ANC 6D

Near Southeast/Southwest
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6D
March 21, 2013 The Honorable Vincent Gray Mayor of the District of Columbia 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 316 Washington, DC 20004 VIA E-MAIL: eom@dc.gov RE: Randall Recreation Site Dear Mayor Gray: We are writing as Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6D, representing the 15,000 residents of Southwest and Near SE. Our ANC wishes to correct the impression conveyed in a letter to you from two of our Commissioners misrepresenting that there is overwhelming support for the immediate development of a KIPP High School at the Randall Recreation site in Southwest. Southwest does not support turning over the land at Randall Recreation to KIPP prior to completion of OPs Southwest Small Area Plan. These are the facts. Planning is a result of a fully articulated and transparent community engagement process. And it is precisely the community engagement process a major plank in your 2010 campaign for Mayor that we hope you will continue to uphold. If a KIPP high school belongs at Randall, let a proper planning process lead the way and not a couple of well placed phone calls to the City Administrators Office and relentless editorializing by The Washington Post. That is simply not the way to do business in Washington. Not any longer. Without prejudice to the KIPP organization or its well greased public relations plan for expansion, the premature approval of this unsolicited proposal will bypass the Southwest Small Area Action Plan that our ANC has long sought and is currently underway. It will also potentially derail other development options that could confer greater mid-to-long range benefits to our community. Indeed, overwhelmingly, our constituents favor a more measured and thoughtful approach to community planning through the Small Area Plan process to which the entire membership of our ANC unanimously agreed on January 14, 2013 (attached). During the past six weeks, community groups and residential associations representing the vast majority of residents in ANC-6D have signed off on similar letters supporting the completion of a Southwest Small Area Plan specifically urging you to hold off on prematurely requisitioning the Randall Recreation parcel for use by KIPP until OPs Southwest Small Area Action Plan is completed.
1101 Fourth Street, SW Suite W 130 Washington, DC 20024 202.554.1795 Email: office@anc6d.org Website: www.anc6d.org

OFFICERS
Chairman Andy Litsky Vice Chairman Ed Kaminski Secretary Donna Hopkins Treasurer Ron McBee

COMMISSIONERS
SMD SMD SMD SMD SMD SMD SMD

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Donna Hopkins Ed Kaminski Ron McBee Andy Litsky Roger Moffatt Rhonda Hamilton David Garber

Page 2 March 21, 2013 Letter to Mayor Vincent Gray RE: Randall Recreation Site

Those organizations include: The Southwest Neighborhood Assembly our SW civic association; The Washington Waterfront Association our largest SW business group; The Amidon-Bowen Parent Teacher Association The Waterfront Gateway Neighborhood Assn. representing 527 townhomes; Fourth Street Neighborhood Group representing the residents south of M Street; Capitol Park IV the TH association adjacent to the Randall Recreation site; Capitol Park II the largest TH condominium association in Southwest; And the boards of directors of Tiber Island; Edgewater; Riverside; and Waterfront Center Condominium representing an additional 2,300 residents in Southwest.

Thats because our Southwest residents recognize that our neighborhood is one of the fastest growing in the District. The residential population south of the Expressway is expected to grow by more than 50% within the next decade even as our daytime population doubles. It makes absolutely no sense that we should remove from public use the largest area of recreational land in our neighborhood because Randall Recreation offers extraordinary potential for renovation that should be enjoyed by residents of all ages and would otherwise be significantly restricted should a high school be located on that site. If any high school belongs there, it should be decided as part of an organized planning process not because KIPP board members have friends in high places. Mr. Mayor, ANC-6D again asks you to ensure that Southwest be accorded the same as 18 other District neighborhoods have been provided in seven of our Wards -- an organized, inclusive and thoughtful Small Area Planning process. Thats the only way to properly review, evaluate and set shared goals for future development of public assets. Additionally, we ask that should you choose to endorse KIPPs March 8 application for $125 million to the District of Columbia Revenue Bond Program to provide debt (re)financing for their KIPP facilities, that you specifically remove any reference that those proposed bonds may be used to acquire or develop a permanent campus for a high school to be located at or near 601 South Capitol Street, SW prior to it being submitted to Council. We reiterate our support for our January 14 ANC-6D resolution and urge that you to provide us great weight in that request. We await your written response to this letter.

Sincerely, Andy Litsky Chairman, ANC-6D Commissioner, ANC-6D04 Donna Hopkins Secretary, ANC-6D Commissioner, ANC-6D01 Ron McBee Treasurer, ANC-6D Commissioner, ANC-6D03 Roger Moffatt Commissioner, ANC-6D05

Rhonda Hamilton Commissioner, ANC-6D06

Page 3 March 21, 2013 Letter to Mayor Vincent Gray RE: Randall Recreation Site

cc:

Victor Hoskins, Deputy Mayor Allen Y. Lew, City Administrator Jesus Aguirre, Department of Parks and Recreation Christopher Murphy, Chief of Staff, Executive Office of the Mayor Steve Glaude, Director of Community Affairs, Executive Office of the Mayor Council Chairman Phil Mendelson Councilmember Tommy Wells Councilmember Jim Graham Councilmember Jack Evans Councilmember Mary M. Cheh Councilmember Muriel Bowser Councilmember Yvette Alexander Councilmember Marion Barry Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie Councilmember David Catania Councilmember Vincent Orange Councilmember David Grosso Councilmember Anita Bonds Commissioners, ANC-6D Kael Anderson, SW Neighborhood Assembly Marilyn Melkonian, Telesis Corporation Washington Post Editorial Board Emma Brown, The Washington Post