BNCA Meeting Minutes
January 21, 2025
BNCA President Petti called the meeting to order and began by introducing herself and other BNCA Officers present: Fred Jackson, Member-At-Large and Rene McCray, Membership Director. She offered a few brief words about BNCA and its mission and encouraged attendees to consider becoming members.
BNCA meets once a month (except for August, November, and December) and tonight’s meeting was held at Brookland’s Finest Bar and Kitchen at 3126 12th Street NE. President Petti introduced the restaurant’s proprietor, Tony Tomelden. Mr. Tomelden lives in Brookland and also spent part of his growing up years here. Mr. Tomelden offered a few words of welcome and then described the extent to which Brookland restaurants and DC restaurants, in general, have been struggling to make ends meet since the pandemic. President Petti thanked Mr. Tomelden for generously hosting BNCA in his establishment and reiterated that part of the point of meeting there was to provide support to one of Brookland’s and DC’s very best restaurants.
President Petti then introduced the meeting’s Special Guest: Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker. Councilmember Parker provided information about his plans as Chair of the new Council Committee on Youth Affairs, upcoming Performance Oversight hearings, and upcoming FY 2026 budget deliberations. He also shared information about various Brookland-related zoning and development issues. He indicated that he plans to support the zoning relief the Washington Area Bicyclist Association needs to move its headquarters to 1110 Hamlin Street NE. (ANC 5B-04 and BNCA co-sponsored a meeting on January 14, 2025 to discuss WABA’s plans for 1110 Hamlin Street and the desired zoning relief.) He indicated that the conversation with WMATA about development at the Brookland station is at a “stalemate” over WMATA’s concerns about the costs of the affordable housing CM Parker proposes (much higher than what DC requires elsewhere on non-DC land). He also indicated there was no news to report about on-going conversations regarding the Providence Hospital site or the Howard Divinity School site. A questioner asked about the 901 Monroe NE site and expressed concern that the development team’s proposal did not include ground-floor retail/business use. The questioner suggested this was a broader problem affecting the future of retail elsewhere in the neighborhood. CM Parker agreed and described his various efforts to stimulate and encourage small business investment especially along Rhode Island Avenue and Brookland’s 12th Street.
President Petti then introduced Tiwana Smith with the organization Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency. Ms. Smith described the mission of CSOSA which is to supervise adults on probation, parole and supervised release to, among other things, reduce recidivism and promote effective reintegration of offenders into society. CSOSA believes strongly in the value of community partnerships and Ms. Smith encouraged BNCA and others to reach out and explore ways of working together in the year ahead. President Petti thanked Ms. Smith for coming and sharing the information.
A Brookland resident and meeting attendee then requested the opportunity to share an unsettling personal story of crime against him near his home in the vicinity of Turkey Thicket Rec Center. He said he was attacked by a group of boys outside his home. Then, a threatening note was posted on his front door. He believes the boys reside in the area and fears that similar incidents will re-occur. He wondered whether there are any group efforts in his area to combat this kind of violence. President Petti indicated that she was not aware of any such group effort, but that it might be something BNCA would want to support and participate in. She also encouraged the resident to contact his Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner who might be aware of such a group effort and/or might be willing to start one. CM Parker also responded indicating that he would reach out immediately to the Fourth District MPD Commander and ask her to be in touch.
The meeting ended on a spiritual/philosophical note with a tribute to the late, great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The tribute consisted of a dramatic reading of an excerpt from Dr. King’s 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech. Twenty five attendees played a part and were asked to read their parts in their “…most robust preacher’s voice.” CM Parker read the final words:
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of that old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!”
President Petti ended the meeting by thanking everyone for coming, thanking Tony Tomelden again for hosting, and reminding everyone to tip their bartender, waiters and waitresses.
She reminded attendees that BNCA’s next meeting will be on February 18th at 7 PM and that it will be an in-person meeting at the Woodridge Library. She indicated that the agenda was still being developed, but one of the items on it will be BNCA Officer elections. She urged BNCA Members to please consider running for one of our offices. There will be some vacancies, but even if there’s an incumbent who’s running again, there’s no prohibition against running against an incumbent. Anyone with questions about the offices and/or the work involved should feel free to contact any one of the current officers.
The meeting ended and convivial socializing ensued.
Minutes submitted by Caroline Petti.
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