy for his commitment to
serve in future.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
asked for other nominations.for ABC Committee Chairperson. There were no other nominations.
Commissioner Moss moved that
Commissioner Raia be elected Chairperson of the ABC Committee by acclamation.
Commissioner Smith seconded
the motion.
The motion was adopted, 7
yes, 2 no, 2 abstain, with Commissioners Conklin and Nadeau voting no and
Commissioners Lopez and Thomas abstaining, and
Commissioner Raia was elected Chairperson of the ABC Committee.
Chairperson Anderson Holness
said that election of Committee Chairpersons was concluded.
There being no other
business, Commissioner Nadeau moved that the January 2010 meeting of ANC 1B be
adjourned.
Commissioner Lopez seconded
the motion.
The motion was adopted
unanimously, 8-0.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:43 PM.