Voice Your Thoughts On PSA Compromise

Thanks to everyone who signed the petition change the PSA boundaries —we received 105 signatures on the petition from our neighborhood to Ms. Anne Grant of the Police Department and 56 on the petition drafted by Joseph Fengler to Sharon Ambrose.

Thanks also to volunteers who walked the petitions around their neighborhoods. We handed in the petition to Ms. Anne Grant, the Policy Analyst in charge of PSA proposals; Council Member Sharon Ambrose; Police Chief Ramsey; and First District Commander McGuire last Tuesday. Joseph Fengler's petition will be handed in today.

Already, resident concern over the PSA boundaries has sparked a new draft compromise proposal. Please note, though, that the proposal boundaries officially still have not changed.

Last Tuesday evening, representatives from our neighborhood's ANC6A and PSA 511 met with representatives from the current PSA 106 neighborhood (near Stanton Park). A compromise was tentatively reached, whereby the new borders would be as follows...

PSA 102: A western boundary aligned to the Union Station railroad tracks (in practical terms, 2nd Street NE); a northern boundary along New York and Florida Avenues; an eastern boundary starting at the intersection of Florida and Maryland, traveling down Maryland to 9th Street and then moving south on 9th to East Capitol; and finally, a southern boundary of East Capitol to 2nd Street.

PSA 103 (the Corner Forum area): A western boundary of 9th Street NE; a northern boundary running along Maryland Avenue and Benning Road; an eastern boundary remaining the east bank of the Anacostia; and the southern boundaries would be Constitution and East Capitol. This would transfer the H Street and 8th Street corridors to PSA 102.

Under the new proposal, we would still be in PSA 103 rather than 102, but actually this is probably better for us, because the two PSAs would share an equal burden of call volume (even the originally proposed PSA 102 was too large). This is good for us and meets almost all of our demands. It will focus attention on neighborhoods that we need more assistance in within our own PSA and keep H Street NE and 8th Street NE in one PSA (PSA 102), facilitating patrols on those streets. Anne Grant has drawn up a draft map based on the newly proposed boundaries under this compromise (attached).

When I spoke to Ms. Grant a week ago, she indicated that she hoped her office will come to a decision on the boundaries in the first week of December (that's this week). She hopes to present the proposal to the Mayor in the second week of December and to have the mandatory 60-day review period-during which council members can raise final objections and questions-start before Christmas. Last week, Ms. Grant said that she is waiting for Ms. Ambrose's opinion and that Ms. Ambrose is still walking the neighborhood and coming up with a proposal.

Because the latest proposal is not final, it would be helpful if residents in the Corner Forum area could make a quick phone call to Ms. Grant to ensure our voice is heard. If you have any thoughts or questions about the newest compromise above, please call her this week. I think this is a good compromise for our neighborhood and is even better for us than the originally proposed PSA 102, and I plan to call her and Sharon Ambrose to tell them that.

Thanks again for your support, and please call this week to let her know your thoughts on the newest proposal — even if it is in support of the new proposal! Ms. Grant's phone number is: 727-0915. Her e-mail is: ACGRANT@mpdc.org.

You might also call Sharon Ambrose and log your opinion with her office, since she apparently is in the process of forming an opinion on this issue. Her contact information is: The Honorable Sharon Ambrose, 724-8072 or sambrose@dccouncil.us. Again, thanks to all. §