Monthly Archives: March 2016
TNA Meeting Tuesday, March 22
The next Trinidad Neighborhood Association (TNA) meeting will be held on March 22nd at 7:00 pm. Meetings are the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Trinidad Recreation Center (1310 Childress Ave NE). Please join us – meetings are open to all Trinidad residents.
Trinidad Neighborhood Association is a community-based, volunteer-driven organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in Washington, DC’s Trinidad neighborhood. Founded in 2009, TNA works to identify and address community concerns, and to promote opportunities for economic development by engaging community stakeholders. Membership is $5.00 per year and TNA and is tax-deductible. If you have not renewed membership for 2016 or want to join, you can do so at the meeting or online at trinidadneighborhood.org.
Are You Registered?
The District of Columbia will have a primary election on June 14, 2016. The deadline to register with the DC Board of Elections (DCBOEE) to vote in the primary election is May 15th. Are you one of the over 400,000 DC residents registered to vote?
To be eligible to register as a voter in DC you must:
- Be a United States Citizen
- Be a resident of the District of Columbia
- Be at least 16 years old (District residents may preregister to vote at age 16, but will not receive a voter registration card or be eligible to vote until they are at least 17 with a date of birth indicating that they will be 18 on or before the next general election.)
- Not be in jail on a felony conviction
- Not have been found by a court to be legally incompetent to vote
- Not claim voting residence outside of the District of Columbia
You can register via e-mail by completing online information on the DCBOEE website. You can also pick up a voter application to complete at the DCBOEE office (441 4th Street NW), any Department of Motor Vehicles branch office, any DC Public Library (call the branch you are going to to confirm they have them available), or police station (the 5th District at 1805 Bladensburg Road is the closest to Trinidad). You will need to complete the application and mail it to the DCBOEE or drop it off in their offices. There is also a Vote4DC app for phones and tablets for electronic voter registration and election information.
The current list of candidates for the June primary is in the linked file (nr_1786). While this will continue to be updated by DCBOEE, the current list will give an overview of what offices will be on the upcoming primary ballot.
In all of Ward 5 in the 2014 November election, only 37.5% of registered voters participated in the election. That’s a pretty low number. Trinidad is in 3 voting precincts (all of 77 and parts of 76 and 78). Those percentages were even lower at 21% participation in voting precinct 76, 33% participation in voting precinct 77, and 27% participation in voting precinct 78.
Register now to rock the DC votes in June and November of this year but actually turn out for the election day to make your votes matter!
DABS Art Event at Gallaudet Pavilion
Last year the owner of HR-57, Tony Puesan, started the process to open a beer garden and music venue behind Union Market in a lot owned by Gallaudet University (GU). The event space, called Gallaudet Pavilion, will be temporary until GU develops the lot in a few years time. The entrance to the venue is on Penn Street between 5th and 6th. The business and alcohol licenses are in place and final construction of a main stage for performances and other finishes are wrapping up. They are now projecting a formal opening on or around May 1st.
As they are ready to operate Gallaudet Pavilion now they will be hosting an event this Saturday, March 13th, from noon until 5:00 pm. This event is a memorial for Berkeley Garth Leopold Wright (aka DABS), a mural artist, community activist, and photographer who passed away in November. The event will include Live Painting, a Youth Paint Jam, Yoga, Live Music and Spoken Word, DABS Photo Gallery and Tribute Art. There is a Facebook page with additional details on the public event. This will be the first of many events expected in this nearby performance venue this spring and summer.
Mayor’s Walk Through Follow Up and Spring Cleaning
Last May 11th the Mayor and many city administrators and staff completed a walk through in the northern area of Trinidad with community members. During the walk many issues with street lights and signage, property in disrepair or abandoned, rodents, trash, and our streets and sidewalks were identified. The city worked to close out those issues to improve our neighborhood. The report is available on the Mayor’s website or on the following link: Ward 5 RESULTS Walk – TrinidadV2.
As we begin neighborhood clean ups this spring, we will all need to identify what areas residents can address. We can also initiate 311 requests for city support where city services are needed to fix street lights, repair sidewalks, address illegal dumping, and other areas.
