May 29, 2008
Politics and Prose Jumps in to Sidewalk Fray
Photo by katmere
It started with the ping pong table outside Comet. Then it was the benches and patio table outside Marvelous Market. Now venerable local bookstore Politics and Prose has been dragged into the ongoing saga of ANC 3F04 Commissioner Frank Winstead's war against there being any reason for people to congregate on the sidewalk along a stretch of upper Connecticut Ave. NW.
The bookstore's weekly email newsletter was sent out overnight, which leads with the following from owners Barbara Meade and Carla Cohen:
LETTER FROM BARBARA AND CARLASo how many people do you gather are already planning to run against Winstead for his ANC seat next time around?Every once in a while we get an abrupt reminder that we live in a jurisdiction where small business is not respected or encouraged. When we first opened across the street, there was no government agency that could advise us on what we needed to do. Then, after we made the applications we needed to, we could not get an occupancy permit, no matter how many times we called or went down to the office responsible for that. The process simply stopped somewhere in the Office of Regulatory and Consumer Affairs. We were fined and we started over again, but the certificate was never issued at our first location.
A few years ago we were infuriated when, as a D.C. business, we had to pay a surtax for the new stadium. The rationale: the stadium would help businesses in the District of Columbia. We fail to see how the baseball stadium helps Politics and Prose, but perhaps we are just missing something.
The latest irrationality occurred when an inspector visited us last week and told us we had to remove the bench in front of our store or pay for a permit. The bench, which is used by our employees eating lunch, or by people accompanied by strollers or dogs, or occasionally by the homeless, seems harmless. But the inspector told us it had to be gone the next day or….
Apparently this latest problem is occasioned by a member of the Advisory Neighborhood Council who went to war to get rid of all the outside chairs and tables on our block. As many of you know, the sidewalk is very wide in front of our buildings so there is no problem walking there even with sidewalk fixtures. And we think lots of activity on the sidewalk—sitting, eating, and playing—make our block more lively and fun. But Mr. Frank Winstead doesn't, and he has made it his personal mission to eliminate everything. You can write to Mr. Frank Winstead and express your opinion of his mission: fwwinstead@hotmail.com.
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Jeebus. Look out Grahamzilla, here comes Winzilla, the White Business Killa!
This Frank douchebag needs to be shipped off to Columbia Heigts to have rocks thrown at him.
we had to remove the bench in front of our store or pay for a permit
So they can have a bench if there's a permit, right?
How much is a permit? I'd love to chip in $20 to help pay for it just to piss this a-hole off.
Wow, he just won't stop. Do you think this guy is mentally ill? Maybe he was attacked by a park bench and a ping pong paddle as a child or something?
"Do you think this guy is mentally ill?"
There is a distinct possibility, judging from his actions.
I've heard that he is pals with a certain certifiable nutjob who ran for the Ward 3 Council seat last year. So perhaps his behavior is the result of some communicable illness? Maybe it's that cat poop parasite that bores into your brain.
Who but a Little Napoleon would want to be an ANC Commissioner?
If only he'd made a bench video to accompany the ping-pong one. Mr. Winstead, you disappoint me.
ha! i like your analysis, bethesdaist. given the number of random issues commissioners and councilmembers seem hellbent on defeating in some way, maybe its therapy they were seeking all along...they should be seeking professional help, not running amok in positions of unfortunately misdirected power.
For what it's worth (and I don't know how much that is) there is an alternative theory to this situation.
I don't know, maybe D. is part of the problem too, but I imagine MechaWinzilla the White Business Killa is still a big part of the problem.
Even the original Grahamzilla didn't hide in the bushes with a camera. At least not during business hours.
Now he's done it! He's riled the sleeping dragon that is Politics & Prose. No doubt there will soon be Council action on this issue.
The cost for a public space permit seems to be $139, according to DDOT's website (http://app.ddot.dc.gov/services/public_space/fees.shtm). Although it's unclear from their FAQ page if that's a 30-day permit or longer.
