Georgetown CITIZENS V OLUME X X V / I SSUE 5 / M AY 2 0 1 1 WWW . CAGTOWN . ORG Jack Evans, CAG Awards and Elections on May 17 at Dumbarton House ouncilmember Jack Evans will be the featured dent of CAG from 1989 through 1991. His efforts on speaker at CAG’s annual awards and elections behalf of Georgetown have continued actively for almost Cmeeting on Tuesday, May 17. The reception and four decades. He has been a champion of many important meeting will be hosted this year by historic Dumbarton historic preservation cases, has been active on GU Campus House at 2715 Q Street. plans, has spearheaded public safety efforts and served as CAG’s legal advisor since 1991. Councilmember for Ward 2 since 1991, Jack serves as chair of the Council’s Committee on Finance and Rev- Brenda Moorman, who served as Chair of the Beautifi- enue, which oversees the District’s finances, including tax cation Committee, will be honored with the William A. policy. In addition to earning a reputation as one of DC’s Cochran Award for “exceptional efforts to protect and toughest budget and tax stewards, Jack has used this enhance the community’s parkland and architectural committee to secure approval of many major legislative resources.” She worked countless hours to ensure proper tax reforms including: reducing tax rates, simplifying trash disposal and recycling and was central in rodent DC’s antiquated tax code and establishing incentives for abatement efforts. businesses. His comments on the “State of Georgetown” are always lively and enlightening. The Charles Atherton Award will be presented to Toni Cherry for “exceptional service by a dedicated public- The prestigious Belin Award will be presented to Richard sector professional for outstanding work preserving and Hinds for his expert work in preserving the historic charac- protecting historic Georgetown.” Ms. Cherry was recent- ter of Georgetown. Richard became active in CAG shortly ly named DC’s first historic preservation inspector and is after moving to Georgetown in 1973 and served as Presi- on the front lines of protecting historic Georgetown. Continued on page 4 May 22 Concert is Rockin and Green! t’s that time of year again! The weather is warm, the sun is shining, the flowers are in bloom, and the CAG IConcerts in the Parks series is back in action Sunday, May 22nd at Volta Park (34th and Q Street) at 5 o’clock. CAG’s first concert has a jam-packed line-up of activi- ties for the entire family. The amazing vocals of George- town’s own singer and song writer Rebecca McCabe will be highlighted at the May concert. Joining her on stage for several songs will be long-time CBS news television journalist, Bob Schieffer, who has sung with several bands including HonkyTonk Confidential. Gifts of Good Earth, a DC-based group of hip designers who created a modern GoGE garden for easy city garden- Continued on page 4 Conga Line to the music 1 G EORGETOWN C ITIZENS / M AY 2 0 1 1 President’s letter ell, Spring seems to have come and gone in one afternoon—Hello, WSummer! The Friends of the Georgetown Library and Friends of Book Hill Park co-sponsored a lovely Sunday afternoon soiree at the library and the park. Thanks to our generous spon- sors, Julia Diaz Asper and the restaurants of Book Hill. A big thanks to Ginny Poole and her committee for making this event such a wonderful success. They are an impressive group—thoughtful, engaged and a godsend for the Georgetown library. Enjoying the view from the CAG reception on the roof of the House of Sweden The first Zoning Commission hearing on Jennifer Altemus, Steve Cooley, Debra Abell, Betsy Cooley & Bob vom Eigen the 2010 Georgetown University Campus Plan took place on April 14. The University presented their Testifying is not as daunting as it sounds. But there case. GU now proposes to move 250 undergraduates out are a couple of things you need to do in advance. Please of the community and house them either on campus or look at www.cagtown.org for more specific instructions. elsewhere in the region. With over 2500 students living in We are also hosting a meeting at 6:30pm on May 5 to the 20007 zip code, their proposal is much too small to help individuals prepare for the process. Call the CAG have any real impact. Furthermore, it could take years to office to get more details. implement. We feel it is imperative for GU to re-adopt its 1990’s goal of housing 100% of its undergraduates on If you unavailable to testify May 16, June 2 or June 6 campus or in a satellite campus outside 