DCPS students shafted again - sign petition to keep Jelleff field public

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Talbott says that Maret is aware of the complaints from public school advocates, and so last year agreed to let Hardy use the turf field from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. “on most Wednesdays.”"

Wowie. How isolated and tone deaf can that woman be? It's laughable.

Maret let’s Stoddert soccer use their home field on the weekends.

I don’t know whether there is a right to extend this agreement or not. But before piling on Maret (and we have no connection to the school at all), Remember that Muray parents and the school ponied up substantial money to renovate Jeleff field. This was at a time when DCPS couldn’t buy toilet paper for the schools, DPR couldn’t cut the grass, and Marion Barry didn’t do much more than blow a crack pipe .

Remember, instead, that Maret and DPR made a deal, into which both Maret and DPR put something of value (recall that DC bought the land!)

That deal is expiring. No party is owed anything.

Except that there is an agreement to extend the deal. Just because this very one-sided thread and one-sided Deadspin article keep trading in innuendo and false information that everyone seems so gleeful to absorb, doesn’t mean there isn’t more information to consider.

DCUM Thread (likely full of lawyers): Let's look at the contract
Tipster: Here is the contract [posts contract].
DCUM Thread (likely full of lawyers): There's no right to extend.
Maret Person: Yes there is - the full contract wasn't posted
DCUM Thread (likely full of lawyers): Okay, then post the full contract
Maret Person: No I won't post it. And you are speculating about what the full contract says. There is more information to consider but I won't tell you what it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If Maret had not invested the money in the field, you would have nothing today to fight over.

But DC bought the field, so not sure what your point is? I can guarantee that the Jelleff after-care kids did not need the fancy turf.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Maret had not invested the money in the field, you would have nothing today to fight over.

But DC bought the field, so not sure what your point is? I can guarantee that the Jelleff after-care kids did not need the fancy turf.

If Maret had not invested in the field, DC would now have a dilapidated field, which it could easily renovate and open to the public. As it has done with many rec centers. Sorry but it didn't become Maret's private property for all of time. That isn't what the contract said. Maret got what it agreed to, and now the time period has ended.

[Anonymous]

NP here

Has anyone noted that Maret is far enough away that they'd need shuttles to use it during the school day and can only really access after school hours (just under 2 miles)? Hardy and BGC at Jelleff Rec are adjacent.

Why should a private entity get any kind of exclusivity to a public resource? It's bad enough this deal was made 10 years ago instead of DPS renovating the facility themselves, but doubling down on it just stinks.

[Anonymous]

Yes, PP. That’s been noted. And that’s why Maret does not have exclusive use of the fields.

What they DO have is use of the fields when the Hardy students and boys & girls club would like to use it during prime after school hours.

[Anonymous]

From Maret's website:

Statement about Maret’s Partnership with DPR and the Jelleff Field

In 2008, the Boys and Girls Club of Washington decided to put Jelleff on the market and was in conversation with Maret about a public-private partnership that would (a) preserve this important recreational resource for the benefit of all D.C. residents; and (b) improve the facilities, which were badly run-down and not designed for maximum utility. The District instead decided to buy the property first, and then look for organizations to assist with managing and operating the field space at Jelleff. In 2009, Maret asked to participate in this process.

When the District purchased the Jelleff site in January 2010, it accepted Maret’s proposal to enter into a 10-year agreement with DPR, with a clear option to extend this partnership for 9 more years.

We are very pleased that the District decided to extend our partnership for another 9 years.

When we first entered into this relationship in 2009, we agreed at our sole expense to construct a new and expanded field, redo the swimming pool, add fencing and lights, for an overall investment of $2.4 million dollars. We have continued to manage the property and ensure its upkeep. In exchange we have preferred permitting for approximately 10% of the operational time in the fall and spring seasons.

With this 9-year extension, we will continue to maintain the field and redo the turf which needs to be replaced as well as improve the fencing and other enhancements to the Jelleff Recreation Center that DPR approves. We truly believe that Jelleff is an asset not only to Maret but to the overall community.

Maret is committed to being a good neighbor and partner, not just with BGCGW and DPR, but with dozens of D.C. organizations. We take it so seriously that “building community” is in Maret’s Mission Statement. We have developed reciprocal relationships which benefit both Maret and our community partners. In fact, both Stoddert Soccer, the Boys and Girls Club and many other community organizations use indoor and outdoor spaces at Maret’s 3000 Cathedral Avenue campus in the late afternoons and on weekends.

https://www.maret.org/athletics/jelleff

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maret is committed to being a good neighbor and partner, not just with BGCGW and DPR, but with dozens of D.C. organizations. We take it so seriously that “building community” is in Maret’s Mission Statement.

What garbage. Doing shady backroom deals devoid of all transparency and due process and in contravention to DC government policy is not being a "good neighbor and partner". They can twist the facts all they want to, but if this arrangement were really in the interests of the city they wouldn't need to be so secretive about it. It's pathetic watching functionaries - whether they be of DPR or Maret - trying to defend that which is indefensible.

[Anonymous]

Agree that Maret comes off with egg on its face here, but isn't the real issue that the DC government was not willing to pay for renovations/upkeep in 2009, and continues to be unwilling to do so in 2019? I definitely resent having a beautiful field next door that we can't use, but would it even be beautiful if Maret hadn't renovated it (since it sounds like DC government wasn't about to pay for that job)? I wasn't around and don't know what the field looked like before--was it even a playable plot of land?--so I'm asking mostly out of ignorance.

