Reply to New Ward 3 Homeless Families Shelter Site

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Even most advocates for the shelter would say it was rushed.  There was one "unofficial" stage managed meeting by Mary Cheh about the Idaho Ave site and one DC council hearing at which all of the sites were voted up or down as a package.  That was not at all a usual public process with meetings and hearings in which impacts and alternatives are considered.  [/quote]
Not true - this was discussed at multiple ANC meetings where city officials were present.  There were also multiple Council Hearings.
Also please find me an advocate who thinks the process was rushed?
Being unhappy with the outcome does not mean the process was flawed.  It just means you are unhappy with the outcome.[/quote]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I thought it was odd and rushed how the ward 3 site kept changing. If they thought the first one was fine, and then changed their mind, why not the 2nd? Apparently they are capable of choosing poorly. The site should be thoroughly vetted. It's better to take time examine everything and have a detailed plan than ram it through, or it'll be as much a failure as the apparent hell hole DC general that was city managed. What will be different?????? Details please. Compare /contrast. [/quote]
Are you late to the process or were you just not paying attention?
The site changed because there was process not because of a lack of process.
I believe at this point it will be more than 3 years from the original proposal to the opening of the Ward 3 shelter so that is hardly rushed.
And you have no idea if they chose poorly and didn't offer any reasons why you think they did.
Personally I think locating the shelter on city owned land adjacent to a major bus corridor and grocery store in a busy area makes a lot of sense.[/quote]

I'm a DP responding to the PP who falsely claims this process wasn't rushed.  It absolutely was rushed and bullied through.  All Bowser would tell people was that she was working on a plan to close DC General, and then in March 2016 she sprung a fully-formed plan for "a shelter in every ward" with sites already selected.  There was no opportunity for public comment on either the plan itself or the location of the sites, and Bowser actively tried to block any opportunity to challenge her master plan.  Ultimately, enough people from a few wards raised enough stink about Bowser's pre-selected sites that some of them got moved despite her pressure not to allow any changes, but those changes were only shifts in location, and not challenges to the essential structure of Bowser's plan.

Here are articles from when Bowser first unveiled the plan, which point out that she wasn't allowing any changes.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/homeless-shelters-to-be-spread-across-capital-under-plan-by-mayor-bowser/2016/02/09/318bc360-cf31-11e5-88cd-753e80cd29ad_story.html?utm_term=.acd2223e77b1
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/DC-Mayor-Bowser-Announces-New-Homeless-Family-Shelter-Locations-368117741.html
https://wamu.org/story/16/02/09/dc_general_homeless_shelter_could_close_by_2018_says_bowser/

I can understand why Bowser wouldn't want to allow any changes, because it's much easier to be an authoritarian and force your plan on people rather than negotiate with them.  Reasonable people can debate whether or not this was a dire situation that called for a strong move by the Mayor to push past all the individual issues and force a master plan on everyone.  But make no mistake, this plan was absolutely railroaded into place with no opportunity for community voice.[/quote]

And you are continuing to show your ignorance.

The Ward 3 shelter is not being built where Bowser proposed it and the site was essentially proposed by the Council.

So your argument that Bowser wouldn't allow any changes is false on its premise.

We are going on 3 years since this process began which hardly strikes me as a rush and there were multiple public meetings at the neighborhood level and multiple hearings at the Council.  You can continue to disagree with the outcome but you are wrong that this happened quickly or without public meetings.[/quote]

The 3 years you keep mentioning is pretty disingenuous...
The selection process  of the current site certainly did NOT take 3 years.
In the time since then you are right, they've failed to flesh out how they will achieve the lofty goals beyond plonking a building by the police station in ward 3. The more time that passes, the more a black eye actually so I would quit touting it.[/quote]

The McLean Gardens site was decreed by Cheh and passed by the Council even before anyone discussed it with the leadership of the MPD Second District.  No one told the police that they were going to lose their parking and staging area. That's why DC after the fact has gerry-rigged a $9M parking deck structure which, despite the high price tag, is a very cheap design with no screening.[/quote]

Despite all this "thorough" planning initially, where was Cheh an Co expecting the Police to park all their vehicles before someone got smart and threw in a garage into the plans?[/quote]

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