News from Muriel, 9-26-12
District of Columbia sent this bulletin at 09/26/2012 04:25 PM EDT
Letter from Muriel
Reminder: Ward-Wide Emergency Preparedness Exercise, Tonight
Back to School Workshop on HIV/AIDS and STD Prevention and Awareness, Friday
Citizen Planner Forum, October 4
I hope you will join me this Saturday, September 29 at the LDS 16th Street Chapel located at 4910 16th Street as the church will join other District congregations in collecting food to package boxes to feed the hungry. Part of a Mid-Atlantic Region-wide Day to Serve, local District efforts will benefit the National Capital Area Food Bank. Volunteers will be working from 9:00 am until 12:00 noon Saturday. For more information, contact Debbie Harrison at 301-380-4392 or debbie.harrison@marriott.com.
Legislative Update
As Chair of the Committee on Government Operations, I will hold a public hearing on three bills related to residency requirements for District government employment next Wednesday, October 3 at 1:00 pm in Room 123 of the John A. Wilson Building located at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The bills on the agenda are as follows:
Bill 19-141, the Condition of Employment Act, would require newly hired District government employees who live outside of the District of Columbia to agree to pay a percentage of their salaries back to the District as a condition of employment.
Bill 19-284, the Jobs for D.C. Residents Amendment Act, would amend the Jobs for D.C. Residents Amendment Act of 2007 to require each subordinate agency head, independent agency head, and the Mayor to certify the employment of non-District residents and include the reasons for the employment of non-District residents in the certification.
Bill 19-424, the District Domicile Requirement Amendment Act, amends the Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act to require that all newly hired District employees in the Career Service and Educational Service who are paid at a rate equivalent to the CS-12 or above be domiciled in the District of Columbia at the time of hire, or become domiciled within 180 days, and remain domiciled for at least 7 years after the date of hire.
Those wishing to testify at the public hearing are asked to contact Rob Hawkins, Legislative Director of the Committee on Government Operations, at 202-724-0921 or rhawkins@dccouncil.us.
Muriel
Reminder: Ward-Wide Emergency Preparedness Exercise, Tonight
The District’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA) will conduct Ward-based Community Exercises during the month of September as part of National Preparedness Month. These Community Exercises will engage participants with information that is educational and highly interactive. Those who attend will be afforded the opportunity to express their views and learn how to be better prepared in the event of an emergency. HSEMA seeks to provide attendees with a greater understanding of their individual roles during major disasters. Ward 4’s exercise is tonight, Wednesday, September 26 from 7:00 pm until 9:00 pm at the Brightwood Elementary School located at 1300 Nicholson Street NW. For more information, visit http://hsema.dc.gov/page/whole-community-ward-based-exercises or contact HSEMA at 202-727-6161.
Back to School Workshop on HIV/AIDS and STD Prevention and Awareness, Friday
With a theme of "End the Dread, Stop the Spread of STD and HIV/AIDS in DC," the DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and the Department of Health (DOH) is partnering with Metro TeenAIDS, the Sasha Bruce Youthwork, Inc. and Children’s National Medical Center to assist Ward 4 Girl Scout Diossa Fleming as she works to earn the highest community service award in scouting. This Friday, September 28 from 6:30 pm until 9:00 pm at the Emery Recreation Center located at 5701 Georgia Avenue NW, a special back to school night event will be held offering free and confidential STD and HIV/AIDS testing and counseling to Ward 4 youth aged 14 to 21. Diossa planned this event to help educate and bring awareness about the importance of our youth knowing as much as they can about their health. Diossa and the coalition of government and community partners hope youth will leave the event asking and answering the question that could save their young lives.
There will be workshops, confidential testing and counseling, food, entertainment, and free giveaways. Please come out and support this young lady who wants to make a difference in her generation. For more information call the Emery Recreation center at 202-576-3211.
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is hosting a series of community meetings, called Parking Think Tanks, so that they can accurately gauge the state of parking in the District and to solicit input on the future of parking. DDOT hopes that these think tank discussions will help lead to the development of a comprehensive curbside parking management plan. Anyone who visits, lives or works in the Nation’s Capital is invited to attend a Parking Think Tank meeting.
The Parking Think Tank Schedule is as follows:
Downtown Area
Wednesday, October 3
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
West End Library (Large Conference Room), 1101 24th Street, NW
Western Area
Thursday, October 4
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Woodrow Wilson High School (Cafeteria), 3950 Chesapeake Street, NW
(Please note that this meeting was originally scheduled to take place on September 26)
Northern Area
Saturday, October 20
9:00 am – 11:00 am
Mt. Pleasant Library (Large Conference Room), 3160 16th Street, NW
For more information, please visit www.ddot.dc.gov/ParkingThinkTanks. Questions and requests for additional information should be directed to Angelo Rao at 202-671-1370 or angelo.rao@dc.gov.
Citizen Planner Forum, October 4
The DC Office of Planning (OP) and the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) DC Advocacy Committee is convening a Citizen Planner Forum on Thursday, October 4th from 6:30 pm until 8:00pm at the District Architecture Center located at 421 7th Street NW. Begun this past summer, OP’s Citizen Planner initiative sought to engage District residents in conversations to provide feedback on questions such as: what do residents care about most when it comes to where they live? Are there ways that government agencies and private developers can improve on how they engage residents to discuss proposed projects and improvements? How can DC residents get more involved in improving their neighborhoods? Four focus groups brought together a cross-section of District residents who spoke openly and candidly about life in the District and in their neighborhoods. Feedback from these focus groups was quite broad, displaying an interest in topics such as movable furniture in public space, diversity of housing types, and making community engagement fun. Next Thursday’s Citizen Planner Forum will include a panel discussion with four residents who participated in the focus groups; a presentation on new ways to engage the public in development projects; and an overview of new approaches to citizen engagement in building healthy neighborhoods. The AIA also will present its Citizen Architecture initiative to attendees.
To register for the Citizen Planner Forum or for more information about OP’s Citizen Planner Initiative, please contact Deborah Crain-Kemp at 202.442.7615 or DeborahLCrain.Kemp@dc.gov.
Muriel Bowser
Councilmember, Ward 4
Council of the District of Columbia
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 110
Washington DC 20004
202-724-8052-voice
202-741-0908- fax
mbowser@dccouncil.us
www.murielbowser.com
Please remember to call 311 for all your city service requests such as tree trimming and bulk trash removal. Call 911 for all police, fire or ambulance requests.