Thursday, March 19, 2009

Mayor Adrian Fenty Addresses Budget Issues

DCCA Meeting

By Alexandra Gordon

Washington D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty and Councilman Jack Edwards warned the DuPont Circle Citizens Association Wednesday night that funding will be cut in the March 15 budget from schools, libraries, and police, despite residents’ protests that such services need more money, not less.

City leaders told the DCCA that cuts to public services, the school system, and public safety are necessary will need to be made from human services, the school system, and public safety are necessary because of suffering economy. According to Edwards, the city will need to put together a budget with 7 million less dollars in capital this year.

“We need to tighten our belts,” said Edwards. “Human services, the school system, and public safety account for 70 percent of our spending. We will see decreases in those areas to balance the budget.”

Lee Granados, vice president of the PTA at Ross School, an elementary school in the DuPont Circle area, said public schools are already suffering from a bad image, despite recent improvements due to funding.

“We don’t get a large draw to Ross School because of the public school reputation in D.C.,” said Granados. “People are hesitant about enrolling their children in the public school system.”

According to Granados, many DuPont Circle residents struggle to send their children to private schools. She has seen this situation play out many times in her neighborhood.

“I have friends who send their kids to private schools and are stretching their means and can’t do anything besides go to work,” said Granados.

Bert Huntington, a member of DCCA, said the public school system needs more funding.

“The system needs money so it can be turned around so normal people can go to public school,” said Huntington. “I am surprised Jack Edwards sends his triplets to private school,” he said referring to the fact that the city council member from ward 2 sends his three children to a private school in Georgetown.

DCCA members said they also disagreed with the city’s decision to cut library hours to save money. They suggested using volunteers to work at libraries or enticing book publishing companies such as McGraw Hill to send interns to work at libraries.

At the meeting held at the Universalist National Memorial Church, Fenty focused on the successes the DuPont Circle area has experienced throughout the past decade.

“We have had the biggest turn around in perception in history,” said Fenty. “People who come to our city who haven’t been here in 10 years don‘t recognize it. We’re reaching higher up on the tree and we can do so much more in the Nation’s capital.”

According to Fenty, ward 2 has the second largest amount of development in the city. D.C. has improved child welfare, economic development, recreation and increased housing for the homeless, said Fenty.

In other business, Fenty and Edwards noted the swift snow removal after the March 2 storm and the successful presidential inauguration in which no arrests were made.

“It was like hosting the Superbowl and Olympics all together,” said Edwards.

Also, police officers Steve Fletcher and Eric Biller told the DCCA members about a string of burglaries occurring since December.

According to Biller, there have been 20 roof top burglaries in the 1700 block between P and U streets. Thirteen of the 20 burglaries occurred in December and no arrests have been made. Biller and Fletcher stated the suspect is believed to be a black male around 30. Biller urged citizens to “watch out for your neighbor and share information with your neighbor.”

Officer Fletcher urged citizens to evaluate their roof-top security. “Sixty out of 80 people in the area did not know they had a roof top hatch,” said Fletcher. A roof-top hatch is a small, often metal window which opens up towards the roof of a building. Fletcher also urged citizens to inform neighbors of the burglaries.

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