Ward 5 Technology Meeting hosted by the Office of the Chief Technology Officer

We are hosting a community meeting on behalf of the Office of the Chief Technology Officer around the Connect.DC program on Tuesday at the Trinidad Recreation Center. We would appreciate your help spreading the word and welcome you to attend as well.

Connect.DC created the Connected Communities Initiative (CCI) to increase Internet access and use by residents, businesses and community institutions in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods in the District of Columbia. The first phase of CCI began by focusing on neighborhood clusters--“digital footprints”--in Ward 7 and 8 and we are planning to expand the initiative to other neighborhoods over the next year.

We are inviting residents and community leaders to share their thoughts about how they currently use technology and provide feedback on ways to get more people in their neighborhoods to use it. This community conversation will also give participants an opportunity to ask the Connect.DC team questions about current programs and join our efforts to bring tech training and access to all DC residents.

WHEN

Tuesday, September 27, 2016 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM

WHERE

Trinidad Recreation Center-1310 Childress Street NE, Washington, DC

RSVP

 http://ward5tech.eventbrite.com.

Reminder: Edgewood DDOT Meeting Tonight

Recap Shaed School Building Surplus Meeting

The meeting was packed into the small field house that we call the Edgewood Recreation Center- it was crowded, hot and hard to hear so I was not there for the whole meeting and did not hear everything said while I was there either.  If you had a better seat or were able to hear more please add your input in the comments for this post.

The general message from DGS is that DCPS has released the building and any charter schools that are interested in using it have until August 30th to file an application.  While I was told in the past that there were no charter schools interested it seems that now there are including some Montessori schools.  The first rights for the building go to a charter school.  I know that there are quite a few families with young children (or children on the way) in the neighborhood that would love to be able to walk their children to a Montessori school.  In fact some neighbors have moved because of the lack of quality schools in our neighborhood.  While there is a whole separate debate about charter schools and what they mean for our school system I do not feel the need to engage in that and simply want to support what is best for our community.  A great school that we can walk to would be a terrific amenity.  That said the push should be to get a great school and then to ensure that there is a neighborhood priority for enrollment.  It does us no good to get a great new charter school and then be unable to get neighborhood children enrolled in it!!

There was also a lot of loud opposition to a charter school and talk of use of the building for a recreation center.  The idea of making a community center (one that I have been advocating for over the years) out of the building that includes DPR use as well as nonprofit use and programming would be a community amenity whose value would be immense if run properly.  But if that cannot be done as there may be a new school going into the school building then the community needs to come together and demand that we still get an improved recreation center and programming.  There is no reason that we cannot have both a great school and a new recreation center.  The land use for the Edgewood neighborhood is poorly designed and maintained with proper planning we could keep our outdoor space and create a new recreation center with indoor space as well.  Within the past five years there was $14-15 million in the DC budget to do just that but that money was moved to another community.  We need to fight to get the money back in the budget and create the space that can be enjoyed by all ages.

I did hear the people in the front of the meeting say they need to hear from the community about what we want-  my thoughts on this is that they are just not listening!!  For years many different people and groups, myself included, have been advocating for improved recreational facilities and programming in the Edgewood neighborhood and it is time the city takes action! 

Please contact CM McDuffie and ensure that he is taking action and supporting our needs!  He needs to be a leader on this issue!

Shaed School

Hello Ward 5 Residents,

 As you know, the Hamilton and Shaed School properties have sat vacant for quite some time.  On July 15, the Department of General Services (DGS) issued a Request for Offers (RFO) for the sites.  The deadline for the RFO is on August 14. 

 Public input is important and is received at several points during the RFO process. On July 11, DGS held a public hearing on the surplus of the Hamilton and Shaed Schools. An additional hearing on the surplus of the Shaed School property will be held on August 21.

Finally, on August 20, DGS has scheduled a hearing to provide residents with an opportunity to hear from parties who submit bids on the Hamilton property. A similar meeting for the Shaed School should be scheduled shortly and our office will circulate a notice as soon as we receive the information.

Please see the details for the hearings below:

 

SHAED SCHOOL

 

DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL SERVICES

 

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETINGS REGARDING

SURPLUS RESOLUTIONS PURSUANT TO D.C. OFFICIAL CODE 10-801

 

The District will conduct a public hearing to receive public comments on the proposed surplus of the following District properties. The date, time and location shall be as follows:

 

Properties:      Square 3552, Lot 0816 – 301 Douglas Street, NE (“Shaed Elementary School Building”)

 

                                               

Date:                    August 21, 2013

Time:                   6:00 p.m.

Location:          Edgewood Recreation Center

Single Member District 5E01 Meeting

Single Member District 5E01 will host an informative 2 hour session on       

     

           'News you can use'

   Several private and government representatives will be in attendance

When: Saturday, June 15, 2013

Where: Trinity College, 125 Michigan Avenue NE; O'Connor Hall

Time: 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Light lunch will be provided.