Mary Cheh backs Tricia Duncan for Ward 3 Councilmember

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has Frumin said he doesn’t support the new high school?

He's said he wants to "tap the brakes" and look for other sites

That’s Goulet, I think. But who knows? Frumin’s position statements resemble a freely spinning compass. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say on the NIMBYs’ front lawn next Sunday. If he had any principles, he’d insist that it be a joint event with Tricia, but I guess that’s not how politics works.

Are you able to read? Frumin has had his position on the new schools up on his website since before the race was serious.
https://fruminforward3.com/food-for-thought-new-schools/
He also responds to emailed questions, unlike some other candidates.

This article utterly fails in taking a position on the schools. For Foxhall ES, he calls for looking at other options like expanding current schools (we have been doing that for decades in Ward 3 and we still need a new ES). For the high school in Palisades, he calls for engaging "the Hardy community and neighbors in the planning for how the school will work both programmatically and as part of the fabric of the community" before opening the school and allowing children to attend.

Community input is good. But we have had that for years on this issue, and this was the solution that the community came up with. This is our best shot at tackling overcrowding at Wilson and other schools in the ward, and it would be insane to walk it back now or wait any longer for more "input."

“ Could it make sense to build additions at Key and Stoddert or an addition at Stoddert and a small school, like Ross in Dupont Circle or the Old Hardy, on the Foxhall site? Might it be possible to persuade the Lab School to take over the River School site on MacArthur if it vacates and properly cede Old Hardy to serve the lower Key area? Or might there be a way to buy back the Lab school lease of Old Hardy?”

And after finding a miraculous solution that placates all warring parties in the battle of Hardy Park - a solution that had eluded an 18-year incumbent, a community working group, dozens upon dozens of concerned parents and residents, and the city’s public school infrastructure - Frumin will travel to Eastern Europe, where he will forge a truce between Zelensky and Putin, bringing an end that intractable conflict. After then, he will head to Jerusalem to make peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Once that’s done, he will suck up all the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, reversing global warming . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The more I hear about the other candidates, the more I want to vote for Tricia Duncan. Phil Thomas seems nice, he knocked on my door, and we had a good conversation, but I'm not really sure he has a shot here. We need someone to beat Goulet. Tricia and Frumin are the only ones who seem capable of doing that, but Frumin's lack of support for the new elementary and high schools in Ward 3 makes me want to vote for Duncan.

At first we considered Duncan. But she was just awful on Cheh’s gerrymandering (redistricting) task force. She’s never been elected to office before - not even as an ANC commissioner — and her lack of experience and temperament shows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has Frumin said he doesn’t support the new high school?

He's said he wants to "tap the brakes" and look for other sites

That’s Goulet, I think. But who knows? Frumin’s position statements resemble a freely spinning compass. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say on the NIMBYs’ front lawn next Sunday. If he had any principles, he’d insist that it be a joint event with Tricia, but I guess that’s not how politics works.

Are you able to read? Frumin has had his position on the new schools up on his website since before the race was serious.
https://fruminforward3.com/food-for-thought-new-schools/
He also responds to emailed questions, unlike some other candidates.

This article utterly fails in taking a position on the schools. For Foxhall ES, he calls for looking at other options like expanding current schools (we have been doing that for decades in Ward 3 and we still need a new ES). For the high school in Palisades, he calls for engaging "the Hardy community and neighbors in the planning for how the school will work both programmatically and as part of the fabric of the community" before opening the school and allowing children to attend.

Community input is good. But we have had that for years on this issue, and this was the solution that the community came up with. This is our best shot at tackling overcrowding at Wilson and other schools in the ward, and it would be insane to walk it back now or wait any longer for more "input."

“ Could it make sense to build additions at Key and Stoddert or an addition at Stoddert and a small school, like Ross in Dupont Circle or the Old Hardy, on the Foxhall site? Might it be possible to persuade the Lab School to take over the River School site on MacArthur if it vacates and properly cede Old Hardy to serve the lower Key area? Or might there be a way to buy back the Lab school lease of Old Hardy?”

And after finding a miraculous solution that placates all warring parties in the battle of Hardy Park - a solution that had eluded an 18-year incumbent, a community working group, dozens upon dozens of concerned parents and residents, and the city’s public school infrastructure - Frumin will travel to Eastern Europe, where he will forge a truce between Zelensky and Putin, bringing an end that intractable conflict. After then, he will head to Jerusalem to make peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Once that’s done, he will suck up all the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, reversing global warming . . .

What Frumin doesn't seem to realize is that postponing the schools is as good as cancelling them. The money is in the capital budget now, if they get postponed the money will be taken out. Once that happens, getting the money put back in means starting from scratch. Meanwhile the schools aren't getting any less crowded. Restarting the process at this point without a plan is counter-productive.

For these plans to have any credibility they have to be specific things that can executed quickly. Something along the lines of, "if I'm elected on June 21, on June 22 I'm calling the chair of the Lab School board to ask what it would take to get them to give up their lease at the Old Hardy school." I don't think there's anyone who doesn't think using that building would be much better than building a new school right next to it. The city could probably pay Lab $10 million and come out way ahead.

[Anonymous]

I am so tired of the FCCA gang flooding local
List serves with their messages. It’s a constant stream of misinformation by the same 4 or 5 elder residents. You almost only hear their opinions, which probably reflect the views of senior residents in the area. Nobody from the other camp is engaging with them anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so tired of the FCCA gang flooding local
List serves with their messages. It’s a constant stream of misinformation by the same 4 or 5 elder residents. You almost only hear their opinions, which probably reflect the views of senior residents in the area. Nobody from the other camp is engaging with them anymore.

