Jimmy's Ward Report - Saturday, November 22, 2008

Dog Park Meeting – Wed. Dec. 3rd – 7 PM - County Councilman Will Campos will be hosting a meeting in the City of Hyattsville Municipal Building to discuss the proposed dog park planned on Ager Ave and Nicholson Road in West Hyattsville. He has announced that there will not be a fee for the use of park. The meeting will discuss the creation of an advisory board to work on setting rules for the operation of the park and to provide an update on the construction of the park. In an e-mail he sent out stated that “...the construction of the park will be a rolling start; we will look to construct the bare bones of the park (a fence, trash cans, etc.) and then look to add additional elements of the park after the park is up and running (the gazebo, water features, etc.). This way people will be able to enjoy the park before construction has been completed.”



Status Report On Sale of Bass Property: The City moved closer to the purchase of the Bass Property when at November 18th Council meeting there was a first reading of a resolution permitting the City to issue a bond to purchase and raze the property. There will be a second reading and vote at the Council meeting on December 2nd and the closing date for the purchase of the Bass property is planned for December 5th. The length of the bond will be for 15 years and it will be at a 4.79% interest rate. The two semi-annual payments will total $117,778 per year.



The Council plans to raze the property and in the short term pave the property for parking. It is hoped that in the next few years it will be sold to a developer as part of a mixed-used residential/retail project that would go from Eastern Avenue to 33rd St. on the North side of Rhode Island Ave.



Single Sale Ban To Be Introduced In Legislature – Delegate Doyle Niemann announced at Wednesday’s Town Hall Meeting that Victor Ramirez was going to be introducing legislation that would ban the sale of single sale cans of beer in the 47th Legislative District. The thinking of Doyle and Victor is that there is more chance for the bill to be passed if it has a more restrictive geographical area. However the powerful liquor lobby still will oppose it. The Council will be discussing a resolution in support of the legislation and asking other municipalities in the 47th district to do the same.



Short Report on Town Hall Meeting on ‘Quality of Life' Crimes – City Hall was packed last Wednesday as residents voiced their concerns about crime in our downtown area to State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey, District Judge Thomas Love, County Councilman Will Campos, and State Delegate Doyle Niemann. A number of residents emphasized that this was not just a ‘quality of life’ issue but a serious health and safety issue for the residents of our City.



A few of the highlights from the meeting:



Delegate Doyle Niemann is putting forth a bill to ban single sales for our district



State's Attorney Glen Ivey is going to work with his prosecutors to try and get the code enforcement issues taken more seriously. He also suggested that the City work with other police departments to get more undercover police to help with the arrest and prosecution with crimes of prostitution.


Doyle Niemann was going to look into trying to put together a bill to restrict access to a specific city area if a person is arrested and convicted of certain crimes there.



Judge Love said he would try and have court days that were solely dedicated to municipal infractions in order for these issues to be more seriously addressed by the courts. (Our City officials said that municipal infraction concerns were a low priority on court days.)


The City Manager and Code Enforcement Officials discussed their frustration about the inability of the courts to take action on abandoned buildings and nuisance properties. Many of the absentee owners with vacant properties allow junk and garbage to accumulate on the properties. This adds to the deteriorating condition of our downtown area. The owners do not pay fines and the court throws out the complaints.


The Chief of Police told the elected officials that they had written 191 citations so far this year for incidents of public drinking and public urination. He discussed the problem with repeat offenders. The police had arrested one person 13 times for drinking in public.



It was a useful meeting even if it was frustrating for a lot of people because there were very few clear solutions about what should be done. It was a start and I am sure we’ll be talking about this a lot more in the coming months.



Anacostia Hours Fund Raiser – Monday Dec 8th at Franklin’s (All Day and Night) - Anacostia Hours will receive 20% of all purchases (make sure you provide the receipt to the hostess and identify yourself as being part of the fundraiser).



14th Annual Mt. Rainier Craft Show – Saturday Dec 6 - This show will be at Joe's Movement Emporium again, but will be bigger and better than ever! There are many new vendors. The show is from 10 AM to 4 PM.



Gateway Corridor City Officials Get Together – On Saturday November 8th, Delegate Victor Ramirez hosted a meeting at Brentwood City Hall with elected representatives from Mount Rainier, Brentwood, and North Brentwood, as well as all our state legislators, County Councilman Will Campos, and representatives from the Gateway and Hyattsville CDCs (Community Development Corporations). Cooperation was the key word. With limited resources, it is clear that the cities in our area have to work together and not in competition for grants, etc. The next meeting will be held in Jan.



A Unique E-Z Storage Facility: Many of you have probably noticed the new E-Z Storage facility located at 4301 Rhode Island Ave. (corner of Utah St.). What you may not know is that this facility is the only one in the country that has 15,000 of space reserved for artists’ studios, storefront studios, and prime retail space. Because of opposition by many in Brentwood to the building of the facility the owners of E-Z Storage negotiated some concessions to the community. As a result there are now nine artist studios in the back of the building, 5,000 feet of storefront artist studios in the front, and another 5,000 square feet of retail space in front. Furthermore, all this space is being managed by the Gateway CDC, which will make sure that the new stores in the retail space will be something that the community wants in the area.


Green Grant Initiative: Gateway is working with Washington Area Community Investment Fund (WACIF) on a Pilot Green Initiative that will provide recoverable grants for energy audits, weatherization and rehabilitation for homeowners in Mount Rainier, Brentwood and North Brentwood. WACIF has committed $200,000 to fund the Green Initiative.