[Anonymous]

DC definitely has money to do field renovations - see Edgewood example. (Edgewood took forever to get funded and the neighbors fought really hard for it, but it is happening.)

https://dgs.dc.gov/page/edgewood-recreation-center

See also (in recent years): Dunbar, Cardozo, and I'm sure a bunch of others that I don't know about.

[Anonymous]

They just opened a (another) new turf field at Roosevelt (like today!) after a new one was put in during the recent renovation that didn’t work out.

DC HAS THE MONEY TO DO TURF FIELD RENOVATIONS.

[Anonymous]

Can't believe that this was allowed to happen. Why should my taxpayer dollars go to subsidize a private school? I can think of so many better ways to spend taxpayer dollars, including supporting a public school and the boys and girls club! This stinks of corruption.

[Anonymous]

Something else that needs to be pointed out:
DC spends a LOT of money bussing Hardy athletes all over the city to practice and host “home” matches. This is true for many other public and charter school athletic teams who can’t use nearby, walkable facilities at the the optimal time after school (eg, Wilson Aquatic Center for Deal MS and Wilson HS) due to renting out the space to private actors.

How much is DC spending to transport the Hardy baseball team multiple times every week to and from S.E. DC for their practices and games? Has anyone done a cost-benefit analysis? Now take this one team and multiply it by all the teams at Hardy that are bussed everywhere. Then take that amount and multiply it by all the public and charter schools that can’t utilize a walkable facility just a couple minutes away.

This grift is massive. It involves tons of city contractors that provide transportation services. It encompasses DPR, private schools, because private leagues that shell out big money to politicians.

Follow the money folks. The kids are the pawns, sitting 2-3 hours each day on busses rather than at home doing their homework. It’s a jobs program for a bunch of drivers and fleet management companies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From Maret's website:

Statement about Maret’s Partnership with DPR and the Jelleff Field

In 2008, the Boys and Girls Club of Washington decided to put Jelleff on the market and was in conversation with Maret about a public-private partnership that would (a) preserve this important recreational resource for the benefit of all D.C. residents; and (b) improve the facilities, which were badly run-down and not designed for maximum utility. The District instead decided to buy the property first, and then look for organizations to assist with managing and operating the field space at Jelleff. In 2009, Maret asked to participate in this process.

When the District purchased the Jelleff site in January 2010, it accepted Maret’s proposal to enter into a 10-year agreement with DPR, with a clear option to extend this partnership for 9 more years.

We are very pleased that the District decided to extend our partnership for another 9 years.

When we first entered into this relationship in 2009, we agreed at our sole expense to construct a new and expanded field, redo the swimming pool, add fencing and lights, for an overall investment of $2.4 million dollars. We have continued to manage the property and ensure its upkeep. In exchange we have preferred permitting for approximately 10% of the operational time in the fall and spring seasons.

With this 9-year extension, we will continue to maintain the field and redo the turf which needs to be replaced as well as improve the fencing and other enhancements to the Jelleff Recreation Center that DPR approves. We truly believe that Jelleff is an asset not only to Maret but to the overall community.

Maret is committed to being a good neighbor and partner, not just with BGCGW and DPR, but with dozens of D.C. organizations. We take it so seriously that “building community” is in Maret’s Mission Statement. We have developed reciprocal relationships which benefit both Maret and our community partners. In fact, both Stoddert Soccer, the Boys and Girls Club and many other community organizations use indoor and outdoor spaces at Maret’s 3000 Cathedral Avenue campus in the late afternoons and on weekends.

https://www.maret.org/athletics/jelleff

Where in the contract is the option to renew, though?

[Anonymous]

If it is so beneficial to the public, why was it snuck through with little notice and over the objections of many organizations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From Maret's website:

Statement about Maret’s Partnership with DPR and the Jelleff Field

In 2008, the Boys and Girls Club of Washington decided to put Jelleff on the market and was in conversation with Maret about a public-private partnership that would (a) preserve this important recreational resource for the benefit of all D.C. residents; and (b) improve the facilities, which were badly run-down and not designed for maximum utility. The District instead decided to buy the property first, and then look for organizations to assist with managing and operating the field space at Jelleff. In 2009, Maret asked to participate in this process.

When the District purchased the Jelleff site in January 2010, it accepted Maret’s proposal to enter into a 10-year agreement with DPR, with a clear option to extend this partnership for 9 more years.

We are very pleased that the District decided to extend our partnership for another 9 years.

When we first entered into this relationship in 2009, we agreed at our sole expense to construct a new and expanded field, redo the swimming pool, add fencing and lights, for an overall investment of $2.4 million dollars. We have continued to manage the property and ensure its upkeep. In exchange we have preferred permitting for approximately 10% of the operational time in the fall and spring seasons.

With this 9-year extension, we will continue to maintain the field and redo the turf which needs to be replaced as well as improve the fencing and other enhancements to the Jelleff Recreation Center that DPR approves. We truly believe that Jelleff is an asset not only to Maret but to the overall community.

Maret is committed to being a good neighbor and partner, not just with BGCGW and DPR, but with dozens of D.C. organizations. We take it so seriously that “building community” is in Maret’s Mission Statement. We have developed reciprocal relationships which benefit both Maret and our community partners. In fact, both Stoddert Soccer, the Boys and Girls Club and many other community organizations use indoor and outdoor spaces at Maret’s 3000 Cathedral Avenue campus in the late afternoons and on weekends.

https://www.maret.org/athletics/jelleff

Where in the contract is the option to renew, though?

Even Talbott referred to it as an “expectation” in the DCist article.