Town Topics

Georgetowner • October 24, 2014

Rats are no strangers to Georgetowners, notorious for their scurrying around the neighborhood’s sidewalks and waterfront when the sun sets.

Washington, D.C., was ranked the third rattiest city in the country, according to a recent study completed by insect and pest control company Orkin. While the rankings are based solely on the number of rodent treatments the company carried out in 2013, it is not an all-encompassing rat census.

According to the rankings, the District of Columbia, which was grouped with Hagerstown, Md., came in just above New York City in terms of rat infestation. Chicago came in first and Los Angeles beat D.C. out for a close second. The study additionally reported that in the past year at lead one-third of Americans spotted rodents in their homes.

In the past year, the D.C. government has hired a rat consultant, Robert Corrigan, and held a number of workshops to help educate the public on how to lower the number of rodents in and around their homes. The best way to eliminate rats is to get rid of their food sources. Simple things like closing the lid on trash containers and scraping your grill when you are finished using it can be very effective.

Georgetowner • October 22, 2014

At the height of rush hour at Key Bridge and M Street, protestors on horseback from out West entered the nation’s capital Oct. 16 with a set of grievances against the Bureau of Land Management.

Their right to assembly and protest was assisted by the Metropolitan Police Department and other federal police agencies with Homeland Security as cop cars and motorcycles blocked intersections for the group of 20 riders, a wagon and their horse trailers. The spectacle briefly stopped traffic and turned heads. Commuters were first surprised but then smiled and waved at the ranchers.

Riding horseback from coast to coast, demonstrators from the Grass March and Cowboy Express made their way to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness for ranchers’ grazing rights. The group left Bodega Bay, Calif., on Sept. 26, riding more than 2,800 miles by horseback to deliver petitions to Capitol Hill.

Georgetowner •

The Citizens Association of Georgetown invited the three major candidates running for mayor in the Nov. 4 general election to its debate and candidate forum Sept. 24. Only At-large Councilmember David Catania showed up, as Muriel Bowser declined and Carol Schwartz could not attend because of the Jewish New Year celebration.

At-large Councilmember David Catania — who entered the fray back in April right before the Democratic Primary which Bowser won going away over scandal-plagued Mayor Vincent Gray — was for one night the only mayoral candidate on the dais, as he talked and answered questions from a panel that consisted of Georgetowner editor-in-chief Robert Devaney, David Kennedy, publisher of the Current newspapers, and Topher Matthews of the Georgetown Metropolitan before a packed audience at Dumbarton House of Q Street.

Catania turned the turn of events into an opportunity to show off his ability to articulate policy matters and issues with sometimes long, but often revelatory explanations, along with some humor and warmth. Given Catania’s reputation for having a sharp temper—which never materialized—this was an experience-rich, smart, even visionary performance by a tough candidate who seemed to have the talents and strengths to run a credible campaign against Bowser.

Faced with a question on how it felt to be the only candidate to show up at the CAG event, Catania resisted the temptation to take a shot at Bowser and instead said only that these events are an important part of democratic elections that allow people to have contact with the candidates. “These debates are an obligation that we owe to the voters,” he said.

Catania showed himself to be a walking encyclopedia on issues facing a Washington, D.C., which is blessed with a booming economy, about which he was not quite so sanguine. “We can look at all the cranes on our horizon and think that we’re doing really well,” he said. “The truth is that we’re in the middle of something of a recession. Our economy is based in large parts on government jobs and government activities, and that part of the economy is shrinking. We’ve lost government jobs, and they’re very difficult to replace without the proper education and training. We have a shrinking economic component.”

“Our biggest priorities—in addition to education—are to narrow the achievement gap, to address the fact that we have an affordable housing crisis and to safeguard our economic future,” Catania said.

He then launched into a fully detailed talk about health care, new economy jobs, infrastructure, human capital. He may be, as he asserted, “a convener and a generalist,” but Catania also showed off a gift for attention to and articulation of details. All of which can be found in his campaign book “David Catania’s Vision to Security Our City’s Future,” a full-color, fully illustrated, 126-page tome.

Georgetowner •

Volta Park Day drew in the crowds of young and old Oct. 5. There were rides, hot dogs and hamburger, a flea market, a small lending library near the tennis court, dedicated to the late Timothy Downs — with the West team beating the East team in the annual softball team — and with all proceeds benefitting the continued maintenance of the park. Also honored was the late Ed Lara, owner of Georgetown Hairstyling, by his band, renamed Basement Riot, to recall the times band members practiced in the basement of the 35th Street barber shop.

Robert Devaney • September 25, 2014

“Motorists deserve reasonable assurances that District entities and contractors involved in issuing… tickets emphasize diligence and accuracy over volume and revenue,” stated a report, issued by D.C.’s interim Inspector General Blanche Bruce last week. The Office of the Inspector General report suggested that responsible agencies use a common speed threshold for zones covered camera and undertake safety studies in those zones. Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier shot back at the report, calling it “unsubstantiated speculation.” Georgetown residents have complained recently about overzealous parking enforcement, claiming that tickets are being issued even when parking is fully paid for through the ParkMobile app.