The Pilot Green Initiative will provide funds for approximately 10-20 homes in Mt. Rainier, Brentwood and North Brentwood. The funds will be used for energy audits, weatherization and green rehabilitation activities, such as installation of Energy Star appliances, solar hot water heating, photovoltaic solar electricity, improved windows, efficient HVAC systems (including corn stoves), insulation and more. It is expected the Green Initiative program will be awarding grants to homeowners in Summer 2009.

Funds to improve energy efficiency are much needed in our municipalities – we have an aging housing stock and a majority of our homeowners have low and moderate incomes. Our municipalities have a large number of older homes that lack the energy-efficient building techniques and improvements of more recently built homes. There are approximately 2,157 single-family homes within our three municipalities, and of these houses, 915 were built earlier than 1939 and a total of 1,697 were built before 1960.


Gardening Talk - On Wed., Dec. 10, 7 PM, naturalist and gardening coach Alison Gillespie will give a free talk on "Welcoming Wildlife in an Urban Garden" at the Mount Rainier City Hall.

Although many assume an urban green space can only attract pigeons, city gardeners are often surprised to find that the addition of a few native plants and attention to habitat needs can attract a large host of birds, butterflies, hummingbirds and nectar-loving pollinators. A small but well-designed city plot can be a fantastic place to experience nature, free from some of the challenges that rural and suburban gardens can pose, such as deer. Alison Gillespie, who lives and works as a writer and garden coach in Silver Spring, will talk about the joy of gardening for wildlife in the middle of a busy place like Mt. Rainier. Her talk will include info on native plants, wildlife habitat basics, and a few basic elements of environmentally sustainable design.

This talk was organized by the Mt. Rainier-Brentwood Native Plant Group. For more information on this event, the group, and other activities we are planning, email jodicello@gmail.com.



Great Streets Meeting – On Thursday November 6th Councilman Briones and I attended a meeting of the Great Street Initiative to development the Rhode Island Corridor in DC across Eastern Ave. from Mount Rainier Over 60 people heard a number of presentations from public and private organizations on how to transform Rhode Island Avenue into a thriving and inviting corridor. A number of the people discussed how they could coordinate with some of Mount Rainier and the Gateway art initiatives. It was clear to me from the meeting that we have to do more coordination not only with the surrounding Cities in Prince George’s County but also with our neighbors in DC.
The health and development our City is tied to the District of Columbia. Public transportation from Mount Rainier not just to the Rhode Island Metro but all the way to Dupont Circle would be a tremendous boon to our development
East-West Hardware Is Closing - I recently found out that East-West Hardware is closing. Their last day will be Wed. Nov 26th. They told me it was because of a steep increase in their rent. They may look around to relocate but have no immediate plans to do so.



I'll miss the chance to go to the local hardware store for a couple of screws, to get someone to cut some plexiglass to size, or more importantly to talk to someone who could answer your questions about what screw, fitting, etc. that you needed.



They do have an up to 50% sale on a lot of their inventory up until the 26th.



Now The Hard Work Begins - We had a historic election on November 4th but as far as I am concerned the election did not itself change the country but only gave us the potential to change and improve our community and our country. Now we have to implement programs in Washington, Annapolis, Upper Marlboro and City Hall that will improve our community.

We can’t blame George W. Bush, Robert Ehrlich, a Republican Congress or Republican legislature on why things aren’t getting done to improve our country and our community. It is now on us to make sure that the right policies get implemented. Sure we are in a very difficult period of our country but it is not worse than it was during the Great Depression and FDR and Congress put together a program that put people to work and helped rebuild our country.

I may not agree with everything this President, Governor and Congress will do but I do feel that we now have elected officials who will listen to the citizens of this country to do what is right. It is critical that we not sit on the sidelines but applaud when we like what is being done and criticize when the policies don’t make sense.

It is the same here in Mount Rainier. The Mayor and Council in our City are working hard to try and improve our city. You may not agree or like everything that is being done or not being done. But what I ask our residents to do is not just complain inwardly or to your neighbors, but let us know what you think needs to be improved and participate in a dialogue with us on what we’re trying to do in our community.

Mount Rainier Election Results
President: Obama –1550 (91.5%)

McCain – 110 (6.5%)

Nader – 14 (1%)

McKinney 9 (.5%)

Others 11 (.5%)



Congress: Van Hollen – 1315 (80%)

Clark – 219 (13%)

Hudson – 95 (6%)

Thomas – 18 (1%)



Early Voting: Yes – 1409 (90%)

No – 160 (10%)



Slots: Yes – 885 (55%)

No – 724 (45%)



County Question A – Yes 85%

County Question B – Yes 83%

County Question C – Yes 70%

County Question D – Yes 85%

December Leaf Schedule (for loose leaves)
December 2
3100-3600 block of Perry St

2900-3300 block of Bunker Hill

2800-3300 block of Shepherd

2800-3200 block of Taylor

3100-3200 block of Varnum



December 4
3100 block of Webster

2800-3200 block of Upshur

3100 block of Windom

3100-3200 block of Arundel

4100-4200 block of Rainier



December 9, 2008

3600 – 3600 Block of 37th Street

3700 block of 34th Street

3700 block of 35th Street

3700 Block of 36th Street

3400 – 3700 Block of Perry Street

Newton Street

Otis Street

Wells Avenue



December 11
40000-4500 block of 30th

3800-4500 block of 31st

3800-4500 block of 32nd

3800-4100 block of 33rd



December 16
34th St.

Cedar Lane Alley

3800 block of 35th St

3800 block of 36th St

3800 block of 37th St



December 18
4000 Block of 35th St

4000 Block of 36th St

4000 Block of 37th St



December 19
4600 block of 25th

4000-4200 block of 28th

4000-4500 block of 29th



December 23
3400-3700 Block of Bunker Hill Road

3400-3700 Block of Shepherd ST