Neighborhood Notes - Foxhall: 10 January 2001

Mayor Williams at least showed chutzpah in publishing his administration’s ‘Scorecard’ for city agencies, although readers in any given Ward cannot easily determine just how much was spent on initiatives in their area. There is also a nagging concern, dating back to the first ‘Neighorhood Action’ forum in late 1999, on the six categories chosen. Transportation planning is just one area that is conspicuously absent.

For the Foxhall community, the score is decidly mixed. On streets we only got half of the requested new signage, no broad-striping of pedestrian crossings, and only some of the requested parking spot removals that block safe viewing when exiting from neighborhood streets.

For resurfacing, DOT’s inventory of needs flat out missed some of our streets in worst condition while including for 2001 some that are only marginally bad. Naturally, we’re working on getting that corrected, but it is discouraging what a dismal institutional memory some city agencies have.

For recreation we got a new basketball court but no progress on upgrading soccer fields. New playground equipment  and installation was by our local volunteers, with the city only belatedly installing border timbers and woodchips.

For public safety, MPD’s coverage of our streets still tends to be episodic, and on occasion has been capricious – e.g ticketing residents for wheels not being turned into the curb, while on the same day failing to deal with chronic all-day parkers.

Fortunately, there may be a better mechanism emerging. In each ward, Neighborhood Planning Coordinators & Neighborhood Service Coordinators are organizing meetings with local leaders. For Planning, it is a bottom-up approach to budget priorities and comprehensive planning, working with each neighborhood cluster. For Service it will be getting on top of all those intractable multi-agency issues that fall between the cracks, or never seem to get resolved.

© Bob Andrew, Foxhall