Either way, it seems nitpickingly asinine in the extreme to require a permit for a single bench outside the bookstore. Equally asinine is the reaction of the city inspectors who march to Winstead's drum. Of course, if they don't, then Winstead gets to complain that the city isn't respecting the ANCs and paying it homage.
Can they skirt around the the Bench Tax by putting up a hammock swing? Because a homeless guy in a hammock swing is actually pretty cool. There's four places you can get them. There's the Hammock Hut, that's on third. There's Hammocks-R-Us, that's on third too. You got Put-Your-Butt-There. That's on third. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot... Matter of fact, they're all in the same complex; it's the hammock complex on third. Y'know, the hammock district?
I'm constantly amazed at the level of horses**t small business put up with in this town. I'm reminded of the story of The Giving Tree, about the tree that gave and gave and gave until all that was left was a stump. And then DCRA passes a Stump Tax and Frank Winstead shows up with his Snidely Whiplash moustache and ties the stump to the train tracks, complete with upright piano peril music banging away.
"Will none of the knaves eating my bread rid me of this meddlesome priest?!"
doesn't it just blow your mind to see the difference in what people are complaining about in ward 3 compared to the rest of the city?
Of all the NW CT Ave blocks this guy could go after he chooses this one?
Please. He's got nothing to do with all the power being an ANC gives him.
Reid,
What is the alternate theory. The link doesn't work for me.
So how many people do you gather are already planning to run against Winstead for his ANC seat next time around?
I really hope it's only one.
Dbag of the year material....
Right on, IMGoph. The quality of problems in Mr. Winstead's neighborhood can't even come close to those in other parts of DC. At least there's no homeless people fighting over who gets the bench ... YET.
Gotta' hand it to those gals at Politics & Prose ... they come out swinging!
LOL @ monkey.
This guy is like the anti-Jane Jacobs.
"There shall be no vibrant urban life on my block!"
If you thought tables and benches on the sidewalk were bad, wait until you see THIS shocking video taken by Frank, in which scofflaw schoolbuses from Virginia BLATANTLY block part of a crosswalk and then are ticketed for it. The best part is the tagline at the end, where he asks Virginia parents if they really trust the safety of their children to these irresponsible crosswalk-blocking criminals. "Too much time on his hands" doesn't even begin to explain this guy's behavior.
Does this guy have a job? A wife, a family?
Someone on the DCist list should take one for the team and schtupp this guy so he has something to distract him from renegade benches and patio seating.
Sorry, here's the link to the alternative theory:
http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2008/05/public-space-comet-marvelous-market.html
Basically it boils down to an accusation that D. hates the ANC and is persecuting the businesses and blaming the ANC as a means to undermine the ANC's authority.
Sadly, too many of our ANC commissioners have too much free time on their hands and make assholes of themselves at the expense of us.
As for Winstead, nobody seems to ever run against him, he gets elected and that should maybe speak of the mindset in his ANC world.
For those that don't follow Reid's link and didn't figure out the D. reference (you have been reading every comment on dcist for the last 4 years, haven't you?), D. is DDOT is DC Department of Transportation, who somehow have jurisdiction over this whole arena.
Bethesdaist, that approach could definitely backfire. For every Frank Winstead you get off (ha!) the streets, you'll create a whole horde of new d-bags who see in public space douchebaggery a guaranteed way to get laid.
And I'd be one of them. I know me.
OMG someone please run against him! But the problem is how do you find someone with that much free time, who is worth the air they breathe? Apparently people who take those jobs are into being hated, and like to be peed on, but have hygiene issues so they become ANC chairs.
Based on this Frank Winstead is a human punch line, and should be denied any books or food by his neighbors until he leaves office.
The problem is clear to me: when he was growing up and watching Romper Room and Miss Sally would look through her magic mirror at all the kids in the audience and say, "I seen Timmy and Susie and Johnnie..." NOT ONCE did she see Frank. Since then, he's been a tiny ball of neurosese, trying in vain to connect with other people and failing miserably. Finally, he moved to upper Northwest to take his anger out on bookstores, sidewalks, and anyone who exhibits anything like a life.
