Gt 09 17 2014

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Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Serving Burleith, Foxhall, Georgetown, Georgetown Reservoir & Glover Park

INS

Vol. XXIV, No. 8

The GeorGeTown CurrenT

Catania slams Bowser over housing issues

IDE

■ Politics: Prospects appear

shaky for action by Congress

Current Staff Writer

By ELIZABETH WIENER Current Staff Writer

It may be an exercise in futility, but it’s a popular one, with several hundred District activists turning out Monday to plead that Congress make their city the 51st state. Nearly everyone acknowledges it “ain’t gonna happen” anytime soon. With Republicans controlling the U.S. House of Representatives, and perhaps the Senate after November, the Grand Old Party has little reason

Brian Kapur/The Current

The Bodega Spanish Tapas & Lounge participated in the annual Taste of Georgetown on Saturday, offering a variety of paella dishes. More than 35 restaurants participated in the event, sponsored by the Georgetown Business Improvement District.

By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer

SHERWOOD

Mayoral candidates preparing for rare faceoff this week — Page 10

REA

LE

STA TE

to give the Democratic-dominated District two Senate seats and a vote in the House. But still, witness after witness told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that sheer fairness demands that the roughly 650,000 residents of the District have voting representation in Congress — just like residents of other states. They also emphasized the wasted time and money, and in some cases sheer absurdity, of having to go to Congress for authority to amend local laws and spend locally raised money. See Statehood/Page 7

Stoddert neighbors pitch in after teacher parking crunch

Brian Kapur/The Current

The Kingdom of Bahrain hopes to build an ambassador’s residence on Indian Lane in Spring Valley.

That authority? Curb cuts. The Kingdom of Bahrain hopes to construct a new ambassador’s residence on a vacant lot at 4842 Indian Lane in Spring Valley, and project architects appeared at the neighborhood commission meeting

Watergate complex celebrates 50 years in Foggy Bottom — Page RE1

pushes for long-term solution

Current Correspondent

to seek support for their public space application. They’re looking to install two curb cuts for a circular driveway and to relocate a streetlight and storm sewer catch-basin 15 feet to the west to make room for one of the entrances. It’s not uncommon for neighborhood commissions across the city to use a public space application as leverage to request broader changes to a project. But Gold wasn’t interested in a redesign of the planned ambassador’s residence, its detached garage with servants’ quarters, its guard booth or its rear pool house. Rather, his proposed conditions for supporting the curb cuts were that Bahrain let U.S. Assistant Secretary See Curb Cut/Page 7

REAL ESTATE

■ Glover Park: Community By GEORGE ALTSHULER

Bahrain curb cuts draw flak over human rights Michael Gold is troubled by the news coming out of Bahrain. The government of the small Persian Gulf state has made headlines for suppressing protests and expelling an American diplomat who met with opposition leaders. Gold, a member of the Spring Valley/Wesley Heights advisory neighborhood commission, reflected on the nation’s policies at the group’s meeting last Wednesday. “There’s a very brutal crackdown going on there,” said Gold. “This commission has taken a strong stance on human rights, and I will wield whatever authority I have to protect that.”

FAL L

Statehood bill gets its day at Senate hearing

TA S T Y T R E AT S

By GRAHAM VYSE With Muriel Bowser, David Catania and Carol Schwartz set to debate for the first time tomorrow night, the contrasting policy priorities of the three major mayoral candidates are coming to the forefront, including on the issue of housing. At-large D.C. Council member David Catania, an independent, released a 126-page policy platform this week with eight pages on housing and homelessness. In an interview with The Current last week, he said the District currently lacks a comprehensive strategy — and a necessary sense of urgency — to address these issues. “As a result, we have a homelessness crisis — the worst in a generation,” Catania said. If elected, Catania said he would first analyze the housing needs of various vulnerable populations, including seniors, domestic violence victims and citizens returning from prison. He would seek to expand current “inclusionary zoning” policies to require “very low-income See Housing/Page 4

:

The 20 Stoddert Elementary School teachers and staff members whose parking spaces have been occupied by temporary “demountable” classrooms have places to park — for now. Nearby residents donated their visitor parking passes to the school as a stopgap measure, but the passes will expire at the end of the year. The elementary school, located at 4001 Calvert St., is bursting at its seams. It expanded from 256 students in the 2010-2011 school year to 429 students this school year, according to Don Bryant, the school’s principal. Ward 3 D.C. Council member Mary Cheh said stakeholders put together a package of solutions earlier this summer. They planned to use the visitor passes, put in place a shuttle to a nearby parking lot and eliminate parking restrictions on the south side of Davis Place next to the school.

Brian Kapur/The Current

Classroom trailers replaced part of the teacher parking lot at the overcrowded school this year.

But the shuttle, funded by D.C. Public Schools, was seldom used. It was discontinued when the solution of the visitor passes proved successful. Cheh praised the stopgap solution, but she questioned how long it could continue. “I would like to see something more formalized,” she said. Meanwhile, residents and the Glover Park advisory neighborhood commission have called for See Stoddert/Page 5

INDEX

SPOR TS

Strong second half lifts Roosevelt past Maret on gridiron — Page 13

Calendar/47 Classifieds/53 District Digest/6 Exhibits/47 In Your Neighborhood/12 Opinion/10

Police Report/8 Real Estate/Pullout School Dispatches/43 Service Directory/51 Sports/13 Theater/49

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