Petar for Ward 3: Endorsed by the Washington Post (Update)

[Anonymous]

Great news! After a decade of prodding, Cheh got DDOT to consider ending the Connecticut Avenue reversible lanes.

Ending this scourge will help improve the quality of life for residents and the businesses along the Avenue, considerably!

Thanks you Mary Cheh.

[Anonymous]

I received Petar's mailer. It notes restoring the value of a DCPS diploma and fixing streets as his two big goals.

I am trying to understand, what exactly is the Council role in either? The Mayor has oversight of DCPS and all facilities; the school board has some minor input on curriculum. The Mayor has oversight of DDOT and the public can report potholes etc directly.

Petar, what do you expect your role will be in resorting the value of a DCPS diploma or fixing roads? Do you truly believe the Council plays a role in making sure Metro elevators are fixed in a timely manner? Please explain.

[Anonymous]

I guess Petar doesn't want to answer the questions.

[Anonymous]

I suggest anyone interested in this race watch the debate tonight from the Cleveland Park library. It is pretty clear that Petar has no idea what a Councilmember does on a day to day basis, or what their role is in the city heirarchy, either legislatively, in the community or with the private sector.

I am not sure he is even qualified to be an ANC commissioner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suggest anyone interested in this race watch the debate tonight from the Cleveland Park library. It is pretty clear that Petar has no idea what a Councilmember does on a day to day basis, or what their role is in the city heirarchy, either legislatively, in the community or with the private sector.

I am not sure he is even qualified to be an ANC commissioner.

That was my impression when I met him. Nice enough guy, but really vague on specifics. What's surprising is that he worked in the Mayor's office so you'd think he'd have some grasp of how the city government works.

[Anonymous]

I just finished listening to Petar on the Kojo show. Tom Sherwood demolished him, really showed that he isn't ready.

I did learn how to pronounce his first name though.

[Anonymous]

I am sorry I missed that. I'll listen to the archive.

[Anonymous]

35:45
https://thekojonnamdishow.org/audio/#/shows/2018-10-26/the-politics-hour-october-26-2018/113009/@00:00

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:35:45
https://thekojonnamdishow.org/audio/#/shows/2018-10-26/the-politics-hour-october-26-2018/113009/@00:00

If you look at that URL, the end is "@00:00" . If you change that to "@33:45" in your address bar you can skip right to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just finished listening to Petar on the Kojo show. Tom Sherwood demolished him, really showed that he isn't ready.

I did learn how to pronounce his first name though.

I just listened to it too. You did not exaggerate: Sherwood displayed no shortage of disdain for him and his portrayal of himself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished listening to Petar on the Kojo show. Tom Sherwood demolished him, really showed that he isn't ready.

I did learn how to pronounce his first name though.

I just listened to it too. You did not exaggerate: Sherwood displayed no shortage of disdain for him and his portrayal of himself.

Tom Sherwood is the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Petar wrote:Dear All,
I am proud to announce that the Washington Post has endorsed our campaign: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-posts-endorsements-for-dc-council/2018/10/19/25b8afa2-d303-11e8-8c22-fa2ef74bd6d6_story.html?utm_term=.d7456ac7d087

The campaign is keeping me busy and I cannot check this thread as much as I would like. The best way to reach me is by email: [e-mail]

With respect to the specific questions:
1. my family is Bulgarian.
2. the ward needs a new school to resolve overcrowding. We also need to invest in repairing our rapidly deteriorating infrastructure. My focus will be on addressing these two urgent needs.

When it comes to school capacity DC generally and Ward 3 specifically has a boundary problem not a capacity problem.

The Ward 3 Elementary schools are now all big and some people think that's a problem (and some don't) but the schools are not overcrowded nor do any really have any problems with student:teacher ratios nor space to fulfill any programmatic needs. (And these elementary schools are like this because Cheh has funded multiple expansions and renovations)

The Ward 3 Middle Schools and the Ward 3 High School both have more than enough seats to serve the kids who live in Ward 3 and the adjacent parts of Ward 4. But what Deal, Hardy and Wilson cannot do indefinitely is accept kids from the entire city.

