ANC 5A held its monthly public meeting on Wednesday, October 25, 2023.

Commissioners present: Duvalier Malone (5A01); Karlus Cozart (5A02) – Parliamentarian; Emily Singer Lucio (5A03) – Secretary; Diego Rojas (5A04); Tyeron Boston (5A05); Kweku Toure (5A06) – Vice Chair; Gordon Fletcher (5A08) – Chair; Shelagh Bocoum (5A09) – Treasurer. ANC 5A07 is vacant.

[This was the ANC’s second hybrid meeting. The meeting was at Yu-Ying again. If the ANC intends to keep doing hybrid meetings, they really need a microphone for the people speaking in person. This time, it was much harder for people viewing online to hear people in the room speaking.]

ANC Business

ANC Chair Gordon Fletcher (5A08) stated that the ANC has outstanding bills for the ANC’s website and mailbox due to the resignation of the former treasurer from the ANC over the summer.

Commissioner Shelagh Bocoum (5A09) was voted treasurer at the last ANC meeting. She is working on the FY 2023 3rd and 4th quarter financial reports and the FY 2024 budget. The ANC intends to purchase business cards.

Some of the other discussion was hard to hear online, but Chair Fletcher asked for patience as the ANC straightens out their financial matters.

Public Safety Update (Commissioner Karlus Cozart (5A02))

If you are interested in serving on the ANC’s public safety committee, email Commissioner Karlus Cozart (5A02@anc.dc.gov). Commissioner Cozart said the committee is working on developing goals and objectives for the committee. They do not want to duplicate efforts in the city, so they are establishing a scope of activities for the committee.

Commissioner Cozart was on Councilmember Zachary Parker’s inaugural public safety call. That call will be held monthly and is open to the public.

UDC Lamond-Riggs Campus Plan (5A01) (Juanita Gray, UDC Director of Community Engagement)

The ANC voted to support UDC’s Lamond-Riggs 2023-2033 campus plan. This is the first plan UDC is developing for the campus located at 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE. The campus houses the university’s community college program. Ms. Gray stated that copies of the ANC’s letter of support will be available at the campus. The campus plan site is https://www.udc.edu/campus-master-plan. (A Zoning Commission hearing was held on October 30, case no. 23-16).

A resident asked when and why did UDC change the name of the campus from Bertie Backus to Lamond-Riggs, noting that the campus had been known as Bertie Backus for over 40 years. Ms. Gray stated that the former university president wanted to change the name. She said the building on the campus is still called Bertie Backus. (Aside: UDC announced the name change in May 2023). Another resident chimed in that they thought there should have been discussion about changing the campus name.

Providence Campus Development (5A03)

Commissioner Emily Singer Lucio (5A03) said there were no real updates about Providence before stating that the DC Office of Attorney General is still reviewing the sale of the campus to developer EYA. She said EYA continues to meet with nearby residents. The project website is providencereimagined.com.

A representative of the Washington Health Institute said that they are concerned about being able to stay on the campus grounds. Even though their building is not part of the Providence sale, they said plans can change for lengthy projects and that their landlord who owns the medical building could probably be persuaded to sell to EYA. She said doctors at the institute have drawn up a business plan to run any reestablished urgent care center on the campus. (After shutting down the hospital, Providence briefly operated an urgent care center and EYA has talked about wanting to have one on the grounds again). Commissioner Lucio noted that opening an urgent care center is a regulated process in DC. The institute representative said she wanted to alert the ANC early about their desire because they will want support from ANC in the future.

Ward 5 Mayor’s Office Report (Anthony Black, Ward 5 MOCR)

DPR hosted Halloween activities across the city. Leaf collection started October 30. The mayor proposed new legislation regarding public safety. A resident asked when the forensics lab would be up and running again. Mr. Black said he did not have any information about that.

Ward 5 Council Report (Carlos McKnight, Constituent Services Coordinator to Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker)

Councilmember Zachary Parker held his inaugural monthly public safety call. It is available for online viewing. These monthly calls are open to the public. The next call will be on November 29, 3:00 pm-5:00 pm.

Mr. McKnight discussed two bills introduced or co-introduced by CM Parker: a kinship support bill and a new Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) office bill.

There are two new farmers markets in Ward 5, one at the Joe Cole Recreation Center and one at Union Market.

Faith United Church Hypothermia Shelter (5A08) (Ebony Washington & Enrique Cobham, Church Representatives)

Faith United Church is located at 4900 10th Street NE.

Contrary to what Faith United Church representatives stated at a previous meeting, at this meeting representatives stated that in late July this year, they became aware of a need for city shelters when hypothermia alerts are in effect, so in late August, they approached the DC Department of Human Services (DHS) to inquire about whether the church could qualify as a host site. They said they asked DHS if any other approval was needed for the site beside DHS, and they said DHS told them no other approval was necessary.

They said the site will house up to 35 women and would run from November 1 to March 31 from 7:00 pm-7:00 am. DHS will transport the individuals to the site in the evenings and will provide transportation from the site in the mornings. The individuals are not required to get back on the transportation in the mornings.

Church representatives said they want to form an advisory group of residents and church members. If you are interested in being part of the group, email faithuccdc@gmail.com or call (202) 635-7777. They said the ANC will distribute a link to FAQs (FAQs are here).

Commissioner Lucio made a motion that the ANC draft a letter MOU with North Michigan Park Civic Association (NMPCA) and the church about expectations and responsibilities. Commissioner Kweku Toure (5A06) moved to table Commissioner Lucio’s motion because he said that an MOU is a legal document and that the church has its own legal obligations set forth in contract with DHS. The ANC voted to table Commissioner Lucio’s motion (Commissioner Lucio and Commissioner Bocoum voted no). Chair Fletcher said the ANC would see about getting a copy of the agreement between the church and DHS.

After a question from NMPCA president Carmen Williams, ANC Chair Fletcher stated that he will recuse himself from all votes regarding the shelter because of his job with District government. He said he previously sought ethics guidance from DC and that he was cleared to conduct meetings where the shelter was being discussed. He then asked Commissioner Toure to act on behalf of the ANC regarding the shelter.

There was a lot of heated discussion about the shelter. Residents raised concerns about crime, effect on property, potential prostitution, all sorts of things. Some of the frustration was prompted by the inability of church officials to answer seemingly simple questions. Church representatives kept stating the church is essentially just the landlord and that DHS officials (who were not present at the ANC meeting) would be better equipped to answer questions about shelter operations. A resident who identified as formerly homeless spoke a while about the need to treat people humanely and not make assumptions and to provide this type of service.

The ANC stated they will have a special meeting to discuss the shelter (not entirely sure what the goal of the meeting is).

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be on November 29, 2023, due to the Thanksgiving holiday.