Clean ups are scheduled for April 9 and May 14. We encourage everyone to come out and participate. We also encourage everyone to use the 311 phone number, online system, or phone app to report issues with street lights, rodent infestation, graffiti, unsafe sidewalks, and other issues. The system is easy to use and allows for follow-up and monitoring. Any issues that are not being resolved in a timely manner can and should be raised with your Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner. The Ward 5 staff in the Mayor’s Office of Community Relations and Services (MOCRS) can also be enlisted in collaboration with the appropriate ANC Commissioners to resolve issues.
Let’s work together to get our neighborhood spruced up for spring and summer so that we can all enjoy cleaner, safer streets!
How Green Does Your Garden Grow?
There are some exciting happenings around gardening this spring with resources, events, and news that you can use as you start to plant in your vegetable and flower growing spaces.
First, if you had a chance to attend Rooting DC in February there was a wealth of urban gardening knowledge being shared. If you could not attend the events, you can still access presentations on their forum website. The presentations cover everything from starting growing nutritious microgreens to small space garden design to use of compost in your garden and pickling vegetables to preserve them.
Second, the Trinidad annual garden tour is coming up! As spring weather continues flowers will be blooming earlier and edible plants will soon start producing. This is the perfect time to think about what you want to plant in your yard or window boxes or what you want to show your neighbors during the garden tour, which will focus on edible plants this year. If you haven’t been on one of the garden tours, it is a wonderful way to get gardening ideas, meet neighbors, and show off what you are producing. The contact for the garden tour is Laura Casperson. You can reach her at casperson.laura@gmail.com if you have questions or are willing to show off your garden during the neighborhood tour. Watch this space for details on the Garden Tour date, time, and route
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(Photos of the 2015 Garden Tour)
Finally, Cultivate the City has teamed up with W. S. Jenks Hardware on Bladensburg Road and will be opening a nursery on site. They are constructing a green house on the roof for their H Street Garden project (yes, we know it is not on H Street but it is very conveniently located in Trinidad). They already have a few plants for sale in the store and W. S. Jenks has seasonal gardening items in stock. There will be a seedling Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and a vegetable CSA program coming to the site. Cultivate the City is also holding a photography contest with prizes for selected photos leading up to the opening of the garden center and completion of the rooftop farm. 
Neighborhood Clean Ups: Save the Date!
Do you want to meet your neighbors, have fun, and have a cleaner neighborhood?
Trinidad Neighborhood Association will be organizing two spring neighborhood clean ups. Volunteers are needed for both clean ups and many hands will make light work. The first community wide clean up will be held on April 9th and second will be held on May 14th. Both are the second Saturday of the month. We will have supplies available and will arrange for the city to pick up filled garbage bags.
Mark your calendars and watch this space for event details as the dates approach!
Advisory Neighborhood Commission Meeting March 8th
The next Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) meeting for 5D will be held on March 8th starting at 7:00 pm. The meeting, covering Trinidad, Ivy City/Union Market, and Carver Langston neighborhoods, will be held at the 5th District Police Substation at 1805 Bladensburg Road.
The agenda (see attached link) includes zoning issues for Holbrook Terrace and Gallaudet University, security camera rebate program, DC Public Charter School Board, community concerns and many other topics of interest to our community.
Meet and Greet with Chairman Mendelson
The District has 13 Councilmembers, one per Ward and five at large, elected to serve as the legislative body of the District government. The Council of the District of Columbia also provides oversight of the agencies, commissions, and other government bodies. Want to learn more? See the meeting notice below from Chairman Phil Mendelson’s office for an opportunity to meet the Chairman of the Council, speak up for Trinidad and Ward 5, and ask questions.
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Chairman Mendelson is inviting you to Ward 5 this Saturday, March 12th from 10:00-11:00 AM at Peregrine Espresso (1309 5th St. NE-Union Market) to answer your questions about all things District! Have any concerns about District government services? An idea to improve your neighborhood? Or just want to say hi to the Chairman of the Council? Then come on by Saturday (3/12) to Peregrine Espresso to Meet up with Mendo!
Brittany Hughes
Chairman Phil Mendelson
Constituent Service Specialist
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Suite 504
Washington, DC 20004
(202)724-8158
Trinidad Neighborhood Association 