Washington, DC , June 30, 2008-On Wednesday June 18th, 2008 Mayor Adrian M. Fenty led a group of community members on a follow-up walkthrough of the Trinidad community of Ward 5 to observe the government’s progress in addressing issues originally identified on a previous walk through in April. Both walkthroughs were coordinated in an effort to confront the pervasive problems impacting the quality of life of the people in this community. Several agency representatives participated including Director Linda Argo of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Cathy Lanier and Assistant Chief Diane Groomes, and Director William Howland of DPW. Together they determined how their agency’s resources could assist in improving current conditions in the area.
The Trinidad community has been identified as one of the District’s new Focus Improvement Areas (FIA) due the tremendous increase in violent crimes over the past several months. Community members have voiced the need for more targeted District Government services in the area. “With regular attention we will not have these issues” said Former ANCB10 Commissioner Kathy Henderson, who along with her daughter, current ANC B10 Commissioner India Henderson, has aided the government in identifying many of the persistent problems.
In April the group assembled at the corner of 16th and Levis Street, NE and continued onto the 1200 block of 16th street, NE where a number of issues were identified including, deteriorated sidewalks, an unsecured vacant property, unpaved alleys, and three nuisance car lots. The last stop on the walkthrough was the Trinidad Recreation Center located on Childress Street NE, where a number of safety issues were identified; including unstable handrails, broken glass doors, broken swings sets, the basketball rims needed to be replaced, as well as broken lights. Mayor Fenty was displeased with the state of the recreation center, and directed that all issues be remedied in one week.
In the subsequent months a number of improvements were made to the area. One of the major accomplishments was the complete closure of one of the nuisance car lots. On May 23, 2008, a team of government employees from the Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services (MOCRS), DPW, MPD, and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) removed over 100 cars from the lot on Bladensburg Road. MOCRS, DCRA, and the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) are currently working on closing the other illegal lots and on a comprehensive enforcement strategy for all similar car lots in the District.
Since the initial walkthrough, DDOT has surveyed the area and has done extensive street repairs including sidewalk replacement, alley repair, and other street construction activities. DCRA has secured the vacant property found on the 1200 Block of 16th street and has cited the owner for a number of violations. Additionally, all of the problems identified at the recreation center have been fixed under the leadership of the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR). Currently several other upgrades are being planned for the recreation center including the installation of a pool.
During the follow-up walkthrough, other areas were pointed out as troublesome by the Mayor, including a car lot on the 1100 Block of Meigs Street that has been encroaching on public sidewalks. There was also a shed in the rear alley of the 1300 Block of 16th street which the Department of Health (DOH) has determined to be a potential rat harborage.
Mayor Fenty was satisfied with the work done thus far but wants to continue to focus efforts on improving these issues. He stated, “The reason we got involved in public service is to make a difference for regular people; regular people want to see something done in front of their homes.” MOCRS and the other agencies will continue to concentrate on the Trinidad community until significant progress has been made for the quality of life for the residents there.