Park View, D.C.

The most significant items from last night’s Park View UNC meeting were a presentation from guest speaker Sylvia Robinson on the Georgia Avenue Community Development Taskforce and guest speaker Reginald James, owner of Sweet Mango (both described in more detail below). The assembly also got to meet Captain Angel Medina who has taken over for Commander Jacob Kishter at the 3rd District Substation on Park Road. While traffic on Park Place has been an issue in past meetings, a proposed DDOT Traffic Audit did not gain support from those assembled.

Highlights:

• Georgia Avenue Community Development Taskforce: Sylvia Robinson of the Emergence Community Arts Collective (ECAC) spoke about an initiative lead in partnership with the Pleasant Plains Civic Association and including neighbors and community leaders to develop a master plan for Georgia Avenue between Florida and New Hampshire Avenues.  There has already been three meetings, with the next meeting currently scheduled for January 25th from 7-9 at the GADGET Center – 2801 Georgia Ave. Documents and minutes of the meetings to date can be found here>>. There was a differing of opinion between Robinson and ANC 1A08 Commissioner Cliff Valenti on the point of community input on the several plans that have been done over the years. While Robinson stated she was unaware of any broad-based community input on previous plans, Valenti asserted that many of the plans have had community input.
• Sweet Mango: Reginald James was invited to speak at the meeting and address the shooting at his establishment on December 5, 2009, his response to the shooting, violations of the Voluntary Agreement , and the community’s concerns with all of the above. After the President summarized the events that lead to the suspension of Sweet Mango’s liquor license, James was given the floor. He read a statement in which he accepted responsibility, acknowledged the short comings of the restaurant, his staff, and his own oversight, and stated he was going to take a more active role in running the business. He also was accompanied by a gentleman who will be taking on the responsibility of establishing security at the restaurant, and lawyer Doreen Thompson who is working with James to address the violations with DC laws, codes, and the Voluntary Agreement. Thompson spoke on several occasions as well, asserting that her role in this is to work with James and bring him into compliance. One immediate outcome of the shooting is that James has had to let the manager on duty that night go. This issue will next be taken up at the ANC 4C meeting on January 12th at Roosevelt High, the ANC 1A meeting on January 13th at Harriet Tubman Elementary, and ABRA on January 2oth.

This entry was posted on January 7, 2010 at 7:01 am and is filed under Community Involvement, Community Meetings, Crime. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Crime, Georgia Avenue corridor, Park View UNC meetings, Sweet Mango