And they are apparently on here as well. Evidence being that the post about Tricia Duncan above almost certainly comes from the most prolific of their spammers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mary’s endorsement seems to have sent the NIMBYs into a panic. I’m seeing their “Save Hardy Park. No to Tricia Duncan” up on NE Ave and the partner of the FCCA President is sending ridiculous three-page accounts detailing her interactions with Tricia to all of the local listserves. They sure know how to get someone elected!

I am going to presume that Cheh gave her the kiss of death on purpose.

Any action that causes the likes of the FCCA to start a negative campaign against a candidate is greatly beneficial to that candidate, especially in a crowded field. DC has by far the greatest concentration of political strategists in the entire world and yet you have the likes of the FCCA doing insanely boneheaded things.

I am a Ward 3 resident, but not impacted by these issues. Nonetheless, I am so sickened by the behavior of the FCCA that I have read about, that I will be voting for Duncan, encouraging my spouse vote for Duncan, and may even convince my 18-year-old who couldn't care less vote for Duncan. That's three votes they got for Duncan because of their sickening, racist, NIMBY behavior.

[Anonymous]

i am not an FCCA person and have almost no vested interest in the DCPS issues, but for me, that isn't the driving force for my vote.

Duncan has zero experience and if her temperment is anything like Cheh's then there is no way I am voting for her.

I have been less than impressed with her showing in the online forums.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so tired of the FCCA gang flooding local
List serves with their messages. It’s a constant stream of misinformation by the same 4 or 5 elder residents. You almost only hear their opinions, which probably reflect the views of senior residents in the area. Nobody from the other camp is engaging with them anymore.

It's a mistake to believe they reflect the views of anyone other than themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i am not an FCCA person and have almost no vested interest in the DCPS issues, but for me, that isn't the driving force for my vote.

Duncan has zero experience and if her temperment is anything like Cheh's then there is no way I am voting for her.

I have been less than impressed with her showing in the online forums.

I do agree that she lacks the experience of many of the other candidates (though leading the Palisades Community Association can't be that much of a step down from serving as an ANC), and her debate performances haven't been impressive, but I will be voting for her simply because she actually takes positions on issues, something Goulet and Frumin cannot seem to do. It helps that I agree with her on most issues. If you want to fix overcrowding at our schools as soon as possible, she is the candidate that will do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i am not an FCCA person and have almost no vested interest in the DCPS issues, but for me, that isn't the driving force for my vote.

Duncan has zero experience and if her temperment is anything like Cheh's then there is no way I am voting for her.

I have been less than impressed with her showing in the online forums.

Saying that she has "zero experience" is a dead giveaway that you are not sincere.

[Anonymous]

"fixing overcrowding" by jamming two new schools within a block of each other with no viable public transportation both will create a traffic nightmare in an area that is already bad and also create a white enclave set of schools that fails the equity test in a huge way.

I can see why people who chose to live on the island known as Palisades would prefer that solution.

Why not call it what it is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"fixing overcrowding" by jamming two new schools within a block of each other with no viable public transportation both will create a traffic nightmare in an area that is already bad and also create a white enclave set of schools that fails the equity test in a huge way.

I can see why people who chose to live on the island known as Palisades would prefer that solution.

Why not call it what it is?

Do you know how hard it is to find spaces to build new schools in this city? What are our other options? It's taken years to get this plan finalized, and walking it back now would be absurd.

If we overhaul the trolley trail and bus service to the area, the transportation issue can be fixed. The plan already sets aside 500 seats for out of boundary students at the high school.

Strangely, the people who live in the areas around the schools seem to oppose them the most. Still, it looks like the groups rallying against Tricia Duncan are made up of senior citizens or parents with children in private schools who don't care about making DCPS better. They believe that their neighborhoods need "defending" from increased traffic and out of boundary students, which is more important to them than allowing DCPS to try and fix overcrowding issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"fixing overcrowding" by jamming two new schools within a block of each other with no viable public transportation both will create a traffic nightmare in an area that is already bad and also create a white enclave set of schools that fails the equity test in a huge way.

I can see why people who chose to live on the island known as Palisades would prefer that solution.

Why not call it what it is?

What’s your solution?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"fixing overcrowding" by jamming two new schools within a block of each other with no viable public transportation both will create a traffic nightmare in an area that is already bad and also create a white enclave set of schools that fails the equity test in a huge way.

I can see why people who chose to live on the island known as Palisades would prefer that solution.

Why not call it what it is?

Also very insincere. One of the new local public schools replaces an existing private school of similar size to which students were almost exclusively driven from all over the region. The other school is a neighborhood elementary school to which students would mostly walk or bike (as in Glover Park). Anyone who claims that these schools would create a "traffic nightmare" (or worsen the situation relative to what it was pre-pandemic) either lacks basic reasoning skills or has ulterior motives.

Public transportation is also not static. New bus lines can and will be created to serve MacArthur HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"fixing overcrowding" by jamming two new schools within a block of each other with no viable public transportation both will create a traffic nightmare in an area that is already bad and also create a white enclave set of schools that fails the equity test in a huge way.

I can see why people who chose to live on the island known as Palisades would prefer that solution.

Why not call it what it is?

Also very insincere. One of the new local public schools replaces an existing private school of similar size to which students were almost exclusively driven from all over the region. The other school is a neighborhood elementary school to which students would mostly walk or bike (as in Glover Park). Anyone who claims that these schools would create a "traffic nightmare" (or worsen the situation relative to what it was pre-pandemic) either lacks basic reasoning skills or has ulterior motives.

Public transportation is also not static. New bus lines can and will be created to serve MacArthur HS.

Yeah but the new public schools kids may be browner than the neighborhood is used to. People have already waxed poetic about kids getting into to trouble in the neighborhood after school lets out. I don't recall that concern ever having been voiced when it was GDS kids in the 'hood.