FWIW, Miss Sally never saw Monkey either, but you don't see me acting like a total dickweed. Not in Northwest anyway.
But isn't douchebaggery an effective way to get laid, Cminus? That's the whole point of LNS and popped collars! HEY-YO!
Abolish the ANC system.
There, problem solved.
unresolved lack of attention issues + perceived mandate to be (dare i type it?) commissioner for life due unopposed races + apparent partner-less life in cave or bubble where greatest evil is bustling street life = an elected official in dc.
sadly, i guess dc is a place where residents are so busy worrying about life and issues in other places, leaving this guy in charge to make life miserable for residents.
Thanks for that link Reid. Quite interesting reading, although I'm not sure I'm convinced on the DDOT conspiracy.
Running for any political office I would suspect is an ego trip for most.
I have found more arrogance among ANC commissioners than I do among members of the council.
Remember those ANC commissioners in Adams Morgan who were shaking down bar owners for campaign contributions while holding their liquor licenses up? Yeah, I think they City Paper wrote about that.
ANC commissioners are bread of dirt unto their own.
The District seriously needs to look at reforming the entire ANC system. Shit's gotten waaaaaay out of hand.
FWIW, here's the local ANC map: http://www.anc3f.org/3fmap03.htm
Winstead's zone is 3F04. It's pretty small, just a few blocks on either side of Connecticut Ave between Appleton and what looks like Davenport Streets.
Anybody reading this live in this area? I'd happily contribute to your election campaign.
I'm not convinced about the DDOT conspiracy either, but I'm also not convinced there might not be some truth to that side of the discussion either.
As for anyone that gets "elected" repeatedly to these low-level, non-paying offices that have at least a little influences somewhere: they seem to get their little fiefdom and reign over it with a mighty sword, convinced that all that they do is right. I'm experiencing that at the even more local level of a condo association board of directors with petty fines, etc.
Sort of off-topic but on DC Wire, there's been a few comments on threads saying that "jrraddy" is He Who Shall Not Be Named.
Oh, come on. It's a one page application, a $19 fee, and the permit lasts for the life of the bench. Just apply for the damned thing and be done with it.
http://www.ddot.dc.gov/ddot/frames.asp?doc=/ddot/lib/ddot/services/permits/bikeracks.pdf&open=|32397|
RE ANC commissioners. As this thread indicates, they get plenty of abuse. And they have essentially no power -- they can only recommend and they're routinely ignored (even when they are right). As a result, the job attracts more than its fair share of exceptionally public-spirited folks and loons. As well as a bunch of folks auditioning for higher office.
No one's going to eliminate them as long as they can be ignored with impunity and scapegoated at will. DDOT (and before them, DCRA) fucked up here -- not the ANC.
Cassie, did you even bother to READ the letter in this post? They DID apply for the permit, and it was never processed. The store did what they were supposed to do, but the PG county bloodsucker who was supposed to process the application never dealt with it.
The store did what they were supposed to do, but the PG county bloodsucker who was supposed to process the application never dealt with it.
Jeebus, DC must be pretty desperate when they have to hire The Goatman to process bench fee applications.
You never have this problem in Fairfax, thank you, Mr. Bunnyman.
Geez, Bison, you're the one who apparently can't read. P&P said they applied to DCRA (not DDOT) at their original location (across the street from their current store) for a certificate of occupancy (not a street furniture permit). And this must have been 10 years ago or more. So, no, they didn't do what they were supposed to do with respect to the bench.
Even if P&P had made a mistake with the permitting process, Winstead could easily have used his extensive knowledge of bureaucratic minutiae to proactively help them comply with the code. You know, make a friendly phone call and say, "you may not be aware of this, but you need a permit for that bench. Since part of my job as ANC commissioner is to support local businesses, I'd be happy to help you figure out what exactly you need to do."
Instead, he swoops in and informs them the bench must be gone within 24 hours. Letter of the law: A. Spirit of the law: F.
somegirl,
Your point is exactly the issue.
Well said!