So Petar - are you willing to take on the charters and take on the parents who won't give up their right to attend these west of the park schools (or get in through connections) and work to create great neighborhood schools across the city?

There is nothing wrong with the schools in Ward 3 and they have plenty of seats for local families - the problem is the schools in Wards 1,2,4,5,6,7 & 8.

I can quibble a bit with what you're saying about Deal and Wilson but you do have a point. However, the elementaries are a different story. There really are capacity issues. At Key and Stoddert they've added trailers so that every kid has a seat, but that doesn't make the rest of the school any bigger. The library, gym, playground and cafeteria don't get any bigger when trailers are added. When the kids have twelve minutes for lunch and lunch is taken in shifts over a two-plus hour period there is a definite effect on the program. The same when recess has to be spread over the entire day because the playground isn't big enough.

A big part of the problem is that DCPS doesn't like to measure its problems. So there are no reliable capacity numbers for any of the schools, nor are there even policies for measuring the capacities. So right now no one really knows how crowded the schools are.

DCPS should move the Stoddert and Key 5th grades to a dedicated wing at Hardy. This would limit the number of OOB student and solve overcrowding at Wilson.

[Anonymous]

This is a good solution for the southern part of the Ward, but it doesn't help the Mann/Janney/Murch => Deal => Wilson issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Petar wrote:Dear All,
I am proud to announce that the Washington Post has endorsed our campaign: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-posts-endorsements-for-dc-council/2018/10/19/25b8afa2-d303-11e8-8c22-fa2ef74bd6d6_story.html?utm_term=.d7456ac7d087

The campaign is keeping me busy and I cannot check this thread as much as I would like. The best way to reach me is by email: [e-mail]

With respect to the specific questions:
1. my family is Bulgarian.
2. the ward needs a new school to resolve overcrowding. We also need to invest in repairing our rapidly deteriorating infrastructure. My focus will be on addressing these two urgent needs.

When it comes to school capacity DC generally and Ward 3 specifically has a boundary problem not a capacity problem.

The Ward 3 Elementary schools are now all big and some people think that's a problem (and some don't) but the schools are not overcrowded nor do any really have any problems with student:teacher ratios nor space to fulfill any programmatic needs. (And these elementary schools are like this because Cheh has funded multiple expansions and renovations)

The Ward 3 Middle Schools and the Ward 3 High School both have more than enough seats to serve the kids who live in Ward 3 and the adjacent parts of Ward 4. But what Deal, Hardy and Wilson cannot do indefinitely is accept kids from the entire city.

So Petar - are you willing to take on the charters and take on the parents who won't give up their right to attend these west of the park schools (or get in through connections) and work to create great neighborhood schools across the city?

There is nothing wrong with the schools in Ward 3 and they have plenty of seats for local families - the problem is the schools in Wards 1,2,4,5,6,7 & 8.

I can quibble a bit with what you're saying about Deal and Wilson but you do have a point. However, the elementaries are a different story. There really are capacity issues. At Key and Stoddert they've added trailers so that every kid has a seat, but that doesn't make the rest of the school any bigger. The library, gym, playground and cafeteria don't get any bigger when trailers are added. When the kids have twelve minutes for lunch and lunch is taken in shifts over a two-plus hour period there is a definite effect on the program. The same when recess has to be spread over the entire day because the playground isn't big enough.

A big part of the problem is that DCPS doesn't like to measure its problems. So there are no reliable capacity numbers for any of the schools, nor are there even policies for measuring the capacities. So right now no one really knows how crowded the schools are.

DCPS should move the Stoddert and Key 5th grades to a dedicated wing at Hardy. This would limit the number of OOB student and solve overcrowding at Wilson.

This seems like a weird solution - the similar idea that makes sense is to combine the pre-K programs into one (or 2) locations in Ward 3 instead. Unlike 5th graders the pre-Kers are already essentially segregated.

[Anonymous]

Petar, are you hosting any events where people can meet you?
Lots of us are looking for an alternative to Mary Cheh, it just seems like we've only seen your signs.