Our McD's Is Now McChic!

The final touches have been made to the renovation and makeover of our local McDonald's at the corner of 14th and U. The new facade treatment updates the exterior (along with a new coat of paint to match the Louis) and the interior has been reconfigured. We welcome the changes and continue to enjoy the option of having choices for fast food in our neighborhood that has been overtaken by more expensive eating establishments. We miss KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Yum's which were pushed out of our neighborhood due to the high rents that redevelopment projects brought to our corner of the world..

ESTRADA Named Outstanding Citizen Activist

At its annual Holiday luncheon held last month, the Federation of Citizens Associations named Ramon Estrada as the Outstanding Citizen Activist for 2014. They cited his role in cleaning up the crime in the 14th and U neighborhood back in the 1980's when the area was known for drug dealing and was considered "dangerous and unsafe." They also recognized his 10 years as an ANC Commissioner representing SMD 2B09 promoting the redevelopment of the neighborhood. He also served on the Alcohol Omnibus Bill Task Force helping to reform ABRA regulations. He is currenlty serving his second term as President of the Dupont Circle Citizens Association. The Dupont Current newspaper acknowledged his work and contributions and praised his efforts to transform his community into a "model neighborhood."

Council Votes Approvess Stadium Deal without Reeves Center

On Tuesday, Dec. 2, the Council voted to remove the Reeves Center from the soccer stadium deal. Advocates of the removal of the municipal building were pleased with the decision. A second vote on the revised bill will take place on Dec. 16, the last legislative session of the year. Still to be determined is how the stadium deal would actually be financed. I understand that the Council members are working with the Mayor's office to work out the financial details of the new proposed funding plan for the stadium. The Council will vote on those plans at their Dec. 16 legislative session.

NEW Retail Shops Open at 14th and S

This past weekend I attended the Open House at Logan Hardware's new location near the corner of 14th and S Streets NW. It is a larger space with more items for sale than their previous location on P Street. We welcome the convenient location and very helpful staff. Also newly opened is the West Elm store next door and the chic Salt and Sundry around the corner on S Street. Happy Shopping!

What I learned at last night's ANC 2B Forum

1. We have a new group of residents who want to weigh in on the moratoriums. Several are wanting to phase them out in order to bring in new restaurants. I have heard this argument before but this is NOT the way to do it. Naive! 2. Several newbies want to encourage development and density in order to get more 1 and 2 bedroom units in our neighborhood to encourage families to live here but we all know developers will do what they can to make money in the marketplace. I don't think the demand is there. 3. They didn't display enough familiarity with our Dupont Circle history since many of them are new residents in our neighborhood. I wonder how the turnover in the ANC will affect past decisions and the respect for previous Commissioners who worked hard on these issues. 4. None of them stated how they would reach out to their constituents to get to know what they want and how they would represent them at ANC meetings. This is critical I believe! 5. "Balance" was a word that many candidates used to describe how they would juggle various goals for the neighborhood. 6. In the contested races, the choices were clearly defined last night. For example, Jagoda wants to let the moratorium go while Nichols still sees some usefulness in having one. Padgett agrees with Nichols while his opponent, Michael Warwick, seems to think the ANC has signaled that it wants to phase out the moratorium (?). Not in attendance: Justine Underhill, Stephanie Maltz, Nicole Mann, Noah Smith and Ed Hanlon. Those of us in 2B09 had no candidates in a contested race to hear from last night. All in all, it's a young and largely uninformed group of candidates with a couple of exceptions. The burden is now on the two senior Commissioners, Silverstein and Feldstein, to train the newbies. I think they need to be asked what their training plans are going to be...

'Tis the season...for ANC Candidate Forums

It's that time again...campaigning for local ANC elections. The Shaw-Dupont Citizens Alliance is partnering with the Meridian Hill Neighborhood Association to sponsor a candidates forum on Thursday, October 16, at 7 p.m. at the Thurgood Marshall Center on 12th Street NW. Invited to particpate are the following candidates (listed by their Single Member Districts): Matt Abbruzzese 1B12 John Green 1B12 Ed Hanlon 2B09 Noah Smith 2B09 Katherine Gordon 2F01 (Invited) The forum will be moderated by renowned blogger David McAuley of the ShortArticlesAboutLongMeetings blog. See you there!

At-Large Candidates Weigh in on Proposed Soccer Stadium Deal

At last night's forum hosted by the Black Cat and The City Paper, the large field of candidates discussed everything from the pending soccer stadium deal to education to affordable housing. The evening was full of a lot of going back and forth between the candidates, the press (who asked the questions), the moderator and the audience. Elissa Silvermann was the object of many attacks as she is perceived by many to be the front runner. Outstanding performances were given by Puryear and Snowden (pictured above). Hart seemed upset with the audience when he stated that he favored the stadium deal which includes moving the Reeves Center to Anacostia and the audience "booed" him loudly...so much so he asked if he could finish his statement... Most of the candidates stated that they were concerned about deal details and some didn't like that the Reeves Center is being sold to a developer. Several candidates stated that they would prefer to see the District government spend the $150 million that is proposed for building the soccer stadium on building affordable housing and providing services to the homeless.