Results tagged “dpr”

With relations between Mayor Adrian Fenty and the D.C. Council as strained as they are, you'd think the city's chief executive might do what he could to make things just a little bit better. But if a hearing today before the council on the ongoing Department of Parks and Recreation contracting scandal serves as any indication, that doesn't seem to be the case.

As the political fracas continues over the $82 million in parks and rec contracts that D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty quietly funneled through the D.C. Housing Authority (much of it handed to contractors with cozy ties to the mayor), members of the D.C. Council are demanding accountability. None more so than Council member Michael A. Brown (I-At Large). Or not. No, he is. Really. We think.

Whatever you may think of the tenor of Friday's parks and recreation committee hearing, it looks like it won't end up mattering: the D.C. Council has just voted 7-5 to deny confirmation to acting Department of Parks and Recreation director Ximena Hartsock.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty presided over the opening of a fabulously-appointed new dog park at 17th and S Streets NW yesterday (along with a refurbished park for all living things at 17th and T, but the focus was clearly on the pooches' new playground). As theses photographs illustrate, the park features a hill-shaped, artificial grass surface and a water fountain designed specifically for dogs.

Some welcome relief from the heat comes from D.C.'s Department of Parks and Recreation, which announced many city pools and spray parks are extending their hours through Wednesday night. Thirteen outdoor pools are open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. for the next three evenings, and other facilities are open later as well. Check the full list extended hours for the DPR facility nearest you.

Appropriate, not appropriate, legal, not legal; it seems like everyone is all atwitter about the proposal to christen the newly renovated park at 14th and Girard Streets NW as "Barack Hussein Obama Park". All the usual suspects -- Jim Graham, Gary Imhoff, neighborhood leaders, the Columbia Heights listserv, and so forth -- are involved, in what is surely a fantastic story to share with your out-of-town friends if you feel like showing off just how silly local politics can get around here.

On Tuesday, the Post's D.C. Wire blog reported that Ward 1 D.C. Council member Jim Graham's proposal to name the recently renovated park at 14th and Girard Streets NW "Barack Hussein Obama Park," wasn't allowed under D.C. law, which prohibits the city from naming things after people who are still alive. Not so, according to Graham. He wrote in an email to constituents today:

While the Washington Post accurately quoted law, it did not accurately state the legal situation. For years, the Council has been naming "public spaces" after living persons. The Council in the last year "renamed" roadways to honor Kathy Hughes and Chuck Brown. One of my first acts as a Councilmember in 1999 was to successfully sponsor a bill naming the alley next to Ben's Chili Bowl "Ben Ali Way" to honor the restaurant's founders. All these folks are happily still with us! There are other examples.

Continue reading "Graham Disputes Legal Barriers to 'Obama Park' Name"

The recently renovated community park at 14th and Girard Streets NW now has a potential name: Ward 1 D.C. Council member Jim Graham introduced a resolution today to rename the park "Barack Hussein Obama Park," D.C. Wire reports. If the resolution is passed, the park, which features a basketball court, year-round chess tables and an interactive water jet play fountain in the summer, would be the very first official anything to be named after President Obama in the District of Columbia.

Word hit the street this morning that Mayor Adrian Fenty had fired D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation director Clark Ray yesterday, and he's already named a replacement. City Desk has the scene at today's presser announcing former D.C. public schools principal Ximena Hartsock as Ray's replacement. Hartsock had been running afterschool and summer school programs for Michelle Rhee/DCPS. Earlier this morning, D.C. Wire reported that at least a few people are befuddled as to the decision to let Ray go, and there's speculation that it could have been related to a lawsuit recently filed by former DPR employee Michael Williams. Williams alleges that he was improperly fired after raising questions about whether the mayor's sons were participating in a youth basketball league that they were too old for.

Looking for a way to beat the heat this evening or tomorrow? The District Department of Parks and Recreation has opened up ten outdoor swimming pools and four spray parks from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. both today and Tuesday.

In the department of bad timing, at the end of last week the Department of Parks and Recreation sent around a press release notifying the community that the play courts, plaza, and playground at the Stead Recreation Center at 1625 P Street NW will temporarily close beginning April 30, 2008.