20007. please consider writing a letter to the Zoning Commission telling them of the impacts you are experiencing. Again, Over the past 10 years, GU’s main campus enrollment check out the CAG website for details or call 337-7313. has grown from 10,000 students to over 14,000. By adding more students, as they propose to do, they will The recent spate of early morning armed robberies is only exacerbate already untenable conditions in our unsettling, to say the least. The nicer weather tends to community. Georgetown and Burleith are at the tipping bring more people to Georgetown, some with nefarious point now. We cannot absorb any more students in our intentions. We need to look out for each other. communities. There is no more space for them to live, to If you see something unusual report it to the proper drive, to park, to party. authority. If you are not a member of CAG's public safe- The first hearing ended midway through the cross ty program, please consider joining. Based on the prem- examination of the University. The hearing will continue ise that there is strength in numbers and community on May 12 at 6:30pm with the Office of Planning, DDOT, involvement, we work together to have more police on ANC 2E and 3D, CAG, BCA and Foxhall presenting. It our streets, immediate information about crimes, better seems unlikely that we will get through all of this on the communication among neighbors, stronger advocacy 12th. My guess is that this part of the process will continue with the MPD and elected officials for police resources on May 16. Then individual witnesses will be asked to in Georgetown. Through donations to the program (see speak. There will now be two additional dates for hear- complete list on pages 8 and 9) we hire off duty MPD ings—June 2 and 6. All of these meetings begin at 6:30pm. officers to patrol the residential streets; hire two security guards who canvas the area both on foot and in CAG It is extremely important that anyone who is adversely patrol cars; and run an effective Block Captain system. impacted by the University testify. The Zoning Commis- Speaking of which, Helen Darling and Diane Colasanto sion needs to hear that there are real people experiencing are meeting with experienced—and new—block captains real consequences from living near the University. We can on Wednesday, May 25 at 1648 32nd Street at 6 o'clock. show them all the charts, statistics, and photos we want but until they hear tax paying citizens voice the reality of I look forward to seeing everyone at 7pm on May 17 the situation it doesn’t really sink in. at the Dumbarton House for our elections and awards ceremony. —Jennifer Altemus 2 M AY 2 0 1 1 / G EORGETOWN C ITIZENS Aspects of Georgetown Our Spring Indulgences s life seems to grow more and These things we celebrate this order a small bouquet and then pick more unpredictable, spring month in many ways. First our gar- it up on the way home. Her shop is Amatters. Come to think of it, den tour. This year you can see the full of things like birch bark rolls and spring always mattered, and how and stately garden of Lincoln’s son Robert bird’s nests, acorns, pinecones and where it happens matters too. with its big old trees and the box- bell jars. It’s very stylish and contin- wood he planted. You can discover ues, in a different vein, the serene It is that time of year for which an astonishingly large garden with stylishness of Marston Luce, whose we have waited through all those gravel terraces and a big pool that windows she sometimes does. gray days. Our patience has been you would never know was there it is rewarded. Spring has its rituals and so well hidden. Near Tudor Place a About indulgences: we are not talk- we have ours too. We celebrate our stately garden with a really large pool ing about selling them, to relieve one gardens with a Garden Tour of local radiates serenity. And we show small of one’s sins, a practice that so beauties and, not to get all Hall- gardens for young families. annoyed Martin Luther that he started marky about it, we also observe the Reformation, we are talking about Mothers Day. For mothers, but certainly not just taking unrestrained pleasure in some- for mothers, there is a charming new thing. To indulge someone is to treat I had a friend who thought that flower shop, Fleur Greige, located them with generosity and considera- when she died she would find her above Marston Luce at 1653 Wiscon- tion. That’s what we are after here. mother waiting for her in the garden sin Avenue.