ANC Member Meg Roggensack The 2B0 ONE Newsletter
April 12, 2021

ONE Dupont

I come from a small rural Midwestern town, where I learned early on what makes a successful community – we understood we were all in this together, and that our individual choices mattered. Though it’s nearly 1000 miles from my hometown to Dupont Circle, it doesn’t seem all that far. Neighbors help other neighbors in times of crisis. We share special bonds. This past month, I’ve been powerfully reminded of this as I have witnessed how we’ve come together to affirm and strengthen our community. I’m grateful for opportunities to collaborate with fellow Commissioners toward that goal; ANC work is teamwork.
In this together
Commissioners standing together, to declare: “Hate has no place here. Whether the vandalism of a historic Black church downtown, or the insurrection at the Capitol, or the chemical attack on Valley Brook Tea, an Asian American tea house barely one block off Dupont Circle, these unspeakable acts are an attack on every one of us.” These are the opening lines of a letter to our mayor and Council in support of our AAPI businesses, sparked by the March 16 spa shootings in Georgia. I worked with fellow ANC 2B Commissioners Mulhall and Silverstein, and neighboring 1B Commissioner Sabel Harris to write and circulate this letter which garnered over 60 signatures from fellow Commissioners in all eight wards.

Businesses are particularly at risk of hate crimes, as Stop AAPI Hate’s recently released annual survey of reported hate crimes indicates: Stop AAPI Hate report. These crimes are underreported; I urge you to sign up for Hollaback’s excellent, and free, bystander training to help keep our AAPI neighbors safer: bystanderintervention.

Keeping the doors open: helping our small businesses obtain rent relief: One of our treasured small businesses negotiated an accommodation with his landlord with support from the ANC 2B COVID Task Force that I co-chair. Many of our small businesses are facing rent payment pressures from landlords, as a result of COVID inducted closures and disruptions, and we are working to help them negotiate appropriate relief. Our COVID Task Force hosted a webinar to inform small businesses of their rights and options for rent relief, and a clinic day, with one on one legal counseling sessions.

Thanks to Susan Bennett, Director of the Community Equity and Economic Development Clinic at AU Washington College of Law, for undertaking the rent relief research and providing materials for small businesses (here are the presentation materials) and to Christine Kulumani, Staff Attorney at the DC Bar’s Pro Bono Center, for partnering with our task force to host the legal clinic.

Making moral choices: Budgets are moral documents, statements about what our community most values. Our ANC 2B voted unanimously (see our resolution) in support of The Way Home’s campaign to end long term homelessness with robust budget support. Your voice matters-please sign the petition.

No farms, no Statehood?: Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) suggested as much during the March 21 House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on DC Statehood. Framed as an issue of moral urgency and racial justice, supporters of HR 51 made an eloquent case, and the bill is headed to a House floor vote this summer. Dupont Circle joined other neighborhoods in a pre-hearing rally. You can continue to show support by posting a Statehood sign in your yard or window: Douglass Commonwealth.

Building a stronger Dupont

Here are some of the additional ways I’m working to build a stronger Dupont community:

COVID Emergency Task Force: This past month, our task force hosted three events for small businesses – a webinar on federal programs (in Spanish), a webinar on rent relief strategies (in Vietnamese) and a legal clinic. You can access those programs and resources here. Upcoming programs will focus on Streateries and small business sharing of lessons learned.

Take Out Tuesday DC (ToT DC): Launched in March, this initiative supports our neighborhood restaurants. We encourage residents to order out on Tuesdays - whether for breakfast, lunch, coffee/tea or dinner - and to share on social media. Each week we spotlight a few restaurants, to tell their stories, raise awareness and, this past month, to lend additional support:
  • March 16 we featured La Tomate, whose chef was the victim of a March 11 carjacking.
  • March 23 we focused on AAPI businesses (listed here).
ToT DC is a collaboration with fellow 2B Commissioners Mulhall and Silverstein, 1B Commissioner Harris and 2F Commissioner Guggenmos, and our respective Main Streets organizations. Thanks to Jeremy Sherman for his ongoing support of this effort.

Join the Rat Pack! To keep Dupont green and clean, I’m coordinating with Commissioner Mulhall on a three step plan to control our rodent population. The first step is regular inspections with the Department of Health. We need your permission: sign up here: permission slip for inspections, where you can also find helpful tips to control trash disposal and reduce rodent food supply (step two).

Step three is working with restaurants to support improved trash disposal and collection. To restore funding for DC’s program to provide trash compactors for small businesses, we co-sponsored this ANC resolution: compactors. These compactors are extremely effective in cutting down on both rodents and trash collection trips.

Regaining our sidewalk space: On March 6, the American Geophysical Union restored pedestrian and cyclist access to the public space in front of its building at the southeast corner of 20th Street NW and Florida Avenue. Robert Fitzgerald, a constituent, brought this to my attention and he deserves credit for taking initiative to question the continued fencing, after construction activities outside had ended. His intervention has highlighted the need for our ANC to ensure going forward that construction projects include adequate provision for pedestrian access (hat tip to Commissioners Pasternak, Mulhall and Romanowski for seeking protected pedestrian sidewalk or alternative access on 15th Street NW during construction at 1733 16th Street NW).

I’m following up with the Department of Transportation on the status of traffic improvements to the Connecticut and Florida Ave NW intersection, slated for completion last year, in collaboration with fellow commissioner and Mobility Committee chair Mo Pasternak and adjacent ANC 2D Commissioners Hannah Untereiner and Ashley Warren.

Other ANC business

Signature Lounge Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration application: At our March ANC meeting, in view of concerns about safety, trash, noise and potential impacts on adjacent business expressed by constituents, our ANC has voted to protest this application for a Class C license at 1727 Connecticut Avenue NW. With help from Commissioner Silverstein, who formerly served on ABRA’s board, I am working with the applicant to conclude a settlement agreement addressing these concerns.

New COVID vaccination opportunities: On Monday, April 12, the following groups will be eligible for a COVID vaccine:
  • Essential employees of institutions of higher education
  • Individuals working in construction
  • Essential employees working in information technology
  • Essential employees in federal government agencies
  • Individuals working in commercial and residential property management.
Beginning Monday April 19, all DC residents aged 16 or older will be eligible to receive a COVID vaccine.

You can register at vaccinate.dc.gov or by calling 1-855-363-0333.

Our next monthly ANC meeting is this coming Wednesday April 14 at 7 PM. You can find the agenda here: https://bit.ly/2RtmaPF and you can join the meeting at this link: https://bit.ly/ANC2BApril2021. If you do not have a computer or access to the internet, you may join the meeting via phone at (301) 715-8592 or (646) 558-8656 with meeting ID 870 4862 7653 #.
I hope this short newsletter might inspire you to take some action this coming month, big or small, to connect with neighbors, and show support to one another, including our small businesses. Please feel free to share it with your neighbors. If you aren't already subscribed, you can add your name to the list with the handy button below.
As always, I welcome your thoughts and suggestions for building a stronger neighborhood.

We are ONE Dupont.
Meg Sig (small)
Meg Roggensack
2B01 ANC Commissioner
2B01@anc.dc.gov
202-935-2405
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